From grains to superfoods, the demand for beneficial ingredients is growing. The tenth edition of GS1 Italy’s Immagino Observatory compiled a ranking of the most frequently sold beneficial products/ingredients in Italian supermarkets and hypermarkets, with almonds emerging as the product with the highest turnover. Analysis of the performance of the top 4 products in each category.
Some ingredients achieve celebrity status due to their virtuous benefits and a popularity connected to consumer trends and hype. Their presence is dominant: consumed in bulk, they’re prevalently used in foods and beverages, but are also found in unexpected contexts like cosmetics.
With the tenth edition of its Immagino Observatory, GS1 Italy has outlined the parameters of this phenomenon, cross-referencing the information found on the labels of more than 125,000 consumer products between June 2020 and June 2021. Of the many ingredients out there, it analyzed the trends of those which are rightly defined “beneficial”.
27 ingredients were identified, considered beneficial thanks to consumer perception of the additional benefits that they give a product in terms of both nutritional value and how they enhance its organoleptic and holistic performance.
The phenomenon is interesting: while some ingredients rose to fame as quickly as they were then forgotten, others have proven to be more stable and well-rooted even in the medium-long term, demonstrating that the phenomenon of beneficial ingredients isn’t a fleeting trend, but rather assumes different expressions from survey to survey.
Today 5% of the turnover monitored by the Immagino Observatory is made up of products whose packaging highlights the presence of one of these 27 super ingredients.
The Superfruits Showcase
This is a family of exceptional fruits, with ultra-beneficial properties, that are particularly popular on the market. They claim 2.3% of the total recorded consumer value and 3% of the product assortment. Superfruits have the highest additional revenue: in fact, between June 2020 and June 2021, their sell-outs increased by +6.8%, reaching nearly €647 million.
So which are these ingredients that are so popular among consumers? The gold medal goes to domestic almonds which, with €359 million in sell-outs, is also the beneficial ingredient with the highest revenue. Almonds are found in a wide variety of contexts including ice cream, plant-based beverages, sweet grain-based snacks, and melba toasts, and are mentioned on the label of 1,191 consumer products, from food to beverages and even cosmetics.
Following at a respectful distance is the blueberry, whose sales have increased by +1.8%, in particular in multi-pack ice creams, melba toasts, nectars, sweet grain-based snacks, functional yogurt, and Greek yogurt. Sales of blueberries as a fruit have also increased.
The coconut phenomenon remains stable: the turnover of the 396 products which mention it on their labels went up by +12.9%, also due to a hefty increase in demand (+9.2%). Enriched biscuits, beverages, Greek yogurt, and sweet snacks registered the best performance, while that of “coconut water” was decidedly negative, dropping by -22.4%.
Finally there’s avocado, which confirms its status as a star ingredient with 43 products on the shelf and almost €16 million in sales, but above all with a growth of +34.6% in sell-outs over the course of the 12-month period, and double-digit growth in both the pull (+23.2%) and push (+11.4%) components of the market.
Super-Grains and Super-Flours: a Positive Performance for Just One
This family is made up of eight ingredients for a total of 2,046 products with a turnover that reaches €450 million, in line with the results of the year ending in June 2020 (-0.3%).
The family’s performance is the result of a decline in supply (-3.2%), while demand has remained positive at +2.9%. Of the eight super-grains identified by the Immagino Observatory, first place in terms of turnover goes to oats, with more than €206 million in sell-outs, a yearly increase of +3.9%. The only one of the supergrains to have experienced a positive trend, it can be found in beverages, breakfast cereals, sweet grain based snacks, enriched melba toasts, functional yogurts, and enriched whole wheat shortbread biscuits.
Meanwhile, the performances of the other super-grains are decidedly negative, with a drop in both supermarket and hypermarket sales. The decline of wheat germ, which lost -22.2% of its revenue due to the combined reduction in both its push and pull components, is something to take note of.
Rice oil also experienced a double-digit drop in turnover, with -10.4% over the course of the 12 months, and Kamut, also with a negative performance, did little better, with a -5.9% drop in sales in the regional specialities, crispy breads, and flour categories.
