Young People Are Flocking To Functional Diets

If you don’t sleep well, get two gummy candies made of Y-aminobutyric acid; if you’re out of energy, eat two pieces of taurine candy; if you want to lose weight but can’t give up hot pot barbecue malatang, then get a white kidney bean first Candy control sugar and fat burning...

This is a true portrayal of contemporary young people's "punk health", while "playing" while maintaining health, and it is also the biggest driver of the rise of functional food.

Functional food, compared with ordinary snacks, in addition to the taste, more emphasis on some special function regulation, not for the purpose of treatment, can be regarded as a fusion of "three squirrels" + "BY-Health". In terms of product forms, candies, granules, drinks, jelly and other forms are different, providing users with special assistance in weight management, whitening and beauty, intestinal regulation, and sleep improvement.

According to data from the China Business Industry Research Institute, it is expected that the global functional food market will exceed 600 billion yuan in 2022, and the sales of functional candy will exceed 8.6 billion US dollars.

First Financial CBNData released a "Youth Health Consumption Trend Report", showing that contemporary young people's awareness of health care has risen unprecedentedly, and there is a broad space for the needs of young life scenarios such as "staying up late", "brain replenishment" and "stomach strengthening"; health products The trend of "snacking" is obvious, healthy and easy maintenance anytime, anywhere, nourishing and nutrition are very important; more people tend to choose functional food/health products to assist in health conditioning (improving immunity, delaying aging). Ali data shows that in the past three years, "post-90s" have become the backbone of online shopping for nutritional supplements.

But obviously, the traditional health care products in the past could not meet the health and wellness needs of the current generation Z. The aging of the brand, the rough shape, the boring vision, the lack of resonance in the values, etc., are all insurmountable flaws. Especially in the form of capsules and tablets, young people are discouraged.

Functional foods also have eye-catching visual design and product power with extreme taste, and they are more integrated with the young generation of Z in the brand tonality and spiritual resonance. Delicious, cool, useful, and convenient, you can take it out without losing your portion. Functional candies that have the dual meanings of "nutritional supplements" and "snacks" are quite explosive.

"The so-called functional foods are actually integrating health and health functions into daily casual snacks. If you want to lose weight, whiten, soothe the nerves, you can replenish them at any time, just like eating sugar. Unlimited White Kidney Bean Candy is to let young people lie down and lose weight. Eat, drink, and indulge your meals while maintaining healthy body management,” said Chun Ge, co-founder of Infinite Chang.

Focusing on the precise needs of the Z generation to control sugar and fat, Infinitus has launched a popular product, White Kidney Bean Carb Blocking Candy, which fully caters to the extreme requirements of young consumers for body management and the balance between rising and the temptation to take out a big meal. Contradictions make young people 'lay thin'.

The "2020 Functional Snacks Innovation Trends" released by Tmall not long ago shows that functional foods are in the stage of transformation from "pan-functional" to "burden reduction" and "strong benefits", and consumer demand continues to deepen, "weight control" , "fitness meal replacement" is currently the main demand track, and the growth rate of demand for sleep aids, immunity enhancement, whitening and skin care is at the forefront.

In response to the trend of health care for the post-90s generation, Lin Lu, a partner of Northern Lights Venture Capital, said that a healthy lifestyle is a major trend at present, and the consumer demand for healthy food and snack food has been obtained in developed countries such as the United States and Japan. It is verified that my country is still an incremental market with extremely high growth potential, and the rapid rise of the demand side will accelerate the orderly liberalization of policies in the opposite direction. Bring safe and innovative functional foods to consumers with the help of strong supply chain organization and operation capabilities.

MINAYO, a functional food project announced by Northern Lights Ventures in March 2021, currently products include heat control tablets, plant enzymes, anti-sugar drinks, snow muscle pills, collagen jelly bars, multivitamin gummies, probiotic yogurt tablets, meals Fiber sheets, etc., are the hot topics of Xiaohongshu.

In addition to Baishoumei, another scene with a larger market is the sleep scene.

This is also one of the main products of the current functional gummy brand BUFFX. Its main cost is Y-aminobutyric acid. Compared with traditional melatonin, its biggest advantage is that it does not contain hormones.

In addition to sleep products, BUFFX has launched products such as calorie blocking tablets, refreshing lozenges, hangover gummies, eye care gummies, and multivitamin gummies.

The CEO of functional food brand Nelo also said in an interview that Nelo's target group is a group of people who are looking forward to a better future but are worried about the current anxiety. Consumers have some demands to buy functional food, so it should first be civilian and transparent. "We hope that people will look at functional foods more and more towards the idea of buying vegetables and snacks." Nelo's best-selling product is the Stay Up Night Liver Gummy, which has a nearly 20 percent repurchase rate.

Functional food, especially candy and powder, is a consumption trend that the new generation of consumers is jointly promoting and paying attention to, and it is also one of the high-quality tracks with high growth and explosion in the future. The younger generation is increasingly concerned about their own health, driving the rapid growth of the entire functional food market. On February 20 this year, the State Administration for Market Regulation formulated and revised the supporting "Regulations on Available Excipients for Health Food Filing and Their Use (2021 Edition)" and "Formulations and Technical Requirements for Health Food Filing Products (2021 Edition)". Candy is included in the filing form of health food and will be implemented from June 1, 2021. This means that functional gummies are officially included in the category of health care products, and the industry standards are more clear.