In Consumer Concern, Consumer Values, Quick Bites, Regenerative Agriculture, Sourcing Responsibly, Waste Reduction

Happy planet = happy customers

The natural products industry is ever-changing, and increasingly, stakeholders and thought leaders are looking for ways to improve the environment through the “business as a force for good” movement, as well as respond to the evolving consumer marketplace. As we prepare to turn the corner into 2020, be on the look out for continued innovation in these three trending areas:

Waste Reduction

Brands and businesses are stepping up with clever ideas to reduce and remove waste along various steps in the supply chain. Through by-product turned value-add or ingredient optimization, waste otherwise known as a pollutant is turned into energy or edible food.

Sourcing Responsibly

Working to mitigate the extractive tendencies of our food system, many brands are operating with greater sourcing intention, lending new ways of conducting business and innovating business models/relationships to source their materials responsibly.

Regenerative Agriculture

Enthusiasts around regenerative agriculture promote rebuilding, repairing and replenishing our natural resources through ecological practices. While current sustainability efforts are well-intentioned, they are aimed at solving climate problems through limited resources – working within our vanishing resources to prevent further loss of biodiversity, soil and forests.

Recent results from NEXT’s Concept Lab – now over 1,500 concept tests strong – showed that products positioned around trends like Waste Reduction, Sourcing Responsibly and Regenerative Agriculture resulted in a higher than average probability of market success and purchase intent.

These products are also responding to evolving consumer values in the process. No longer is consumption a passive acquisition of stuff. Increasingly consumers see buying as an act that impacts others and requires ethical decision making. Results from a recent NEXT Data & Insights consumer survey showed that the market is becoming more responsible and that social and environmental issues are resonating:

The moral (see what we did there?) of the story? Don’t underestimate the value of testing your product concepts and positioning statements with the help of NEXT’s Concept Lab and Market Research Surveys before you bring them to market.