Understanding how nutrient needs change as we age
Nutrition plays a complex role in ageing as the environment can significantly influence consumers’ dietary choices. Consumers at different age groups have different needs. For instance, ageing is correlated to physiological changes such as loss of muscle mass; thus, older consumers' protein daily requirements are higher than younger adults. Still, older consumers and community-dwelling adults are often unaware of which nutrients are specific to their age group and in what quantities. Therefore, the risk of malnutrition is high in the elderly population, whilst awareness of such risk is low.1
Understanding this nutritional gap need from older consumers is crucial for the nutraceutical industry to fulfil this whitespace with products strategised to improve health and benefit older adults with supplements and fortified foods to meet their specific nutritional requirements.
“Nutrients are not just fuel and energy but essential building blocks for healthy ageing,” Mattern observes. “The western diet, which is rich in calories, but poor in some essential nutrients, puts much strain on health and health care systems. We truly are what we eat, how we sleep, how we train, what we think and how we interact with the outer world.
"Nevertheless, this market still is highly relevant for the silver surfers, not only for physiological but also commercial reasons. In marketing, we are often obsessed by the rise of the millennials, but the grey market is a bigger one, with much more spending power."
Nutritional education is changing among older consumers. The pandemic has sped up consumers’ curiosity in understanding the benefits of the products they are buying, allowing them to take more ownership and control over their health. Jentis reinforced this idea: “COVID 19 increased consumers interest in being proactive in managing their health. Consumers became more aware of claims related to immune support and researched which ingredients are best for them.”
LISTEN: The role of micronutrients in immunity and associated product development – podcast
Hughes agrees that consumers are more interested in their immune health and calls out other areas of interest as older consumers "are recognising how it is linked to other areas of wellbeing and how issues such as poor cognitive health or digestive problems can increase vulnerability, something that will only intensify as consumers gain awareness of the microbiome system."
Mattern adds, “According to NBJ consumer research, nearly 80% believe the immune system helps both when sick and healthy and that it is both a fighter and a healer.”
McNamara shares: “MarketPlace verified that the demand for immunity-centric supplements had increased significantly. In the fall of 2019, immunity ranked fifth on the list of consumer demands relative to other nearly 20 health categories like heart health and overall wellness. In their updated research for COVID-19, immunity moved into the third spot, following disease prevention/overall wellness and gut/digestive health.2”
On the other hand, Dr Geoff Mullan, CEO and co-founder of humanpeople, highlighted that the pandemic has led to an increased interest in sleep and anxiety, even more so than immunity. According to Reguant, independently of the health category grasping consumers interest the most, benefit awareness of products and ingredients are found to highly influence consumer purchasing behaviour: “Market data tells us that the more aware a consumer is of an ingredient and its benefits, the more likely they are to purchase products containing it.”
References 1. Castro, P., Reynolds, C., Kennelly, S., Geraghty, A., Finnigan, K., & McCullagh, L. et al. (2021). An investigation of community-dwelling older adults' opinions about their nutritional needs and risk of malnutrition; a scoping review. Clinical Nutrition, 40(5), 2936-2945. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2020.12.024 2. Hook, M., 2020. Consumer Insights For Building a Post-pandemic Supplement Brand. [online] MarketPlace. Available at: https://market-pl.com/consumer-insights-on-supplements-after-covid/