Western Europe

According to the Health Service Executive (HSE), only 13% of Irish children fulfil the national physical activity recommendations, with at least one in five children being overweight or obese. Due to increasing concerns surrounding the topic, the…

Functionality has been the defining trend within soft drinks in 2022, with products being fortified with ingredients such as vitamins and zinc. Post-pandemic trends have led consumers to look for improved nutrition to support their immune system and…

The Irish health agenda, alongside post-pandemic health awareness behaviour, has drastically changed snack purchasing habits among local consumers. In December 2021, the new HFSS (High Fat, Salt and Sugar) rules were unveiled by the Advertising…

Despite Ireland remaining loyal to its tea-drinking heritage, exemplified by positive performances for Barry’s Tea and Lyons in recent years, local consumers are following health and wellness trends and shifting towards fruit/herbal tea, as the…

Irish dairy products are perceived as offering exceptional quality across the world, with a high rate of exports among local products which strengthen the Irish dairy brand perception – Ireland has been classified as the EU’s leading exporter of…

The pandemic strengthened an already growing health and wellness trend within cooking ingredients and meals in Ireland. The HFSS (High Fat, Salt and Sugar) regulations, which were unveiled in December 2021 by the Advertising Standards Authority for…

The health and wellness industry continues to grow in importance post-pandemic as consumers become more aware of the negative health impact of processed foods, seeking healthier foods and beverages from a range of claims such as natural, organic,…

The high overall consumption of processed meat and processed seafood in Switzerland presents significant opportunities for companies and brands that offer health and wellness organic versions of such products and, in particular, plant-based…

2022 saw health and wellness soft drinks outperform the overall soft drinks industry in Switzerland as consumer awareness of the health benefits of consuming health and wellness products generally continued to increase. Numerous categories of health…

Swiss consumers are generally already acutely aware of the immediate health dangers of excessive sugar consumption, including tooth decay and weight problems. Moreover, it is widely understood among the local population that the long-term health…

2022 saw a steep decline in demand for hot drinks in Switzerland and this can be seen as the natural reaction to the strong performances that were recorded in the category in 2020 and 2021, when the strict approach taken to social distancing and home…

During early 2022, Bio Suisse introduced new regulations relating to the production of organic cow’s milk in Switzerland, including a significant tightening of rules relating to the feed that is given to cows. Specifically, the proportion of…

2022 saw demand continue to increase across numerous categories of health and wellness cooking ingredients and meals, with these positive growth trends very much in line with the prevailing attitudes among Swiss consumers towards the dangers of…

The health and wellness industry continues to grow in importance post-pandemic as consumers become more aware of the negative health impact of processed foods, seeking healthier foods and beverages from a range of claims such as natural, organic,…

Towards the end of the review period, Norway’s health and wellness staple foods industry continued to record rising sales as a result of the development of the overall health and wellness trend. The largest category across the industry is natural…

2022 was an interesting year for the health and wellness soft drinks industry in Norway as demand patterns continued to be shaped by two countervailing trends. The first of these was the positive impact of domestic tax policy, specifically the…

The return to snacking as a common dietary habit among the Norwegian population during the post-pandemic era supported positive growth across many categories of health and wellness snacks during 2022 as local people returned to their active…

Most categories across health and wellness dairy products and alternatives in Norway underperformed over the course of 2022 and this can be attributed mainly to the resumption of cross-border shopping among the local population as the country’s…

2022 saw suppressed demand across Norway’s cooking ingredients and meals industry due to the resumption of the cross-border shopping that was extremely popular among local consumers prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This also adversely…

The health and wellness industry continues to grow in importance post-pandemic as consumers become more aware of the negative health impact of processed foods, seeking healthier foods and beverages from a range of claims such as natural, organic,…

Animal welfare continues to play an increasingly important role in the grocery shopping decisions of Austrian consumers and this strong focus on animal welfare continues to have a positive impact on demand for health and wellness processed meat.…

A wide range of health and wellness soft drinks categories recorded positive retail volume growth in 2022 as consumers prioritised various health and wellness attributes when purchasing soft drinks. The increased interest in improving one’s diet to…

Health and wellness savoury snacks remained highly popular among Austrian consumers at the end of the review period as significant numbers of local consumers looked to reduce their intake of snacks that are high in salt, fat and artificial…

Coffee remains the most popular and most commonly consumed hot drink in Austria. On average, Austrian consumers drink around three cups of coffee per day and it should therefore come as little surprise that many local consumers aim to integrate their…

2022 saw further expansion of the subgroup of Austrian consumers who are paying significant attention to their physical and mental health and the role that their diet plays in maintaining good physical and mental health. This has supported rising…