Finally, a negative result for spelt as well, with -4.2%, present in the snack cake, multi-grain shortbread biscuit, and pizza categories.
Seeds and Wellness, a Healthy Market
Meanwhile, the multi-coloured world of seeds is in good health, with years of relentless growth behind it. Its turnover accounts for 0.4% of the entire range of packaged consumer goods identified by the Immagino Observatory.
Translated into numbers, this is equal to €98 million in sell-outs generated by 493 products. At the top of the ranking is another domestic ingredient, pumpkin seeds, with the 154 products indicating it on their labels (in particular enriched melba toasts) achieving +6.3% in sales. The performance of flax seeds is also on the rise (+7.5% over the 12-month period), with melba toasts and sweet snacks making a positive contribution.
The numbers are less dazzling, though still positive, for chia seeds, with sales that have gone up by only 0.5%, connected to whole wheat shortbread biscuits and driven by a very positive demand (+14.3%).
Meanwhile, a +13.5% expansion in supply is responsible for the major increase in sell-outs of products whose labels specify “sesame seeds”: sales have gone up globally by +19.2% in almost every category, in particular hamburger buns.
Finally, the best performer among seeds over the past 12 months is hemp, mentioned despite being in fifth place, due to its promising +22% increase in value sales (in particular in herbal teas) and a very positive demand (+15.3%).
Spices on the Decline, Except for Cinnamon
Over the past 12 months the boom in spices has curtailed, causing a plateau (-0.6%) in the sales curve of the 840 products identified by the Immagino Observatory which indicate one of the three ingredients monitored in the study. Overall, their turnover exceeds €91 million and analysis of the dynamic of the two market components shows a demand that’s still positive (+3.4%) as compared to a supply that’s decreasing (-3.9%).
Among the monitored spices, only one showed a positive trend: cinnamon, an ingredient with +10.4% in sales, exceeding €15 million. Its presence is strengthened in multi-pack ice creams and herbal teas. The performance of its demand was significant, with an increase of +8.8%.
Ginger, on the other hand, made a pit stop, losing -1.7% of its annual sales due to a -3.6% reduction in the supply, which is made up of 512 products. While on one side its use in whole wheat shortbread biscuits and ready-made soups increased, on the other there was a reduction in the sales of functional yogurt, UHT smoothies, and dried fruit.
Finally, turmeric also ended the year on a negative note with sell-outs decreasing by -3% due to a nearly -6% drop in the supply, which now consists of 228 products. Among the categories which saw a reduction in sales are functional yogurt and fresh filled pasta.
Superfoods and Culinary Trends
Collectively, the four ingredient categories of this study, in the year which ended in June 2021, experienced a -10.4% drop in sales, which amounted to approximately €10.6 million. This confirms how the perception of an ingredient as a superfood is strongly connected to fashions and trends.
167 products remain on the shelves, with a supply that has dropped by -17.8% in one year despite a demand which, regardless, has grown by +7.5%. Goji berries have seen a sharp decline, with almost one quarter less in turnover, amounting to €6.3 million. -30% for the 101 products still on the shelf, while demand continues to grow (+4.4%) for dried fruit and gluten-free snacks.
Nevertheless, for each superfood that’s languishing, three others are going strong. The first is matcha, earning +11.5% in sales, or close to €2.6 million. Present particularly in teas and ground coffee capsules, which compensated for the steep drop in supply (-13.2%), it has 39 products.
Açai registered +12.4% in sales, above all increasing in functional yogurt and in dark chocolate, and surpassing €2.6 million in sell-outs with 10 products on the shelf and a supply that has increased by +12% in the face of a demand which has plateaued (+0.4%).
Finally, a boom for spirulina, present in the smoothies and natural-extract supplements categories, thanks to a +50% increase in supply (arriving at 27 products) and a demand that has grown by +13.2%. The turnover for this ingredient has increased by a remarkable +63.2% over the course of the 12 months, surpassing €2.6 million.
