After 50 years of being promoted as one of the healthiest choices consumers can make, vegetable oils - the name used to describe the seed oils sunflower, canola and soy - are in trouble. A small but fast-growing percentage of consumers in the US and Europe are trying to avoid them. Why?
Seed oils are a relatively new part of western diets, and modern diets contain 20 times more seed oils than 100 years ago. That oversupply of omega-6 fatty acids - and in particular linoleic acid - is increasingly being flagged by credible academic researchers as a source of inflammation and a contributor to diseases of metabolic syndrome.
The fact that most oils in the diet are industrially processed and easily oxidized is also thought to be a contributor to inflammatory problems.
The science is controversial, but the debate is being picked up both by mainstream and social media and it is influencing the thinking of health-active consumers. In response, a wide range of food companies - from giants like Mondelez down to small challenger brands - are beginning to review their use of 'industrial seed oils' and, where they can, communicate that their brands are free-from. It's an emergent free-from, but these free-froms have a habit of growing and becoming important in strategy.
This Strategy Briefing:
- sets out the five steps that companies can take to respond to this growing consumer concern
- explains in simple language the scientific concerns fuelling this free-from
- shows how mainstream and social media is spreading awareness among consumers
- and shows what companies are doing to connect to this emergent consumer need
Table of Contents
1. An emergent consumer concern2. What can brand owners do?
