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02.03.2012

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Farm To Pharma

Exploring Emerging Opportunities in Organic & Natural and Functional Foods and Beverages

Foods and beverages have long been at the center of consumers’ wellness lifestyles and are often the first step in health and wellness adoption. In U.S. culture, food is fuel for the body providing energy and sustenance. Given the essential and frequent nature of food and beverage consumption, consumers reason that nothing else will affect their health and wellness as significantly as what they eat and drink.

Never has the world of healthy foods and beverages been so complex. To help companies better understanding of consumers evolving and emerging perceptions, attitudes and behaviors along the continuum of foods from fresh to functional, the Hartman Group is launching the syndicated study, Farm to Pharma: Exploring Emerging Opportunities in Organic & Natural and Functional Foods and Beverages.

Farm to Pharma will explore strategic topics such as:

The intersection between consumer perceptions of natural/organic/clean foods and beverages and scientific/functional foods and beverages will be examined in step with overall trends in health and wellness. This examination will uncover new whitespace opportunities along the continuum of natural to functional.
Examine consumers by “farm to pharma” food and beverage cues, lifestage, health and wellness orientation and demographics
Channel and retail opportunities (grocery, mass, club, drug and dollar)

The study will include a strong longitudinal component that tracks how the landscape has changed over time.

Farm to Pharma is scheduled to field in the second quarter of 2012. Download the study overview for a more detailed description of the study scope, objectives, methodology and customization options. Sign up now to take advantage of special pricing for early participation. A limited number of early sponsors will have the opportunity to add their own study questions.

Click here to download the Farm to Pharma study overview and participation form>>

Continuing Story on Functional Foods

While hundreds of new functional and fortified products roll out of food and beverage manufacturing facilities each year, it’s rare for such products to offer much in the way of relevance to how consumers are changing. The good news is that consumers embrace foods with functional health benefits; the bad news that they don't embrace foods when they appear as if they emerged entirely from a laboratory (i.e., as medicine). In fact, the more scientific and opaque the formulation and the more potent the health benefit, the more consumers would rather just have a pill and a doctor involved.

This Hartman Group Point of View (POV) explores the current state of consumer reaction to functional foods marketing and offers three pathways to seize opportunities in this arena. We believe there are clear ways to succeed. To avoid expensive missteps, however, it is critically important to pay careful attention to the cultural dynamics of marketing functional health benefits in contemporary food culture.

Download the Hartman Group Functional Foods POV Paper >>

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