Indians Amongst the Top 10 Buyers of Foods with ‘Health Supplements’ Globally but Lack Access to Organic Food Products

• Greater Awareness of Health Issues Drives Purchase of Food Products with ‘Health Supplements Indicating Even Greater Room for Growth
• Indians Keen to Purchase Organic Foods for Their Children but Organic Foods Suffer from Poor Availability and Premium Price Perception.

20 February, 2006
Mumbai

Online Indians favour ‘Functional Foods’, fortified with added vitamins or supplements and that promote specific health benefits, as well as organic alternatives, although are within limited reach reveals ACNielsen. In a recent study, the largest of its kind, polled over 21,100 respondents – regular Internet users – in 38 markets across Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America, and in South Africa in May 2005 (See Table 1 for country breakdown). ACNielsen asked consumers which of a list of foods promoting specific health benefits they purchased:

• Cholesterol reducing oils and margarines
• Fermented drinks containing ‘good’ bacteria
• Yoghurts with Acidophilus cultures / probiotics
• Soy Milk
• Milk with added supplements / vitamins
• Bread with added supplements / vitamins
• Whole grain, high fibre products
• Cereal with added folate
• Fruit juices with added supplements / vitamins
• Iodine enhanced cooking salt

Among these ten major food types, only four were bought regularly by at least a third of shoppers. Another four would not be considered by over one third of shoppers, and two have never been heard of by one-tenth of consumers.

“Seventy eight per cent of online Indians regularly purchase iodine enhanced cooking salt. This purchase behaviour is also evident in Cholestrol reducing oils (51%), another category whose frequency of purchase can be attributed to a stronger promotion of dietary benefits and its associated emotional appeal,“ pointed Sonia Pall, Director Client Service, ACNielsen ORG-MARG. (Refer table 2 and 3)

With increasing health consciousness, desire for better hygiene and convenience, Indians feature amongst the top 10 most frequent purchasers of fortified fruit juices (37%). This indicates greater room for growth vis-à-vis the frequency of purchase in other developing economies within the Asian region. Another key finding reported the same population as the most frequent buyers of Bread with added vitamins and Cereal with added folate. The consumer market for ready-to-eat foods exhibit greater room for growth depending on evolving dietary repertoire. (refer table 4, 5, 6)

In India, the preference for whole grain, high-fiber products is well know, owing to the habitual consumption of wheat flour preparations. This can be further driven as a supplementary unique selling proposition by marketers of pre-packaged foods to counter barriers such as unavailability and premium pricing perceptions. (refer table 7, 8, 9)

Across the globe, on one hand consumers in South Africa, Brazil, Chile and Mexico were the most convinced of the value of foods promoting health benefits. In South Africa in particular, the share of regular buyers of healthy foods ranks the highest across six out of ten of the surveyed food types. On the other hand on average, about a third of consumers in the four regions surveyed didn’t believe they really offered additional health benefits as they claimed. The distrust was the greatest in Asia Pacific, Europe and in South Africa towards fruit juices, while North and Latin Americans questioned oils/margarines that claim to lower cholesterol levels.

Organic Foods - They’re Healthier for Us and Our Children
When it comes to another type of healthy food – organic foods – the situation is a bit different. Around the globe, Organic alternatives are purchased mainly for health reasons. Over two thirds of survey respondents think that organic foods are healthier for them and their children. This healthy perception is consistently strong across the Asia Pacific region. Online Indians top the list with 87 percent of consumers purchasing organic foods motivated by the perceived benefits they can derive for their children’s’ health. (refer table 10)

Though benefits of organic food are widely acknowledged, the overall low awareness appears to be hampering purchases. Organic foods are most likely equated with food being in its ‘natural’ state; this is seen by preference towards fruit juices and teas with consumers across India appearing amongst the top 10 countries making regular purchases. (refer table 11)

On a closer look at the Indian sub-continent, it is revealed that consumers in this region figured amongst the top 10 countries that never purchased organic alternatives of fresh meats (68%), delicatessen meats (83%), poultry (65%) and eggs(57%).

“Manufacturers and retailers must also understand the geographical differences in terms of acceptance and perception of organic food, when it comes to barriers to purchasing organic alternatives. While unavailability is the biggest problem for 41 percent of Internet-users in India, in Thailand and China, credibility turned out to be the major consideration Therefore, creating awareness amongst consumers and within the distribution chain could be seen as an opportunity for marketers to find a positioning for foods claiming health benefits to reach out to a wider base”, Ms.Pall continued. (refer table 12)

The twice-yearly global ACNielsen Online Consumer Opinion Survey is regular syndicated online consumers study, gathering information from regular users of the Internet around the world on their attitudes and preferences, consumption of media, products and services across different markets. ACNielsen spearheaded the establishment of access pools in the Asia Pacific region six years ago following the acquisition of www.consult.com.

Table 1.  The 38 Markets covered in the 2005 Global Consumer Opinion Survey were:

Table 2

Table 3

Table 4

Table 5

Table 6

Table 7

Table 8

Table 9

Table 10

Table 11

Table 12