Nutrition And Health As Drivers Of Food Supply And Consumer Demand

In order to determine how to influence the relationship of nutrition and health with food supply and demand, it is essential to understand current and emerging trends in the types of food that consumers purchase, and why and where they make these purchases. Consumer demand drives agri-food company R&D investments, and that demand has been changing, particularly around health concerns. This section reviews some key trends in the food supply and consumer demand.

Consumers are aware of the connection between food and health: Nutrition and quality are the two top decision criteria; price is of less significance.

Companies are reformulating products: Food manufacturers are responding to consumer demand for healthier products by introducing items that advertise their healthy qualities, proclaiming certain foods to be trans-fat free or low in sodium. An ACNielsen¹⁹ report that annually tracks nearly 500 agriculture and food product categories reported that approximately one in five active manufacturers’ listings in retail grocery stores in 2003 were considered “better for you” products. The number of “better for you” product listings had more than doubled in three years, while the market share of these foods increased by 1% annually over the same period.

Agriculture is benefiting from the move to healthier foods: Healthy food products, ranging from blueberries to bioactive yoghurt and omega-3 eggs, are making significant inroads into consumer markets. Moreover, Canada produces many crops whose healthy market potential has yet to be developed. For example, Canada’s ability to produce pulse crops competitively has enabled Canadian pulse production to grow from under one million tonnes in 1991 to over 4.8 million tonnes in 2008. Exports have increased five-fold over the same period to 3.5 million tonnes. Canada now accounts for 10% of global production, and nearly 40% of the global pulse trade.²⁰ While Canada is doing well in these traditional markets, real opportunities exist to export our products into non-traditional markets by espousing the health benefits of these foods.

Growth in consumption of fruits and vegetables has been limited:²¹ The link between fruit and vegetable consumption and a reduced risk of obesity and chronic diseases is well-established. It is estimated that reducing the rate of diseases through the consumption of five to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables per day would save the health care system approximately $6.4 billion in direct and indirect costs.²²

An integrated strategy must also consider consumption outside the home: The average family visits a restaurant for a meal or snack approximately 520 times per year, costing it about one-fifth of the total household food expenditure.²³

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