Navigating Expo-Healthy Fats Navigating Expo

Navigating Expo

Your guide to understanding the healthier side of fats across product categories at Natural Products Expo West

Organic

Trends & market manifestations

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Trends & market manifestations

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Plant-based

Discover more through related content

Healthy fats

What to know: an overview of healthy fats

Keto

Whether they’re labeled plant-based or vegan, the growth of products made without meat, dairy and eggs climbs ever-higher as more people seek to reduce or avoid entirely their consumption of animal-based foods; this, then, is fueling growth of products rich in fats but free from animal products. As the growing prevalence of plant-based foods among conventional retailers shows, the trend has gone from a vegan niche to the mainstream. Plant-based foods even have a trade association, and there’s growth not only in sales but in jobs as well as investment. While pili nuts are on fire, there’s a wide range of other healthy-fat ingredients also on the rise, such as peanuts, coconut, kola nuts and watermelon seeds.

The fat- and protein-heavy diet continues to grow, driven by the larger consumer trend toward healthy fats and vilifying sugar, and the high rates of diabetes and obesity underlying that trend. Product offerings that make it easier for people to follow the diet are expanding, with on-trend ingredients like MCT oil and pili nuts growing quickly. Keto-friendly products have shown up across the food, beverage and supplement categories, with share growth of keto catering products at 87% in hard-to-achieve ketosis carb-loading categories like snacks, cookies, baked goods and granola bars.

Market manifestations

BabyVites Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods SuperFat - Amazing Nut Butters

HighKey Snacks Dang Foods Pure Indian Foods Know Brainer Foods

Quantum Squares Nutiva Love Good Fats

Market manifestations

Just because consumers want to avoid unhealthy fats and sugars doesn’t mean their sweet tooth disappears, and however strictly they might adhere to certain diets, they can still face temptation when the dessert menu comes around. The spike in healthy fat consumption has thus prompted the rise of the healthy dessert: products that help people satisfy their cravings but with less guilt. Whether that means vegan ice cream or keto-friendly cookies, there’s a boom in confections offering indulgence with cleaner ingredients that increasingly are rich in nutrients, healthy fats in particular, such as avocados, macadamia nuts and hemp.

Healthy desserts

Catch up on the latest takeaways from the supplement market, including the latest on healthy fats, in Nutrition Business Journal’s 2019 report.

2019 NBJ Supplement Business Report

The NEXT Trend Database spots the 2,586% growth in pili nuts over a two-year period

There’s a new nut in town

The vilification of sugar, combined with the persistent sweet tooth that seems to come with being human, gives rise to consumers’ insatiable interest in healthy (or healthier) desserts.

In the aisles: Natural brands serve up better-for-you—yet nostalgic—treats

Know Brainer founder Shari Leidich dishes on how to stand out in an Expo Pitch Slam—the winner of which can win over $40,000 in New Hope Network services, including a free booth at Expo.

How this ketogenic creamer brand won Natural Products Expo Pitch Slam

People wanting to take better control of their own health is one of the macro forces driving some of the hottest trends at Expo West this year, including the vilification of sugar and the spike in healthy fats.

Wellness revolution: Consumers now proactive about their health

Here’s your refresher on what was hot at Expo East just a few months ago.

Innovation trends from Expo East, no bull

The ghee and the duck and other fats are already a year (or more) into their cycle, with hemp and other seed oils starting to broaden appeal and shelf space.”

When it comes to alternative sweeteners, we recommend trying items with different types of sweeteners as many people have personal preferences on which type of sweeteners they enjoy.”

4th & Heart BabyVites Bellwether Farms Bio-Up Mimetic Technologies Chosen Foods Dang Foods Enzymedica, Inc. Fatso High Performance Peanut Butter Fatworks KetoLogic/FBOMB Kiss My Keto Garden of Life, LLC

HighKey Snacks Know Brainer Foods Love Good Fats Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods Mount Mayon Brand NATURESPLUS Nature's Way Nutiva Perfect Keto Pure Indian Foods Quantum Squares SuperFat-Amazing Nut Butters

- Aaron Gottschalk, general manager of Wildberries Marketplace

- Angela Carren digital marketing & promotions manager, Nature's Food Patch

#5392 #H229 #4919 #M113 #5553 #5751 #4065 #H614 #N1143 #H1004 #4971 #3639

#H933 #N1901 #H321 #1461 #H923 #3839 #40398 #2209 #N2152 #N1936 #5257 #H339

mericans’ ongoing struggle with obesity and diabetes continues to drive strong growth in two key areas: healthy fats and alternative sweeteners. Use this guide to spot the latest innovations and stay on top of the category. The growing and continued emphasis on healthy fats is the result of a few factors converging: The obesity and diabetes epidemics are macro forces that don’t seem to be going anywhere, and are major influences on consumer choices and behaviors. And as research has evolved around the role of dietary fat in human health—showing increasingly that certain fats are not culprits in weight gain and that they play active roles in supporting healthy weight management and stronger brain function—consumer interest has shifted to demand products that offer more of these good fats. Brands have taken note, and offerings that feature healthy fats in ingredients ranging from hemp seeds to MCT oil are flying off shelves. Some of the strongest growth is in sources of healthy fats that were previously largely untapped by the market. MCT, for example, typically in oil form derived from coconut, is showing up in a variety of categories that tap into the keto-minded consumer. The number of products featuring pili nuts grew more than 2,500% as these nuts have generated interest for their high levels of omega-9s, protein and fiber and are showing up in snacks, cookies and candy, butters and spreads and plant-based yogurt products; while products featuring kola nuts grew 208%. “This is nested in a larger force taking shape, which is consumers taking better agency over their own health and wellness,” said Amanda Hartt, lead market analyst for NEXT Data & Insights, the research arm of New Hope Network. “It reflects the growing interest in becoming more prevention-focused and less treatment-oriented.” There seems to be no category exempt from the healthy fats trend, with some of this year’s most innovative products showing up everywhere from yogurt and cheeses to supplements to desserts. To keep up not only with trends but the latest research in order to be able to support consumers, retailers need to pay attention to this space. Aaron Gottschalk, general manager of Wildberries Marketplace, said he’s seen the healthy fat category growing steadily for awhile and it has had an impact on the store. “The ghee and the duck and other fats are already a year (or more) into their cycle, with hemp and other seed oils starting to broaden appeal and shelf space,” he said.

MCT, typically in oil form derived from coconut, is showing up in a variety of categories that tap into the keto-minded consumer

featured MCT-containing products in 2017

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featured MCT-containing products in 2019

There’s no shortage of health claims associated with omega-3s—here’s one with some recent science behind it.

Study: Personalized treatment with omega-3s might help children with ADHD

Expo West sessions to check out

Understanding the Nutrition Science Driving Consumer Wellness & Product Trends

Natural Products Hemp & CBD Summit

The State of the Supplement Industry

As third-party certification labels gain consumer trust, two organizations have established programs to support brands' keto claims.

Keto credentials

'Clean keto' diet followers abhor saturated fats and highly processed snacks—a perfect market for natural retailers who offer the newest choices.

Clean keto: This low-carb, high-fat trend powers product innovation

Organic

Navigating Expo

Healthy Fats

Your guide to understanding the healthier side of fats across product categories at Natural Products Expo West

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