20 Feb Naturality: the new consumer trend

The « 100% natural » trend is flooding the agri-food market. There are more and more products labelled “without artificial flavors”, “GMO-free”, “gluten-free” etc. Food scandals have fragilized the climate of trust between consumers and food trade. Better informed and distrustful, consumers tend to choose natural and authentic products. 83% of French people declare paying attention to the natural dimension of the products they buy¹. In order to respond to increasing consumer anxiety, manufacturers need to offer new solutions. Ennolys’ fermented natural flavorings can be a tool to help manufacturers adapt to this new trend.

How do consumers define “naturality”?

In France, as elsewhere in Europe, there is no reglementary definition of naturality. We can thus all make our own interpretation. But to consumers, what does naturality really mean?

For a majority of consumers, naturality is associated with the absence of artificial ingredients¹, and many consumers are now tracking artificial additives with the help of their smartphones. Needing to be reassured, they tend to choose products with the shortest possible list of ingredients and prefer ingredients they recognize. A product with a short list of ingredients is considered attractive² by 70% of consumers. For a number of people, naturality is correlated to a product’s degree of processing; 48% consider that a natural product is an unprocessed product. Naturality also depends on how the food product was produced. 35% of consumers³ take organic farming as a proof of naturality. Lastly, many consumers reject GMO products, fearing negative effects on their health and the environment. Two thirds of French people only buy GMO-free¹ products.

Today’s consumers are thus not looking for food “with” beneficial substances, but for products “without” substances they consider as harmful (no GMOs, no conservatives, no gluten, no lactose, no fat, no sugar, no salt, etc). Naturality has taken its place on the agri-food market, and not only there! Indeed, the trend is making its way on other markets too, like cosmetics and nutraceutics.

Why do consumers look for naturality?

There are multiple reasons for consumers to opt for more natural products. Amongst them, the 3 principal reasons are:

Health. Consumers, who are better and better informed, are getting more conscious about the importance of the link between food and health. 32% of consumers believe that a natural product is a “healthy”⁴ product. Moreover, the increasing number of scientific studies on the subject, and a better knowledge of different chronical diseases, underline the importance of several restrictive diets.

Environment. Today, going to the food-store is not just choosing food, but also implies an ethical choice. We are conscious about the impact intensive agriculture has on the planet, and we wish to act. As consumers, we thus tend to pick products that are more respectful of the environment: no pesticides, organic, etc.

Lifestyle. As the food system becomes more and more complex and urbanization increases, consumers are progressively getting de-connected from food production, and even from nature itself. Nowadays, many consumers wish to reconnect. Amongst other means, they buy products that are more natural and point out their authenticity.

Natural solutions from Ennolys

The industry needs to adapt to consumer demand by putting innovating solutions on the market. This can be done by reformulating recipes, removing additives, shortening the list of ingredients, sourcing organic products or materials, etc. Ennolys’ fermented natural flavorings are perfect solutions for manufacturers who wish to initiate these changes. Indeed, Ennolys is offering a wide range of natural flavoring molecules from fermentation. They are intended for flavorists, and for the agri-food, nutraceutical, cosmetics and pharmaceutical markets. In order to respond to manufacturers’ needs, Ennolys has created the Ennarom range, offering fermented flavorings produced from natural raw materials. Ennolys has also developed Ennallin, natural vanillin produced by fermentation.

Sources :

1. Médiaprism, Les Français et les produits naturels : opinion, comportements et habitudes, juillet 2013
2. GlobalData, Innovation Trends in Organic and Natural Products, Mars 2017
3. GlobalData ,TrendSights Analysis: Fresh, Natural & Pure, Mars 2018
4. Ipsos Marketing, « Naturel » qu’est-ce que cela signifie pour les consommateurs ? », Juin 2018