The breakfast habits of Italians are changing, as they are increasingly opting for more organic, gluten-free and whole foods.
This is the conclusion of the third edition of the Immagino Nielsen GS1 Italy Observatory, which analysed the labels of 54,300 consumer breakfast food products for and compared them with sales data from supermarkets and hypermarkets.
Wellbeing Trends
The trend for healthier foods has led to an increase in the expenditure for products without components considered as harmful to health (fats, sugars and palm oil, but also lactose and gluten) and for foods rich in or enriched with beneficial substances, such as fibre or oats. In fact, free-from references accounted for 42.1% of sales in the breakfast category.
The analysis of the most widespread claims on the packaging of products for breakfast sees 'without palm oil' in first place (27.1% of sales), followed by ‘with fibre’ (7.4% share, +4.6% annually) and 'whole wheat' (7.2% share, +4.3% annual growth).
There was a growth of sales of products featuring labels which mentioned 'with sugar cane' (+17.2%), ‘without palm oil’ (+13.1%), ‘without added sugar’ (+10.6%), 'with rice flour' (+9.8%), ‘ low fat’ (+8.3%) and 'organic' (+8.3%). Overall, these products accounted for 12.2% of sales in 2017 (+3.9%).
Next up, with a 16.1% share each, are products which claim they are 'rich in' a certain ingredient, and those of an Italian origin (up by 3% and 1.1%). Completing the shopping basket are products with stamps and certifications related to origin or sustainability (15.9% share, + 2%), those that feature claims related to lifestyle (12.8% share, +5%) and those for people with food intolerance (12.2% share, +3.9%).
The other novelty is the arrival on the breakfast menu of some ‘superfoods’. On the wave of food fads, curiosity and the propensity to experiment with new healthy foods, spending increased on products containing oats, linseed and chia seeds, but also quinoa, ginger, cornmeal and cinnamon.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
