Growth Point generates its rankings from the TNS Consumption Universe, which consists of more than 19,000 consumer interviews and covers 250 food and beverage products.

The rankings highlight a real opportunity for retailers and manufacturers. By identifying where consumer needs and the markets are heading before any spending in development occurs, not only increases efficiencies and success, but can also greatly accelerate the innovation process.

Top 10 foods

Most Potential for Growth

  1. Comfort foods (i.e. Pizza) prepared fresh at home
  2. Fresh fruit
  3. High protein foods prepared at home: chicken, fish
  4. Side dishes: grains, brown rice, potatoes
  5. Hot breakfast cereals and fresh breakfast sandwiches
  6. Greek yogurt, dessert-type yogurt
  7. Frozen fruit juice bars
  8. Sandwich/sub from shop
  9. Dried fruit
  10. Trail mix

 

Topline Insights

  • Opportunities for fresh-prepared foods reflect Millennials/Teens interest in quality foods - suggesting opportunities for packaged goods companies to offer closer to fresh/homemade offerings that can be prepared quickly
  • While Millennials and Teens are not worrying about what they eat, they want to eat foods they see as more natural, unprocessed and authentic. They feel today’s selection of these items is inadequate.
  • Millennials and Teens are time-pressed and need more choices for better quality foods that can be consumed on the go. Also, they often get take-out foods so brands need to recognize they are competing against restaurant-quality foods.

 

 

Top 10 beverages

Most Potential for Growth

  1. Waters: spring, sparkling
  2. Coffee: brewed at home or from a coffee shop
  3. Specialty coffees, flavored coffees
  4. Iced tea: brewed, bottled, flavored
  5. Hot Tea
  6. Smoothies: made at home and ready-to-drink
  7. Nutritionally complete drinks
  8. Juices: fresh-squeezed orange juice, other fruit juices
  9. Milk: chocolate milk, low fat/skim milk
  10. Coconut water

Topline Insights

  • Waters of all kinds show strong potential for growth as they provide no-guilt thirst quenching, and meet their desires for pure, unprocessed beverages
  • Substantial beverages (smoothies, milks, nutritional drinks) also have good growth potential as they offer healthier, more natural solutions for their on-the-go and grazing lifestyle

Most Potential for Growth

  1. Nuts
  2. Greek yogurt
  3. Regular yogurt
  4. Health-oriented cereal
  5. Natural/organic crackers
  6. Soft tortillas/wraps/pitas
  7. Dessert-type yogurt
  8. Block/wedge of cheese
  9. Cottage cheese
  10. String cheese/cheese sticks

Topline Insights

  • There is room for growth for both healthy and permissible indulgent snack items
  • Protein-dense snacks such as yogurts, cheeses, peanut butter, tuna show growth opportunity through meeting unmet consumer needs and capitalizing on strong momentum potential
  • Ethnically influenced snacks like tortillas, salsa and guacamole have growth potential
  • The gluten-free trend is reflected in gluten-free bread being a contender with growth potential and high momentum
  • Permissible indulgent snacks like smoothies and hot specialty coffee drinks support our need to treat ourselves

Least Potential for Growth

  1. Donuts
  2. Pastries/Danishes
  3. Fruit-flavored candy
  4. Packaged chocolate chip cookies
  5. Sandwich cookies
  6. Chocolate candy bars
  7. Regular potato chips
  8. Cheese puffs/balls/curls
  9. Frozen Mexican appetizers
  10. Slushies

Topline Insights

  • The more indulgent snacks fall to the bottom of the list because they have maxed out their potential to be consumed on more snacking occasions and consumers indicate less of an intent to consume them
  • Both sweet and savory snacks are represented as having least potential, across shelf stable, refrigerated and frozen items.

Most Potential for Growth

  1. Veg/Fruit/Green juice smoothies
  2. Juice from a home juicer
  3. Bottled water fortified w/vitamins
  4. Super fruit juices/juice blends
  5. Orange juice
  6. Fruit and vegetable juice blends
  7. Almond milk
  8. Fruit smoothies 
  9. Fruit juice
  10. Hot tea 

Topline Insights

  • Healthier eating includes drinking your fruits and vegetables through smoothies, drinkable yogurts, juices and juice blends
  • Drinking one’s breakfast with “instant” breakfasts , smoothies or juices supports our hectic lifestyles
  • Home prepared beverages like juices, smoothies, cup-at-a-time coffee require ingredients and products for preparing them
  • Protein-packed beverages and milk alternatives support trends in replenishing the body with nutrients
  • There is still growth potential for beverages with permissible indulgence –smoothies, chocolate milks

Least Potential for Growth

  1. Higher-caffeinated soft drinks
  2. Regular cola soft drinks
  3. Diet caffeine-free soft drinks
  4. Regular lemon-lime soft drinks
  5. Slushies
  6. Diet / reduced calorie soft drinks
  7. All-natural / cane sugar sodas
  8. Energy shots
  9. Energy drinks
  10. Milkshakes – made at home or from a restaurant

Topline Insights

  • CSD’s of all configurations fall to the bottom because they have limited occasion growth potential and consumers’ intended consumption is low.
  • Indulgent beverages like milkshakes iced/frozen coffees are more limited in beverage occasions though they fulfill snacking needs as filling alternatives to foods.
  • Energy drinks and shots as well as water flavorings – drops and packets fall to the bottom for growth potential with limited occasion opportunities and being seen as artificial, unnatural products