Millennials Move Health and Wellness Market in New Ways – Progressive Grocer

Plant-Forward Diets Meet Health  and Sustainability Needs

While some Millennials see vegetarian, vegan or plant-forward diets as better for their health, others choose those diets because of their concern about the environmental impact of eating meat.

More than one in five Millennials (22%) have adopted a vegetarian diet at some point in their lives, and 16% have tried a vegan diet, according to YouGov research, but a much larger share, 45%, are adopting a flexitarian lifestyle, in which they’re reducing meat consumption yet not cutting it out entirely. A slightly smaller discuss of Millennials, 18%, are usually turning to dairy-free eating.

Sprouts Farmers Market commissioned One Poll to conduct consumer research around New Year’s 2021 to find out how shoppers were thinking about plant-based foods, finding that 54% of Millennial respondents had been consuming more plant-based meals than meats, in contrast to the particular 47% of consumers of all age groups who described themselves as flexitarians.

While 58% of survey respondents reported feeling that all associated with their nutritional needs could be met with use of plant foods, 63% of Millennials said that will a plant-based diet can fulfill their nutritional needs. Only 30% of shoppers within the Boomer generation plus older felt the same way.

This shift toward a lot more plant-based foods and meat alternatives will only grow, the retailer predicts. “The interest in plant-based food items and a flexitarian diet is evident, ” says Sprouts CEO Jack Sinclair. “Plant-based product sales grew exponentially last year, indicating consumers are craving innovative items to try at home. ”

According to SPINS, the retail market with regard to plant-based meals and beverages is worth $5. 6 billion and growing in a pace of 29% annually, almost twice the 15% growth rate of the overall food and beverage market.

In its “State of Natural 2021” report, marketplace researcher ROTATES notes that plant-based ready-to-drink shelf-stable tea and coffee have been recent stars, growing 76%, while compared with 12% development for the particular category overall. Other high performers were shelf-stable jerky and meats snacks, up 53% within a category with 15% growth; refrigerated creams plus creamers, upward 38% in a category along with 16% growth; and chilled plant-based cheese, up 37% in the refrigerated cheese/plant-based cheese category, which has 17% growth.

Young People Say, ‘It’s OK to Not Be OK’

During the delayed pandemic Olympics in 2021, top-ranked gymnast Simone Biles withdrew from the all-around team competition and three of the particular four individual events regarding which she qualified, saying that she needed to focus on her well-being and mental health. Epitomizing younger Americans’ acceptance associated with mental wellness issues and of speaking openly about them, Biles received an outpouring of support from her Millennial and Gen Z peers — she was born on the cusp between generations — as well as all-time Olympic gold medal winner Michael Phelps, a Millennial who has been spreading his mantra “It’s OKAY to not be OK” while speaking freely about his own struggle with depression.

Healthscape’s “2020 Healthcare Trends Executive Brief” identified mental health openness as one of the top trends in Millennials’ interactions with health care. “Millennials have overcome the stigma associated with seeking professional help for psychological health that will previous generations held, ” the report observes. “They are not only more likely in order to identify behavioral health issues, but also seek treatment. ”

In a YPulse study of Millennials and Gen Zers, i. e., people age 13 to 39 in 2020, 77% said that maintaining their own mental wellness had become more important to them during the pandemic, with 59% reporting   that they were “going the extra mile” to take care of their particular mental health.
In January 2020, even before COVID-19 hit, 30% of Millennials inside a YouGov survey said that they had changed their diet to improve their mental health.

Millennials understand that better sleep is tied to good psychological health, so the trend toward eating certain foods and taking supplements to improve sleep will be intertwined along with Millennials’ commitment to their mental health.

A CRN survey taken in the particular midst of the outbreak found that melatonin, magnesium and CBD were among the most popular supplements taken intended for mental plus sleep wellness, regardless associated with the consumer’s age.

Among the lesser-known ingredients for brain health, 3 in the nootropics group have seen double-digit growth in usage by manufacturers, in accordance to MOVES. Use of Bacopa monnieri, an herb used by Ayurvedic medical practitioners that is said to enhance brain function, increased 148%; use of phosphatidylserine, an amino acid derivative purported to support memory, mental alertness and cognitive function, rose 109%; and utilization of DMAE, which is stated to assistance neurotransmitter production, grew 104%.