Opinion

Calling Natural & Organic Products Europe 'an established innovation hub for health, food, beauty, wellness and sustainable living', Mintel's beauty innovation coverage manager Irina Ene has published the following trends report on Mintel blog:

Five top trends observed at Natural & Organic Products Europe, brought to you by Brand Organic. 

Today, consumers have access to a dizzying array of plant-based milk alternatives. Their profiles can vary a lot, so it’s handy for retailers to have some knowledge of nutrition to help their customers make the best choices.

Craig Sams invites us to reflect on the achievements of Dr Scott Williamson and Dr Innes Pearce, who set up the Pioneer Health Centre in an effort to steer both individuals, and society as a whole, towards better health.

More so now than ever before, consumers are interested in what goes into the food and drink they consume.

Waste reduction charity WRAP reports that households throw away approximately 7.1m tonnes of food each year. A further 3.1m tonnes is thrown away having expired on shelves in stores or in the supply chain. Meanwhile, University of Edinburgh research claims the UK is still wasting 4.5 million tonnes of food, simply because it does not meet shape or size ideals.

The UK can slow the climate clock by converting animal farmland to forest and still grow enough protein, Harvard research shows. The Vegan Society’s Dominika Piasecka explains finding of the university’s latest study

As demand for plant-based products rockets, people are taking an interest in meatless meals. Meat substitutes seem like an obvious choice to many consumers. However, this term encompasses a wide range of foods with various pros and cons.

Following his acceptance of the Award for Responsible Capitalism, Riverford Organic founder Guy Singh-Watson explains why receiving the award gave him mixed feelings.

New Year’s resolutions are in full swing now, but not everyone sticks to them as rigidly as they’d like. If this year you (or your customers) have decided to try veganism throughout the month of January (aka Veganuary), congratulations and thank you, because you’ve taken up a resolution that not only benefits yourself but also saves the lives of others.

Fairtrade Fortnight is an annual opportunity to celebrate all that the organisation has achieved over the years. In my view, no other organisation has done more to make consumers stop, consider and care where their food, drink, clothes and jewellery come from.

Georgia Barnes, beauty and wellbeing business development manager at Soil Association Certification, speaks about Garnier's new organic range.

Each year for two weeks in February and March Fairtrade puts a spotlight on trade through Fairtrade Fortnight. It is a chance for people up and down the UK to stand together and show their support for farmers and workers and a way to highlight the difference fair trade can make to lives and communities.

The impact of Brexit on the NHS has been a topic of debate since the controversial claim that it would free up £350 million a week to be spent on the NHS was plastered in large letters on the side of a bus hired by the Leave Campaign in the run-up to the EU referendum in 2016. Over the summer, Prime Minister Theresa May unveiled plans to increase, through a Brexit dividend, the NHS budget by an average of 3.4% a year by 2023 – hinting that the bus pledge was to be honoured.

January is a time for new experiences, and thousands of people are trying out totally plant-based eating. As well as being cruelty-free, vegan food can provide great nutritional value for money. If you’re getting active this month, you can thrive on a vegan diet, and if you’re looking to tackle winter weight gain, fibre-rich plant foods can help to make slimming a more satisfying experience.

Specialist research company Ecovia Intelligence has released its trend predictions for 2019, stating that the year ahead is expected to be 'an important one for the sustainable food industry'.

Chocolatier James Hull talks to Jane Wolfe about how the award-winning Hassocks-based brand J.Cocoa grew out of his passion for the bean and desire...

Delegates at last week’s Oxford Real Farming Conference pushed the Environment Secretary Michael Gove to give a clear commitment to organic, writes Michael Wale.

With 2018 already behind us, we can now say with some certainty that it was the year of plastic, or to be more precise, of the anti- plastic momentum.

As we shake off the excesses of the festive season and bring our focus to another year in this constantly evolving (but sometimes fickle) industry, I am reminded of the sheer pace of change, and the increasing shift of natural and organic values into mainstream consciousness.