During 2022, convenience and health and wellness remained two of the most important megatrends influencing demand patterns among Austrian consumers and this combination of a desire to eat healthier types of convenience food supported strong growth in…

The health and wellness industry continues to grow in importance post-pandemic as consumers become more aware of the negative health impact of processed foods, seeking healthier foods and beverages from a range of claims such as natural, organic,…

This report examines inflation levels and drivers globally and in key countries in Q4 2023 and 2024. Global inflation is moderating, although divergence remains among the key economies. Higher volatility in the energy markets and disruption of…

One of the major issues of the pandemic was that people had fewer opportunities to do physical activities, as they stayed at home most of the time. Accordingly, many people gained weight, with the number of people diagnosed with overweight and…

At the beginning of the review period, gluten free staple foods was an underdeveloped category. Specialised channels such as health food stores and organic supermarkets were the main distribution channels and consumers who struggled with issues…

Plant-based meat and seafood substitutes enjoyed strong growth in current value terms in 2022 with the category continuing to benefit from the rising number of vegan, vegetarian and flexitarian consumers in Sweden. Consumers are looking to eat…

In 2022, demand for staples foods was polarised between consumers searching for lower prices due to high inflation in the country and those who opted to adopt healthier diets and were willing and able to pay more for higher quality or specific value,…

In packaged cakes, there is a growing demand for products that both satisfy the need for indulgence while still being considered a healthy eating option. In this context, Italian consumers are looking for low fat and low sugar cakes and that are rich…

The consumer base in Turkey increased in 2022, as the country saw substantial immigration, and also a strong influx of tourists. Despite inflationary pressures and higher prices, the consumption of soft drinks increased, and the focus on health and…

The transition to low sugar and no sugar products began a few years ago, although the pandemic accelerated the trend. The pandemic brought significant changes in the way consumers approached their health and wellness which led to a sudden and…

The shift from traditional or sugary alternatives, such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi, to low/no sugar variants, like Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, Coca-Cola Light, and Pepsi Max, is not a new trend, but it is the longest standing health trend in soft drinks. This…

Sugar intake remains one of the primary concerns for consumers in Spain, which supported demand for low sugar, no sugar and no added sugar claims within soft drinks in 2022. A major contribution comes from no sugar cola carbonates. While lower-income…

The strongest trend in health and wellness soft drinks in Italy in 2022 concerned the development of low sugar and no added sugar soft drinks. This was linked to the growing media attention on Italy’s rising obesity rate and the health risks…

Consumers in Turkey have become highly price-sensitive, given the steep inflation rate and the decrease in tourism, as the country traditionally benefited from tourist arrivals from both Ukraine and Russia, with this disrupted by the war in Ukraine.…

Vegan snacks registered a strong sales performance in 2022 as all vegan categories achieved above average growth, including vegan ice cream, which performed particularly well. Moreover, the range of vegan chocolate confectionery is constantly…

Swedes love their snacks with high levels of per capita consumption for most categories but demand for healthier options remains comparatively quite low. Unlike most packaged food categories where consumers are opting for healthier alternatives of…

Spaniards are increasingly reducing their sugar intake when consuming packaged foods, including snacks that contain low sugar content. This trend has become mainstream within sweet biscuits. Local consumers want to treat themselves but with no…

The pandemic adversely affected consumption of snack bars with these products having fallen out of favour as consumers spent more time at home, but with the return to normal life in 2022, sales also returned to growth. Convenience and taste were at…

Tea consumption in Turkey is vast, with most consumers drinking tea daily, and most tea produced within the country. According to the World Tea Committee, Turkey is the number one country by per capita consumption of tea. The tea industry in Turkey…

Organic claims are significant in both the tea and coffee categories in the hot drinks market in the Netherlands. However, in 2022, there was a sharp decline in retail value sales of the organic claim. While organic remains one of the smaller…

The lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic combined with the economic fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine led to skyrocketing unit prices as Sweden experienced spiralling rates of inflation. This led to a drop in disposable income which in…

Despite holding overall low value sales share within Spanish hot drinks, demand for organic options rose in 2022. Organic tea experienced certain resilience with a positive evolution in both green tea and the larger category of fruit/herbal tea. The…

The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on consumer purchasing behaviour when it came to hot drinks. Indeed, trends such as the increased focus on preventive health, which developed in 2020, remained quite relevant in 2022, with this being…

The health and wellness trend is shaping product developments in dairy products and alternatives in Turkey, with a noticeable rise in fortified/functional products, especially in drinking milk products, and cheese, as well as baby food. For instance,…

High protein products in the dairy category became increasingly popular as consumers prioritised their health and wellness in 2022. This trend was initially fuelled by the COVID-19 pandemic and heightened awareness of the connection between diet and…