Has lockdown influenced our need for healthy foods?

In our evolution of health report from this time last year, we saw that health was important to 62% of consumers but was only a driver of food choice for 33% at home. Growth of the health market was driven more by ‘managed-led’ health (restrictive diets, for example, low in fat), rather than ‘benefits-led’ health (diets focused on adding, for example, more vitamins). In our webinar in January, we saw that health had been growing since 2015 but had plateaued in 2019.  So how has this changed since lockdown?

According to Kantar, in April and May, there were 2 billion more meals consumed for health compared to the same period last year. Despite these areas of growth, overall health has lost share in total servings, with enjoyment growing at a larger rate, largely due to the need for comfort foods during times of uncertainty. During lockdown, consumers have compensated for the loss of bigger treats such as holidays or big family eating out occasions with smaller treats such as indulging in food for enjoyment. From our consumer tracker* with YouGov we saw that while 22% said they had eaten more healthy foods during lockdown, 29% disagreed.

Has the meaning of health changed?

It is important to remember that health is much more influential in the home. When eating out, people are often looking for more of a treat so health drops down as a priority – with only 7% of meals eaten out of home driven by health needs. Before Covid-19, quality of food and value for money were the top two considerations when choosing where to eat and drink, according to CGA. Now, perhaps unsurprisingly, hygiene/cleanliness has become the most important consideration, with quality and value for money still closely following. Availability of healthy options, remains the lowest priority both pre and post lockdown.

We have seen a return to benefits-led health which grew 13% in April and May compared to last year. Managed-led health also saw growth but only 2% (Source: Kantar)

The increased number of meals eaten in-home has led many consumers to look for new dishes to stop the repetition of similar meals. Those choosing foods to provide a varied diet has increased 40% compared to last year. The other biggest areas where we saw growth were getting a portion of fruit or veg (+22%) and more natural/less processed (+19%). These could feed into the trend we saw for increasing cooking from scratch, which is generally seen as healthier.

Many consumers are looking for inspiration and recipes on google, mainly for the evening meal, with  health being one of the most featured search terms.

Economic uncertainty during lockdown has led to financial concerns for many consumers. This, coupled with price rises in supermarkets, means some people may not have been able to eat as healthily as they would like. According to IGD, 7 in 10 believe it is more expensive to eat healthily, so it’s unsurprising that of those on a tight budget, 15% have cut back on the number of healthy foods they have bought.

Diet types

There has been no movement on our consumer tracker* for those saying they follow a vegan diet, remaining static at 3%. However, we have seen the number of households buying meat free options drop back over the lockdown.

We have continued to see increased interest in the Keto (high protein, low carbohydrate) diet throughout lockdown, which is a big opportunity to tailor meat and dairy products to this health trend.

According to Mintel, most consumers would prefer to gain nutrients from natural sources. However, this hasn’t stopped the growth in fortified products, with added protein being the number one ‘plus’ claim on new products in 2019. Red meat and dairy could do more in this space as Mintel suggests that 8.6% of high/added protein claims were made by meat substitutes compared to 6% for dairy, 5.1% for fish, 2.7% for poultry and 1.4% for red meat.

Outlook

As lockdown eases, we expect to see the number of in-home meals ease compared with last month but still be more than last year. Positive health messaging is vital but it needs to complement other key decision criteria such as price, taste, convenience and treating. As we enter a time of economic uncertainty, price and value for money become more important when shopping and taste and enjoyment become bigger drivers of meal choice, so we could see health continue to lose share.

While health can sometimes be less of a purchase motivator during hard economic times, it is still important to remind consumers of the positive health benefits of red meat and dairy alongside messaging around taste and enjoyment as consumers look for foods to meet more and more needs. Continuing reminders of how beneficial these products are as part of a balanced diet will help the industry to remain on the front foot when the economy picks up and health grows as a driver again.

Locked down shoppers turn to vegetables, shun ready meals

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Shoppers cut spending on ready-made meals and bought more fruit and vegetables, turning to healthier eating during coronavirus lockdowns, preliminary results of a research project showed.

People forced to stay home also tried new recipes and threw away less food, the survey of nearly 11,000 shoppers in 11 countries found.

“Amid lockdowns people are eating healthier, are cooking their own food and are consuming more fruit and vegetables,” said Charlotte De Backer, who coordinated the study at the University of Antwerp in Belgium.

As they deserted offices and cooked at home, shoppers cut purchases of microwaveable food in all the countries surveyed - Australia, Belgium, Chile, Uganda, the Netherlands, France, Austria, Greece, Canada, Brazil and Ireland.

“We switched from snacks, restaurant food, online delivery orders to home cooking,” Firene, an Azerbaijan national who lives in Brussels, said, describing changes in his household during the pandemic. “I lost four kilos so I’m proud of that.”

In nearly half of the countries surveyed, shoppers bought fewer salty or sweet snacks, although overall sales remained stable.

Consumption of salty, fat and sweet products usually goes up when people are under stress, but during the pandemic this heightened craving has been fulfilled in many countries with home-baked delicacies, said De Backer, who chairs FOOMS, a research group on food and media at the University of Antwerp.

Chile, for instance, saw a large drop in sales of snacks, but also the biggest rise in purchases of flour and yeast.

Consumption of meat, fish and alcoholic drinks remained stable throughout the pandemic.

The survey, based on voluntary online responses from April 17 to May 7, of which 6,700 were from Belgium, will be extended to consumers in about 25 countries with final results due by the end of June.

HEALTH CONCERNS

De Backer said the preliminary findings showed clear trends that were unlikely to be modified by new data, as the pandemic has strengthened people’s attention to food and healthier options.

