BIG SHIFTS SERIES with Agathe Blanchon-Ehrsam, VP Long-Range Innovation at Danone
1. What are CULTURAL shifts that you see emerge over the next 24 months?
FROM: Individual re-invention
TO: Collective re-evaluation
“The pandemic disrupted our lives and gave a lot of people a chance to re-imagine how they wanted to live. People embraced the opportunity to shape reality to their individual needs. They made changes based on personal priorities, dreams and beliefs”
“The next few years will continue to see re-assessments, but this time they will be about how we live together as a society. Climate change, economic uncertainty, and population migrations will challenge each of us to evaluate what we are willing to do for our collective future.”
FROM: Health as a medical term
TO: Health as a way of living
“Health took center stage as a medical term during the pandemic, with constant references to immunity, vaccinations, underlying conditions, mental health... We emerged overwhelmed and exhausted, but with a clearer sense of our fragility and limits.”
“In the next few years, health as a more holistic term will continue to gain traction, surpassing pre-pandemic wellness trends. Managing energy levels, practicing mind-body exercises, using nutrition to support performance… Health will be all about boundaries and balance, so we can do and be our best.”
FROM: A limited definition of sustainability
TO: A systemic understanding of sustainability
“Environmental consciousness has been on the rise, with more and more people recycling, buying local, conserving water, switching to solar and electric power, etc… actions that can feel essential to our future and at the same time small and useless.”
“But consumers are increasingly taking an expansive view of sustainability, equating planetary health with personal health, and recognizing how our choices are interconnected. With possible impact on everything from online shopping to waste management.”
2. What are CATEGORY shifts that you see emerge in FOOD?
FROM: Excess, revenge shopping
TO: Thoughtful spending
“The two-track bifurcation observed at the start of the pandemic continues: on one hand the growth of private label and on the other willingness to pay for valuable benefits. And inflation is reinforcing this mindset. Saving is top of mind. People are having to choose whether to pay more for everyday staples, trade down to cheaper alternatives or skip purchases entirely. But they are also continuing to make up for time spent in pandemic lockdown and are giving themselves permission for (smart) splurging. Products and services that meet consumers’ needs in the most meaningful moments and dayparts will win.”
FROM: Mass (diet) foods
TO: Personalized nutrition
“We are on the cusp of a data-driven food revolution. Consumers are increasingly willing to share personal information for personalized services. In the food space, examples include digital apps tailoring menu planning to individual dietary needs and start-ups offering personalized nutrition solutions based on saliva swabs. With health as a top driver of food consumption, expectations of nutrition benefits will continue to rise. And in particular, sports/performance and diet foods will be transformed by the ability to customize product formulation to individual needs, genetics and circumstances.”
FROM: Optimizing traditional food production
TO: Revolutionizing food production through tech
“The growing challenge of feeding our global population is revealing the need for a new approach to food production. Eating local, organic, or sustainably is no longer sufficient, with its implication of preserving what is or returning to the past. Consumers increasingly want food from companies that are actively healing the planet through carbon-reducing agriculture, more rigorous animal welfare policies and equitable treatment of the people who grow and process food. And younger consumers in particular are increasingly open to technology, whether AI-driven recipes or lab-grown food, with its promise of offering a more humane, resilient, equitable food source.”
3. How are MARKETING PRACTICES going to evolve to adjust to these shifts?
”I think these changes will require doubling down on marketing fundamentals. Tactics will evolve of course, given our increasingly digital and social lives, and will leverage new technologies in service of creating data-driven interactions, standing out in our real and online lives, and converting sales.”
“But the real winners will focus on their brand-building. It is getting harder and harder to differentiate on product attributes, given the number of options available to consumers and the speed at which products are copied. This will reinforce the importance of creating relevance with consumers, of building an emotional connection that supersedes individual products, and reinforcing it via every interaction with the brand and product.“
“Building strong brands will be critical to building trust in a rapidly changing food landscape, to delivering value that is meaningful to consumers and to knowing where and how to innovate.”