A must-attend event for anyone in food and beverage formulation, marketing and branding, regulatory or labeling functions, Gut Reaction: Digestive health in focus explored how consumers are thinking about gut health and how manufacturers can tap into demand for foods that make our microbes happy.
The LIVE event has now been and gone... but fear not! It's now available ON DEMAND for registered attendees. If you have't already registered, REGISTER HERE for FREE.
Our webinar featured Activia US, which helped introduce many Americans to probiotics; Goodbelly: a probiotic juice brand founded by two natural products industry veterans in 2006; and two new players: Uplift Food and Olipop – who are combining prebiotics and other gut-friendly ingredients in innovative new product formats.
AGENDA: In our debate, moderated by FoodNavigator-USA editor Elaine Watson, we discussed:
- How are consumers thinking about digestive health? Are they looking for particular ingredients (fibers, probiotics, prebiotics) or buzzwords/claims, or are they thinking about certain food categories (yogurt, fermented foods, dried fruits, dairy-free) if they think about this at all?
- Are consumers looking for products that deliver a rapid or discernible effect (to tackle bloating, reduce gas, constipation, improve regularity) or for more long-term benefits?
- What ingredients are most relevant for digestive health? Fibers, prebiotics, probiotics? Should brands focus on one well-documented ingredient or combine multiple ingredients that work in different ways?
- How do you market and position a digestive health brand?
- Who is the target consumer and how do you reach different consumer groups?
- How do you talk about digestive health without getting into the weeds of bowel movements, or getting into legal hot water?
- Do consumers understand what ‘prebiotic’ means?
- Do consumers think all fermented foods contain probiotics?
- How is consumer understanding of probiotics evolving?
The first 40-45 minutes was devoted to the panel discussion, and we left the remaining 15-20 minutes for audience questions to our expert panel:
- Angela Grist, Marketing director, Activia US (Danone North America)
- Ben Goodwin, Co-founder, Olipop
- Kara Landau, Founder, Uplift Food
- Mitchell Kruesi, Senior Brand Manager, Goodbelly
Register HERE to watch this FREE event on demand. Plus a big thanks to our sponsors Cargill, Lesaffre Ibsium, ProDigest and Atlantia Food Clinical Trials.