New Nutrition Business Podcast

No-one predicted that meat snacks would become one of the biggest and fastest-growing categories in the American supermarket, totally aligned with the needs of the health-conscious consumer. Nor did anyone imagine that "grass-fed" would be one of the messages that some consumers would value most, alongside the word "protein". Demand for grass-fed is quietly growing. Sales of grass-fed beef in the US are measured in billions and were up 35% last year. So perhaps it's no surprise that PepsiCo is getting into the grass-fed beef snack business. OK, so at NNB we did in fact predict, back in 2020, that meat snacks would grow, so we're taking a lap for that one. But we didn't get the PepsiCo prediction. Time: 14 minutes

Consumer interest in dairy protein emerged among gym-goers in the 1990s and became mass-market 7 years ago. In this podcast, we introduce two emergent strategies from our annual 10 Key Trends report that explain why consumer demand for dairy protein will keep growing for many years to come. One strategy is protein quality, an idea that's unknown to consumers but it is dairy's untapped competitive advantage. Danone, Meijiand Nestlé are leading the charge in Asia, introducing the message of protein quality tothe influential sports and fitness consumers. The other is creatine, a long-established, science-backed sports supplement now crossing over into foods, with emerging benefits for muscle, energy and cognition. Pioneering brands are blending creatine and high-quality protein. Opportunities for innovation will surge. Time: 25 minutes

Billions of dollars have been invested by companies using precision fermentation to make "animal-free" dairy proteins in a factory. Around 40 companies are aiming to replace large parts of the dairy industry and they claim that their alt proteins behave in the same way in the human body as real dairy proteins. However, a recently published scientific study suggest that these animal-free proteins in fact don't. They may have a different effect on the gut and immunity. Meanwhile no alt protein company has been able to produce a single study that backs up their claim of equivalence to the natural dairy matrix. Time: 16 minutes

Our first podcast about food history. Why history? Because if you're involved in producing food and in innovation, it's good to have a handle on the history of food and the timeless lessons about humans that food history can teach us - and that we can still apply today. Time: 15 minutes

Animal protein has become the most important growth trend in the business of food, nutrition and health. Consumer demand for dairy protein has been growing strongly – witness surging demand for cottage cheese – and red meat is now on the same path. Meat snacks are a hugely successful category in the supermarket, and one of the fastest-growing brands in America is a meat snack. Consumers are putting the brakes on meat-reducing, veganism is shrinking back to its niche, and cardiologists and doctors are re-thinking the role of red meat in a healthy diet. We're not alone in spotting rising demand for animal protein; Whole Foods Market, the leading natural foods retail chain in the US, reports that health-conscious consumers are now prioritizing animal protein. But how is this possible, after years of plant-based push? Dairy protein and red meat tick many boxes for consumers: “real” whole foods, nutrient-dense, versatile and good-tasting. Tune in to learn more! Time: 38 minutes

Humans don't want to eat technology. They prefer to eat real food. That's why the most successful strategy in the food industry, for the past 25 years, has been taking traditional foods and adapting them to the needs of modern consumers. One of the best examples is in Japan, where falling sales of tofu were reversed by a company figuring out how to reinvent tofu as a convenient and good-tasting snack for younger consumers. It's a strategy that also explains the success of Greek yoghurt, skyr, kefir and many others. This podcast sets out the success factors for reinventing a traditional food. Time: 19 minutes

The failure of the meat substitute business will be the must-read case study for the next decade. It shows what happens when companies make assumptions about consumers and their motivations instead of doing deep research and thinking. It shows what happens when products fail the taste test. And it shows what happens when you don't give anyone a compelling reason to buy your product. As the economic outlook darkens, the future isn't bright for this stumbling category. Time: 11 minutes

This podcast provides lessons you can use about innovation, new health benefits and reinventing a traditional food, told through the frame of three probiotic success stories. One is the story of how a trusted brand in Japan brought a sleep and anxiety benefit and created the most successful product launch - anywhere in the world - of the last 20 years. Two are from the US, where innovative and hard-working Turkish and Russian immigrants used tradition and technology to create something totally new for Americans. Time: 25 minutes

Billionaire investors, most of the media, and many environmental activists insist that we will soon all be eating cell-cultivated meat - a substance more commonly referred to as lab meat. Arguments are raging about the technology, its scalability, cost and regulation. But ultimately the decision about whether lab-meat succeeds lies solely in the hands of the consumer. And the evidence from real-world consumer behaviour isn't looking too good for the lab-meat promoters. Time: 24 minutes.

Nuti-Score is a European front of pack labelling scheme which ranks the healthiness of foods on a scale from A (most healthy) to E (least healthy). It's backed by governments in Germany and France. But it's opposed in Italy and Greece. Why? Could it be because it ranks many traditional foods in the Mediterranean diet as D or E? Or could it be because it ranks whole milk (C) as less healthy than Coke Zero (B)? Nutri-Score is flawed. And the evidence suggests that it may not be of much - or any - benefit for public health. It may be the world’s best example of how public health experts’ greatest expertise appears to lie in undermining their own credibility.

Oat milk is big and its success is admired! It's the fastest-growing segment of the US plant milk market. Sales jumped by an impressive 72% in 2021. But two-thirds of oat milk's growth came not from taking business from dairy milk, but by taking sales away from other plant milks. Almond, coconut and others all fell in 2021. Meanwhile, there's an even bigger and more successful product than oat - lactose-free dairy milk. It's growing faster than oat and is bigger than any type of plant milk. Time: 10 minutes.

Billionaire investors thought they could 'disrupt' livestock farming. They thought that meat substitutes would be an easy way to make their next billion. But they are having a shock encounter with reality. Consumers see meat substitutes as expensive novelties and are sticking with beef and lamb. As a result, losses are up - by 240% - at Beyond, the best-known brand in the substitute sector. Beyond's US retail sales fell by 20% at the end of 2021. Will Beyond become one of the biggest failures in food industry history?