Eating will be differently in the future: Food Trends 2025 for plant-based and holistic health
12/10/2024 Future of food

Eating will be differently in the future: Food Trends 2025 for plant-based and holistic health

Discover the Food Trends 2025: From plant-based innovations to holistic health – exciting insights into sustainable food and current trend studies.

Lots of people at Birds Eye View on the Trend Wall and the new products stand at BIOFACH

The experts agree: Holistic health, sustainable value creation and plant-based food are strongly influencing the food market.

The demand for products that serve their primary purpose as well as complying with social and ecological standards and conforming to individual beliefs is constantly growing. For the food and beverage industry, this means that those who want to position themselves as fit for the future have to understand consumers’ changing values and expectations and be guided by them.

A comprehensive view of the relevant food trends can be found in the current trend studies BMEL Food Report 2024 by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Global Food and Drink Trends 2025 by MINTEL, Top Health & Nutrition Trends for 2025 by Innova and FoodReport 2025 by ZukunftsInstitut. The food trends identified in these studies can be clearly divided into three main categories:

  • Sustainable value creation – from alternative cultivation regions to regional diversity
  • Plant-based food – from new plant-based flavours to alternative proteins
  • Holistic health – from reduced sodium content in processed products to soil health

 

Sustainable value creation in food production

When choosing their food, consumers are increasingly prioritising regional origin and alternative supply chains in order to ensure transparency, quality and reduced dependence on global markets. The BMEL Food Report concluded that more than three quarters of those surveyed valued food seasonality and products from the region. This represents an opportunity for organic brands, many of which already think in terms of more regional value chains and design their products accordingly. In her evaluation of food trends for 2025, Hanni Rützler, author of FoodReport 2025, notes that the high regard for regional food and food processing has intensified over the past few years because regional products are automatically regarded as high-quality, thus making consumers want to purchase more of them. At the same time, however, consumers don’t want to sacrifice the culinary diversity that the world offers. As a result, more and more producing companies are venturing the local cultivation of plants and raising of livestock that used to be transported across long distances (such as olives and shrimp) or that have been “lost” to increasing standardisation (such as heritage fruits and vegetables).

The trend study by MINTEL uses the term Chain Reaction to designate one of the food trends defined for 2025 showing that consumers’ interest in the origin of their food is growing. But the reason for their interest is different. They want to know how various supply chain disruptions will affect their meals. These disruptions can be caused, for example, by climate change, geopolitical tensions or technological challenges. Food brands can benefit from this trend by clearly communicating how they use local or alternative supply chains to ensure availability. This gives brands the opportunity to promote new sources that were previously less well-known for the particular product groups. For example, this allows manufacturers of olive oil from Algeria or vanilla from Uganda to differentiate themselves from the crowd. Alice Pilkington and Alex Beckett from MINTEL are anxious to see how this trend, in conjunction with current events, will affect the organic food sector. “Trump’s second presidency, and promises of tariffs, will have repercussions on global agricultural trade, impacting food imports/exports to China, Brazil and India. As these trade relations reconfigure, the ripple effects on organic agriculture will be fascinating to see, especially amid China’s huge investment in sustainable agriculture.”

 

Plant-based: a further development of the vegan food trend

As one of the most cited food trends in recent years, plant-based continues to play a major role. According to the BMEL Food Report 2024, 8 percent of respondents in Germany were vegetarian and 2 percent were exclusively vegan. The share of people who frequently purchase vegetarian and vegan alternatives to animal-based products has risen 10 percent in the past four years. The share of people who use alternative products on a daily basis and therefore rely more heavily on plant-based food has increased 5 percent over the past four years. The FoodReport 2025 defines two food trends that illustrate how the plant-based concept has evolved. According to the author, Hanni Rützler, the focus of alternative protein products is no longer primarily on substitutions for the taste of meat, fish and dairy products. Plant-based products like mushrooms, algae and other vegetables are instead being used to create new foods that expand the flavour spectrum. In addition, the public’s scepticism toward cultivated meat seems to be giving way. According to the NGO Good Food Institute Europe, 65 percent of those surveyed were in favour of cultivated meat being approved for sale in Germany if food regulators find it to be safe and nutritious. This eliminates the killing of animals as an argument for plant-based food. Consequently, even advocates of a strictly plant-based diet could start consuming cultivated meat.

 

Holistic health and its impact on food trends

In recent years, the social megatrend “health” has resulted in a greater emphasis on holistic health and disease prevention in all areas of life. This tendency is also noticeable in the food and beverage industry. According to the BMEL Food Report 2024, there was a growing trend among the German citizens surveyed toward a reduction in sugar, fat and sodium in processed foods. The report concludes that when the respondents purchase processed foods, over half of them deliberately select a version with a reduced sugar and/or fat content. Around one fifth of those surveyed look for a lower sodium content. In their research, the market experts at Innova also found that the aspect of health is playing a greater role in the selection of food and monitor it as a separate trend in their “Top Health and Nutrition Trends 2025.” Labelling it Natural Well-Being, they describe the trend toward holistic health in which consumers are increasingly relying on natural foods. These products must deliver sufficient nutrients and thus ensure a healthy diet. The most desirable features are freshness and naturalness, which is why these consumers are attracted by food and beverage products that are described as “natural” (such as natural sweeteners).

The Fundamentally Nutritious (MINTEL) and Nutrition Forward (Innova) food trends rethink holistic health as a decision-making criterion for selecting foods. With Nutrition Forward, Innova researchers conclude that consumers are becoming more engaged with a way of eating that provides direct functional benefits. The emphasis is on valuable nutrients like healthy fats, minerals and fortified vitamins. MINTEL’s team of analysts also highlighted this “food as medicine” concept in their investigation of food trends in 2025. According to the Fundamentally Nutritious trend, food is being more often perceived as a means of promoting holistic health and no longer as a simple means of satiation. MINTEL analysts Alice Pilkington and Alex Beckett describe the potential of this food trend for organic brands as follows: “The intensifying scrutiny around ultra-processing and nutritional messaging overwhelm will prompt many consumers to simply seek good nutrition and products that contribute to well-known and established health adages, such as five-a-day, naturalness and vitamins and minerals. As such, organic products that speak to these health adages whilst communicating on soil health can tap into organic farming methods’ favourable perceptions around offering superior nutrition. Additionally, there are also opportunities to give consumers a more active role within the organic farming closed-loop system, as seen in L'Atelier V’s Mini Moroccan Bite with Spinach, Cumin, Cardamom, Chickpea and Buckwheat. The product states that ‘by eating this bite, you help to replant organic and French legumes, that are good for the quality of the soil and the biodiversity of the regions.’”

 

Food trends at BIOFACH 2025

The global food trends relating to holistic health, sustainable value creation and plant-based food are being used by the BIOFACH trend jury as initial guidelines and a basis for discussion for its definition of the BIOFACH Trends 2025. Each year, a panel of sector experts determine current food trends in time for BIOFACH, with results specifically tailored to the organic food sector. The trends defined for 2025 will be announced in February, shortly before the trade fair opens, and can be discovered on site in Nuremberg. Along with the Novelty Stand and the Trend Wall in Hall 4A, guided trend tours provide exciting and entertaining insights into the most important developments in the organic food market. In addition, the INNOVATION STAGE, which is also located here, offers companies from the organic food sector their first opportunity to present themselves and their (new) products to a wide audience within the framework of innovation and BIOFACH Start-up Pitches.

Author

Anna Frede

Anna Frede

Junior PR Consultant | modem conclusa gmbh