Muriel Bernard, founder of Belgium-based organic food online retailer eFarmz, had to nearly double her workforce to 25 to meet demand for her fresh products. “After a few days of confinement we have seen a big increase in sales,” she said.

In all surveyed countries people bought more fresh, canned or frozen fruit and vegetables throughout lockdowns, a change De Backer said could be explained by heightened health concerns.

Careful planning to cut time spent in supermarkets could also have contributed, De Backer said. “If you make a shopping list, you plan your meals ahead and you are less likely to add unhealthy food.”

Respondents to the survey, who were mostly women, also tried new recipes during the pandemic and used more left-overs, reducing food waste.

This attitude is linked to fears of food shortages, De Backer said, and is likely to recede once consumers see no more empty shelves in supermarkets, which have suffered some supply disruptions during the pandemic.

But some of the eating habits are likely to outlast the epidemic, De Backer added, because in many countries lockdowns lasted longer than the six weeks it takes to form a new habit.

Also, as people grow more confident in the kitchen, trying new recipes, one of the key barriers to home cooking may be torn down, De Backer said.

Some farmers lost out. The closure of restaurants cut demand for products like mushrooms, lettuce and micro-vegetables, according to Freshfel Europe, an association representing the European sector for fresh produce whose annual turnover is estimated at 200 billion euros ($216 billion).

And some shoppers bucked the trend. “We eat a little worse. We go on food binges with more sweets,” said Salvatore, who is looking for a job in the catering industry in Belgium.

People on meat-free diets have lower odds of contracting Covid-19: Study

People on meat-free diets have lower odds of contracting Covid-19: Study(Shutterstock)

The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for Covid-19, the illness caused by the virus.

Covid-19 severity linked with diet

People on meat-free diets had lower odds of contracting moderate to severe Covid-19, according to a six-country study published on Monday in BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health. Plant-based diets were tied to a 73% lower risk of severe disease, researchers found in a survey of 2,884 healthcare providers who cared for Covid-19 patients. Combining those on a plant-based diet and people who also ate fish but no meat, researchers found 59% lower odds of severe disease. The study cannot prove that specific diets protected against severe Covid-19, and diet did not appear to lower the risk of becoming infected. But plant-based diets are rich in nutrients, vitamins and minerals that are important for healthy immune systems, the researchers noted, and fish provide vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids, which have anti-inflammatory properties. Healthy eating, however, has been problematic during the pandemic, according to two presentations this week during a virtual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition. Consumption of healthy foods such as vegetables and whole grains declined, according to researchers who compared the diets of more than 2,000 Americans before and during the pandemic. In a separate study, researchers who collected dietary data in June 2020 for 3,916 U.S. adults found many had increased their consumption of unhealthy snacks, desserts and sugary drinks during the pandemic. "Individuals may need help to avoid making these dietary changes permanent," said Dr. Sohyun Park of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, coauthor of the latter study.

No serious problems with AstraZeneca vaccine in Scotland

A study of side effects from AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine in Scotland found only an association with a largely harmless bleeding condition and no link to the potentially deadly venous clotting in the brain, known as CVST, which has caused concern in Europe and led to pauses in its use. Researchers who tracked 5.4 million people in Scotland found roughly one additional case of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) per 100,000 people after the first AstraZeneca shot. ITP is a treatable condition of low platelet count and has not caused any deaths among the 1.7 million recipients of the vaccine in the study, the authors reported on Wednesday in Nature Medicine. Due to the rarity of CVST, the Scottish study may have been too small to allow for any conclusions, coauthor Aziz Sheikh of the University of Edinburgh told a media briefing. "The overall message is just the rarity of these outcomes," said Sheikh. "This is reassuring data."

Aspirin does not help hospitalised Covid-19 patients

Aspirin did not improve survival or reduce disease severity in a study of nearly 15,000 patients hospitalized with Covid-19. Researchers had hoped that because aspirin helps reduce blood clots in other diseases, it might be helpful in Covid-19 patients who are at a higher risk for clotting issues. Patients randomly assigned to receive 150 milligrams of aspirin once a day did have fewer blood clots, but no lower risk of becoming sicker and requiring mechanical ventilation or better odds of being alive after 28 days. And they had a higher risk of major bleeding complications, a not uncommon issue with aspirin therapy. They did have slightly better odds of getting out of the hospital alive, researchers reported on medRxiv on Tuesday ahead of peer review. But "this does not seem to be sufficient to justify its widespread use for patients hospitalized with Covid-19," said Peter Horby of the University of Oxford, co-chief investigator of the trial.

Covid-19 control policies still needed in warm weather

In the absence of lockdowns and social distancing, weather and crowding have the biggest impact on Covid-19 spread, a new study found. But even if virus transmission tends to be somewhat lower in warmer conditions, summer weather "cannot be considered a substitute for mitigation policies," because population density matters more than temperature, according to the report from Imperial College London published on Wednesday in PNAS. Warmer regions should not expect to ease mobility restrictions before colder regions, especially because "warmer regions tend to have higher population densities - for example, the population in Florida is more densely packed than in Minnesota," coauthor Will Pearse said in a statement. Lockdowns have stronger effects than either temperature or population density, his team reported. Because temperature changes have a much smaller effect on transmission than policy interventions, "while people remain unvaccinated, governments mustn't drop policies like lockdowns and social distancing just because a seasonal change means the weather is warming up," said coauthor Dr. Tom Smith. The study also suggests "that lower autumn and winter temperatures may lead to the virus spreading more easily in the absence of policy interventions or behavioural changes."