Why Rethink Food Ingredients Now?

The world population continues to grow, and nutritional gaps keep deepening. At the same time, conventional agribusiness models relying on a few widely produced crops like corn and wheat face increasing climate challenges and geopolitical tensions. How should ingredient strategies pivot to overcome these challenges?

There’s a 26% gap in consumers’ calorie intake globally

By 2040, the world will have nine billion consumers to feed – a rise of one billion from 2024. Yet, in 2023, there was already a 26% gap in consumers’ average daily calorie purchase worldwide, or 573 missing calories, signalling a major challenge at hand for global food systems.

Established agribusiness models rely on a limited number of widely produced commodities, such as beef and poultry, maize, wheat, rice and sugar, limiting nutritional biodiversity worldwide

^{Source: Euromonitor International}

At the same time, many countries that rely on food imports face issues related to access to food, and affordability. This results in nutritional imbalances across regions, with consumers in low-income brackets particularly lacking micronutrients, leading to conditions like blindness and anaemia, whilst more mature markets see excessive consumption of sugar, salt, fat and protein, and struggle with rising obesity.

The deficits in key nutrients in developing markets will largely need to be addressed through more fortified and functional product offerings. This will be particularly important in the Middle East and Africa, where calorie purchase is, on average, less than half the World Health Organization’s recommendation of 2,200 calories a day, and Southeast Asia. In 2024, as part of a wide endeavour to answer those needs across multiple countries, Nestlé released Maggi Soy Chunks in Central and West Africa as an affordable source of protein, iron and zinc, and Nido Milk & Soya fortified with iron.

Although in many markets, sugar, salt and fat content will continue to be in focus on the regulatory front, the revisit of the NOVA ultra-processed food classification by 2026 will arguably be even more defining for product innovation. The food solutions of the future should not only have nutritional density in mind, but also an optimised food matrix; in other words, a recipe that enables efficient nutrient absorption and metabolic processing in the body. In the UK, 2024 saw, for example, the release by brand Zoe of Daily 30+ meal topper in the form of a 32-plant rich sprinkle, made of whole foods to save much of the food matrix. 

30% of consumers are happy to pay more for foods with health and nutritional properties

In 2024, 30% of consumers globally were happy to pay more for health and nutritional properties, a desired feature in foods which is also on track to surpass affordability as the number one response in the Euromonitor Voice of the Consumer: Health and Nutrition Survey, fielded February 2024. 

Shoppers increasingly see food products as the sum of their ingredients and their properties, rather than a final processed product – an investment in a healthier, longer life

^{Source: Euromonitor Voice of the Consumer: Health and Nutrition Survey, fielded February 2024}

Among sought-after health benefits, gut health and the gut-brain axis will be particularly sought after. Fibre, notably through pulses such as chickpea and fava bean, and biotics will take more centre stage. That said, weight management has moved away from aesthetical concerns to become a bastion of a healthy life. As usage of GLP-1 receptor agonists for weight loss are set to rise fast across mature markets, meal solutions that propose to bridge nutritional gaps for GLP-1 users, notably by boosting protein intake, hold interesting prospects. In the US, Nestlé Health Science launched Vital Pursuit, a “GLP-1 companion brand” of frozen ready meals.

78% of food businesses highly value climate action

78% of food businesses think climate action is very or extremely important, according to Euromonitor International’s Voice of the Consumer: Sustainability Survey fielded January to February 2024. As well as addressing nutritional imbalances and answering new consumer health demands, food supply and ingredient sourcing must also radically evolve to overcome climate change and its major impact on food accessibility and affordability. 

Climate change is a key factor behind the lingering price volatility expected for many food commodities. As pork and beef not only have a much higher impact on the planet than crops do but also boast fast-growing commodity prices, more space should be made for plant-rich foods in people’s diets. This includes alternative proteins delivered through beans but also mycelia and algae. Alternatives to hyper-produced crops such as sugar, maize or wheat, which are also volatile, should be pursued. In South Africa, brand Monati’s latest instant porridge is made of locally-grown sorghum instead of wheat as a good source of fibre, 12 vitamins and four minerals. Millets also have high potential in the region as a climate-resilient and highly nutritious type of crop.

Being among the most volatile commodities over 2019-2024, citrus fruit could be more locally and more seasonally selected and sourced. Meanwhile, various cocoa alternatives will appear in the example of Cargill’s partnership with Voyage Foods for reverse-engineered plant-based food including cocoa-free chocolate confectionery.

Among the pillars of innovation to shape the food products and systems of the future is ingredient functionality. Pulses, fungi and algae will be major components to a healthy food proposition, alongside other nutritious and, importantly, more sustainable crops such as millets and sorghum in Middle East and Africa and Asia.

Learn more about ingredient diversification in our report, Rethinking Food Ingredients: Meeting Consumer, Supply and Regulatory Needs, to turn today’s health and sustainability challenges into long-term opportunities.