10 - The diabetes ticking time bomb: How can the food industry help?
Finally, let's turn to one trend that isn't exactly hot right now, but certainly should be: Tackling the diabetes epidemic.
Given that one in three American adults is expected to develop type 2 diabetes by 2050, foods and supplements targeting pre-diabetics and type 2 diabetics would appear to have enormous potential. So why isn’t the ‘healthy blood glucose’ market exploding?
FDA gives green light to qualified health claim on whole grains and diabetes risk reduction
Lots of reasons, says Frost & Sullivan,which believes that the market for products helping people maintain healthy blood glucose levels is “significant” and “untapped”.
For a start, marketers are restricted in what they can say, although things have changed on this front recently, with the FDA giving the green light to two (very highly) qualified health claims about eating whole grains and reducing your risk of diabetes (click here).
However, it has also issued revised guidance saying that medical foods for diabetics should not be allowed, so any messaging around foods tackling pre-diabetes or diabetes needs to focus on phrases like low-GI (glycemic index) sustained energy or healthy blood glucose, rather than mentioning the 'D' word.
However, Boulder Brands, which recently acquired a controlling (80%) stake in GlucoBrands, the owner of Level Life Foods - a specialist in diabetes management products, agrees with Frost & Sullivan when it comes to the market potential.
Indeed, according to CEO Steve Hughes,“Diabetes is one of the largest and fastest growing need states in consumer foods today. However, it is an under-served market with few brands offering great tasting products with the optimal balance of sugar and carbohydrates."
Healthy blood sugar’ is a better way to communicate with consumers
Several industry watchers also believe pre-diabetes could be the next big opportunity in the functional foods and beverages market, although things have moved on since the low-carb, low-GI craze.
Speaking to us last year Jeff Hilton, co-founder of marketing consultancy BrandHive, said: “Low-GI was a hot trend for a while, but consumers just didn’t get it. And as for talking about metabolic syndrome [in which insulin resistance is a key component] forget it.
"'Healthy blood sugar’ is a better way to communicate with consumers, although it will still take a lot of education. But I do think there is a huge potential in this market as so many people are pre-diabetic.”
