Functional Foods and Beverages Are Finally Making a Big U.S. Splash
Oct 1, 2008 12:00 PM
Along with functional products, natural & organic offerings help to boost U.S. healthy food and drink sales 8.3% to $129 billion in 2007
2008 will go down in history as the year the U.S. banking system fell to its knees. But, at least within the U.S. nutrition industry, it is also likely to be known as the year food manufacturers tapped into Americans' growing awareness of the connection between diet and health with a barrage of functional food and beverage launches. From Kraft's LiveActive line of probiotic foods to Kellogg's Live Bright Brain Health Bars to Unilever's Promise Activ SuperShots for Blood Pressure to Nui's lineup of kids drinks with calcium and fiber, consumers were greeted this year by a plethora of new functional food and beverage offerings — with each claiming to provide a new way for Americans to eat or drink their way to better digestive, cardiovascular, cognitive or general health. According to Mintel's Global New Products Database, 142 new functional foods or beverages aimed at digestive health and 134 new functional products targeted to cardiovascular health were launched in the United States between Jan. 1 and Sept. 23 of this year.
“We've been talking about functional foods for the last decade, and all of a sudden they are here in a big way,” said Jeff Hilton, co-founder and partner of Salt Lake City-based Integrated Marketing Group (IMG). “The massive product proliferation this year in the functional food area has just been wild.”
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