People around the world are turning away from so-called “ultra-processed foods” (UPFs) in favor of what they consider to be “real foods” from consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands.

These expectations that convenient, packaged foods should be simpler and less processed will continue to gain importance over the rest of this decade, according to food industry expert Julian Mellentin, director of New Nutrition Business.

In a recent five-country consumer survey by New Nutrition Business, 20% of Americans and 40% of Spanish consumers said they were trying to avoid UPFs2, the highest numbers since the consultancy began asking this question.

“The growing consumer interest in ‘less processed’ has grown out of the clean label trend of identifying something undesirable in our food and avoiding it,” said Mellentin. “What’s different is that we are entering a new phase. Brands will have to do more to reinvent ‘ultra-processed foods’ and to deliver products that get closer to consumers’ expectations of ‘real food.’”

Avoiding UPFs means, to a growing number of consumers, choosing fresh and natural foods. When the International Food Information Council (IFIC) asked Americans about the most common attributes of a healthy food, the top answer, given by 37% of people, was “fresh,” while 20% of consumers said “minimal or no processing.”

Approaching Reformulation

“The opportunity over the next 3-5 years is for packaged food companies—gradually, step-by-step—to renovate products,” said Mellentin. “That will require a focus on ingredients and processing technology which deliver the safety, convenience, and palatability people seek while doing so with as little processing as possible—or at least with a type of processing that people accept.”

“Ingredient suppliers have an important role to play in enabling this change, just as they have through the last 20 years of changing consumer preferences about clean label and free-from,” he added.

Companies do not need to renovate their entire product line, said Mellentin. “A significant percentage of mainstream consumers want to continue enjoying their favorite foods just as they are. The result may be that companies will have some products within their portfolio that meet consumer expectations for less processed and real food—just as today they have free-from or gluten-free lines in their portfolio.”

Brand Examples

In his recent report, 10 Key Trends in Food, Nutrition & Health 2023, Mellentin noted that there are many companies for whom “simply processed” and “real” are already part of strategy:

Yoplait’s French-inspired Oui by Yoplait yogurt, marketed in the U.S., communicates simple ingredients and artisanal-style packaging and production. It was the first product of its kind from General Mills, the world's 10th-biggest food company. The simplicity of the production process is explained to consumers. Oui achieved over $100 million in year one retail sales with three SKUs and has since been expanded to 26 SKUs.

Danone is responding to the trend in Spain, where it may be the most advanced. In fact, 40% of Spanish people claim to be avoiding UPFs—the highest number in Europe. The desire to avoid UPFs is partly cultural, but it also owes something to Carlos Rios, a Spanish blogger and nutrition guru with 1.5 million followers on Instagram. He is the creator of Realfooding, a movement which encourages people to avoid UPFs.

Danone has become the first major food company to engage with the Realfooding project. One of Danone’s natural drinkable yogurts, with just four ingredients, now carries the Realfooding endorsement.

Technology has an important role in enabling packaged products to deliver on consumer expectations. U.S.-based plant milk marketer Elmhurst has developed a technology called HydroRelease, which allows it to create a two-ingredient, nutritionally-dense plant milk that delivers on consumer expectations of simple processing and few ingredients, in marked contrast to most plant milks on the market.