Saturated fat is the new leader in the fat avoidance market. Two-thirds (67%) of Boomers, 66% of Gen Xers and 46% of Gen Yers are reducing/avoiding saturated fats, vs. 63%, 61% and 49%, respectively, for trans fats, according to the Hartman Group’s 2010 “Reimagining Health and Wellness” report.
Eight in 10 (79%) shoppers believe that saturated fats are bad; 77% trans fats, reports the Food Marketing Institute’s (FMI) 2010 “U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends” survey. Moreover, in unaided questioning, low in saturated fat is now the 4th most important component of healthy eating cited by 22% of consumers, ranking right behind vegetables, fruits and limiting processed foods per Mintel’s 2009 “Attitudes Towards Food: Weight and Diet” report.
With the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee recommending a reduction of saturated fat from <10% of calories to <7% and replacement of saturated fat with more unsaturated alternatives, the opportunity for products with a low saturated fat profile will grow larger still.
Sales of foods/beverages touting a fat-related claim hit more than $46 billion in mass channels in 2009 excluding Wal-Mart per the Nielsen Co.; those with a specific fat claim, e.g., no trans fat, $14.8 billion. More than one-third (37%) of grocery shoppers bought more lower-fat products in 2010 than last year reports FMI. One in five (17%) of the best-selling new foods/drinks in 2009-10 had a lower in fat claim, according to SymphonyIRI’s “2010 Pacesetter Report.”
According to Sloan Trends’ TrendSense model, saturated fat has overtaken trans fat as the most important fat issue in the mass market. When FDA mandated trans fat labeling in 2006, both trans and saturated fat enjoyed an enormous jump in Consumer Counts and marketability, with Consumer Counts for trans fat outpacing saturated fat.
However, after a peak in Medical Counts for trans fat in 2006-07 correlating to the Institute of Medicine/FDA decision to eliminate trans fats, research activity has fallen off, resulting in lower level Consumer Counts, which caused trans fat to fall out of the mass market or Commercialization Phase in 2008 and 2009, clearly losing some of its momentum. On the other hand, Medical Counts for saturated fat have continued to build throughout the decade, and are now pushing saturated fat ahead of trans in terms of its mass-market appeal.
Like other market categories, the fat category is segmenting into individual components. When looking at the Nutrition Facts Label, Americans are focusing on total fat less often—62% in 2010 vs. 69% in 2009, reports The International Food Information Council (IFIC). The number of shoppers looking for low fat health claims fell 5 points from 51% in 2009 to 46% in 2010 and 4 points for trans fat, down from 48% to 44%, per FMI.