Research by Sodexo, a global food and facilities management company with a remarkable presence in India, studied the food habits of the urban millennial consumers in India, China, and Australia. The research was a mixture of qualitative and quantitative analysis. It skimmed through general food consumption and food habits in an office environment and identified various types of food consumers. They realized that millennials are not all the same. Instead, they represent a broad and diverse generation of people, with matching differences and similarities.

The first type of consumers is the ones who seek variety in whatever they consume. As much as they are fond of different cuisines, they are also focused on taste.

The second consumer type identifies as the health-conscious consumer. This type defines healthy food in terms of ingredients, cooking methods and nutrition. They are always searching for information on the latest. Taste and variety don’t matter to this consumer type. They are constantly searching for information on the latest trending foods.

The third consumer type is pragmatists who eat to satisfy hunger. They like variety but also look for consistency in taste, looking at the food from a value perspective.

Now here comes the master question, what do millennials actually prefer eating? The said generation is diverse and varied in their tastes like any other generation. Following are three common food trends that millennials discuss online:

1. Convenient and health food
   Millennials look for high-quality food options that take less time preparing and ordering and that fit their wallet.
2. Low calorie, yet high protein snacks
   Munching on things like nuts, trail mix, and lean meat reflects a commitment towards an active lifestyle
3. Good quality frozen food
   As surprising as it may sound, frozen foods are a handy way to help manage busy lifestyles.

As much as millennials enjoy cooking, they also enjoy casual fast food. Their desires and actions are contradicting regarding food. Concerned about making enough money, they spend more on food than any previous generations. They are more adventurous than their parents, yet picky about their food. If they are concerned about excessive intake of sugar, they are alright with the intake of carbs. As much as they are obsessed with a healthy lifestyle, no generation has been this overweight.

The post Millennial Food Preferences first appeared on Drytech.

However, Clean Label can have different meanings from one consumer to another depending on their expectations, perceptions, and wants. Various companies have trouble interpreting the true meaning of Clean Label.

The concept of “clean” is not based more on consumer perception than scientific evidence. While it seems simple, it is actually complex and unravels the deeper you dig. The most obvious aspect of clean label is to reduce the number of unidentifiable ingredients with long and difficult names perceiving to be artificial or synthetic in nature and serve no nutritional benefits.

Despite the lack of legal or commonly accepted definition, “Clean Label” is a wake-up call for the food industry to re-examine ingredients, formulations, and processing for consumers who are increasingly conscious about their food choices. It often refers to the number of ‘natural’ ingredients in the product. Consumers pay more attention to the list of ingredients, labels, and nutritional value.

As much as this movement has helped consumers understand the value of ‘all things natural’, it has also bewildered a large audience with respect to science and food. Consumers are skeptical about anything that sounds too scientific in their favorite food. For example, a product mentions containing tocopherol might confuse the users into believing it is an artificial substance but if the product mentions containing Vitamin E, there is no disbelief while it is the same thing. However, due to government regulations, certain ingredients are to be referred to as their scientific terms on the product.

Let’s take cereals for instance. About half of the ingredients on the side of the box are “actual ingredients” and the other half consists of various vitamins and minerals. However, when consumers don’t recognize names like “thiamine hydrochloride”, “ascorbic acid” or “niacinamide” which is Vitamin B1, Vitamin C and Vitamin B3 respectively they might consider the cereal as artificial.

Due to lack of familiarity with scientific terms, consumers might consider natural household staples complicated or not wholesome enough to satisfy their clean label inclinations. There is nothing wrong with pursuing clean label products but it is worth remembering that all of the ingredients in your food have been studied and declared safe for consumption by higher authorities.

Millennials follow trends immediately. Being a tech savvy generation, they have any information at their fingertips enabling them to look up the ingredients, compare products and look at their reviews online. Following the Clean Label trend better tailor product innovation, re-formulation, and marketing strategies.

Consumers are paying high attention to the composition of their food and how it is communicated in the packaging. Clean Label responds to the increasing demand for information and transparency by consumers. “Clean Labeling” is more of consumer demand than a trend to which the industry responds, emphasizing more on the aspect of food packaging and putting out information carefully.

The post The Brass Ring – Clean Label first appeared on Drytech.