Healthy Eating: The Trending Choice For Diners
Increased public awareness of the health risks associated with a poor diet has shifted demand to healthier eating over the past 5 years.
This article has been provided by the team at McCain.
The shift towards healthier eating has shaped the industry, and healthier establishments have become more popular. This has provided an opportunity for operators to offer healthier meals and niche dietary choices such as plant-based meals, clean eating, paleo diet, superfoods, diary and gluten-free options. This consciousness presents an opportunity for restauranteur, they have the opportunity to capture demand from this trend by introducing high-quality menus to consumers.
The Industry in a snapshot:
- Australians are spending $13.6 billion on healthy eating.
- Healthy eating trends are costing Australians a total of $13.6 billion extra annually, a Modern Food Trends Report suggests.
- 82% of Australians have changed their eating habits in the past five years, with 86% trying to be more health-conscious regarding their diet.
- Over one in two Australians claim to be eating healthier than they were five years ago.
- 14% of Australians plan to follow a plant-based, vegan or vegetarian diet in the next 12 months.
- 54% of Australians agree that plant protein is just as nutritious as animal protein
- 34% of Australians who have been eating more non-animal sources of protein vs. a year ago are doing so because they have environmental concerns related to meat production.
- Pubs, cafes and fast-food operators are anticipated to improve the quality and diversity of their food offerings.
What else is an emerging trend?
Eastern cuisines are packed with spices and bold flavour and have hit mainstream Australia. The most popular cuisines right now are Lebanese, Indian, Thai, Mexican and Japanese. The great news is that all these cuisines have the perfect combination of ingredients to create healthier and/or plant-based menus.