“Let the food be the medicine and medicine be the food” said Hippocrates, considered the “Father of Medicine”. The coronavirus has not only made us aware of the progress in vaccines and drugs but also made us interested in home-made and healthy food which allows us to decrease the risk factors related to this disease.
The lockdown in March caused a return to home-made food, and both working from home and the limitations on social life have made it possible to maintain this habit. From the 600 consumers participating in the BBC innovation research, 56% said that they spend more time cooking now. This change has caused an increase in online and supermarket shopping.
EIT Food has made a research about the changes in the eating habits caused by the coronavirus in several countries, including Spain. According to that study, 53% of Spanish people acknowledges that they take now the shopping planification more serious (compared to 45% of European population).
Betting on the local products
It is expected for 2021 to be an increasing bet on local fresh products. Some researchers have pointed to healthy eating as one of the best ways to prevent the adverse effects of coronavirus. This is much easier to control when we are our own chefs. Moreover, the current economic crisis has led many people to show solidarity with local businesses more than with large companies. 37% is Spanish people consider the businesses closeness important (compared to 30% of community average).
There is also a considerable increased interest in ESG businesses, which are concerned that their products do not have a negative environmental impact. Consumers will also demand transparency of nutritional information from food companies. With the rise of real fooding and other healthy trends, people are increasingly concerned about the nutritional characteristics of food, not just how it looks.
The flexitarian diet is the winner
One of the main alimentation current trends is the flexitarian diet. Since not everybody is willing to become vegetarian, more and more citizens (especially millenials) are aware of the excessive animal products intake. The flexitarian diet proposes reducing the intake of these products without eliminating them from the diet. Therefore, an increase in the plant-based products offer is expected. In this context, the products with a bigger sales increase are fruits (32%), vegetables and legumes (27%).
Family meals have increased in 2020. Thanks to the reduction of social life, it is easier to combine the schedule of the cohabitants. In addition, the closure of school canteens has incorporated the youngest children into these meals. Families are therefore purchasing food in large quantities to produce large portions to feed everyone, with a special focus on products that have a positive effect on children’s development.
The boom of the meal kits
Homemade, local, transparent, familiar and concerned about the environment and animals. This is what food is expected to be like in 2021. Fellow Funders is always trying to be adapted to changes in society and economy. Therefore, we are supporting FoodInTheBox through a financing round.
This startup offers its users a meal kit service. This concept, which consists of offering consumers healthy recipes and home delivery of the ingredients to prepare them, is becoming important in Spain. FoodintheBox is committed to environmentally friendly suppliers and offers different healthy plans that adapt to the needs and number of people in each household. Therefore, in Fellow Funders we believe that FoodintheBox represents the present and the future of food, and we bet on this project. Do you also want to bet on them? You can do it by investing in our website!
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