The free from food market has been on the (pretty steep) incline for a few years now and is showing no signs of stopping. Between January and March this year, more than half of us bought a free from product, according to Kantar Worldpanel.
A fashion emerged among young people to eat a free from diet, particularly free from gluten and dairy, which has emerged into more than just a fashion or fad; it is a trend that is continuing to rise. In fact, Mintel believe that by 2018 the UK free from food market will be worth £558million!
The days where you would be lucky to find free from products in the supermarket are long gone and now you’ll find dedicated aisles for huge ranges including snacks, bread, pasta, sweets and don’t forget the chilled aisles too!
Although the market is traditionally aimed at those consuming free from food for medical reasons, the number of people with allergies and intolerances is on the rise. Even bigger though are those consumers who purchase free from products without any intolerance, those who identify free from products as being healthier. According to Mintel, more than half of consumers buying free from don’t have an allergy or intolerance, nor live in a household with anyone that does.
The number of consumers who are more aware both nutritionally and environmentally about what food they buy and eat is on the rise. More and more of us are concerned about what exactly is in our food, what effect this will have on our body, where it has been sourced and what effect this could have on the planet.
“Clean eating”, paleo, vegetarian and vegan diets are increasingly common and meat in general is becoming less popular. You only have to scroll through Instagram for less than a minute before you come across a plant-based food blogger sharing a delicious-looking smoothie bowl or vegan dessert, with food bloggers of this kind growing and growing. Even major food chain, Pret, have now opened two ‘Veggie Pret’ stores as a result of such high vegetarian sales.
We’re also becoming more aware of the benefits of eating less meat, on our diet and the environment, helped by movements like ‘Meat Free Monday’ . The ‘#meatfreemonday’ hashtag alone has over 100,000 tags on Instagram. World Meat Free Day is also coming up on Monday 12th June – they say by giving up meat for one meal you could save the daily water usage of nine people!
If you’re looking for something to do on Bank Holiday Monday, you could even check out the Free From Festival – the UK’s first food festival focused on those living free from gluten, dairy and refined sugar.
It’s a challenging but exciting time for the free from food pr market with no signs of its growth slowing!
Our consumer PR agency specialises in connecting everyday brands with everyday people across four core sectors; Consumer PR, Food & Drink PR, Consumer Technology PR and Sport, Health & Wellbeing PR.
