Three megatrends to influence children's food and beverage market

Developing products that appeal to children can be very difficult, as it requires marketers to successfully persuade both children and parents to buy the product. Therefore, understanding trends and factors that influence kids’ food purchases could provide industry players with strategies to better position their company and brands within the market.

According to "Kids Food and Beverage Market in the U.S.," a March report from Packaged Facts, a division of Rockville, Md.-based MarketResearch.com, three mega trends will continue to shape the market for foods created for and marketed to children: millennial parents who favor healthful and affordable foods, multicultural parents who are more likely to have children living at home, and childhood obesity, which is leading to the popularity of the stealth health movement.

In 2015, millennial parents accounted for 42 percent of all households with children, making them an important segment of the parenting demographic. Additionally, this group will likely continue to represent a growing share of households with children because the millennial generation spans nearly two decades — some are still in school and dependent on their parents and have not yet reached the childrearing stage, Packaged Facts stated.

Millennials also comprise a larger share of lower-income households. On the surface, this would imply that millennials are on strict budgets and that affordability is a significant purchase decision influence. While this reality might be true, it’s also important to consider the millennial mindset toward spending: Millennials are willing to spend extra for perceived higher-quality products and services. Notably, they value transparency, authenticity and brands that represent them and their lifestyles. For example, millennial moms tend to place importance on foods that are natural and do not contain artificial ingredients. Healthful, yet affordable, foods are very important to these parents. Simply put, they don’t want to compromise the nutritional value of the foods they buy, especially for their children, Packaged Facts said.

Race/ethnicity is an important consideration for kids’ food and beverage makers and marketers, too. Some 28 percent of white households have children living in the home; however, approximately 50 percent of Hispanic households, 44 percent of black households and 40 percent of Asian households have children living at home. Therefore, targeting households across the cultural spectrum is one way to hone marketing efforts to ensure reach of a high concentration of families, Packaged Facts noted.

Targeting the multicultural parent requires that marketers leverage strategies to appeal to traditional cultural values: Advertising in Spanish is an obvious example of this approach to better communicating with Hispanic parents. Marketers should also strive to understand the family values of the multicultural consumer, Packaged Facts suggested.

And with the growing prevalence of childhood obesity, food and beverage marketers would do well to become advocates of children's health by taking the necessary actions to improve the nutrition and health profile of foods and beverages marketed toward kids. One way industry players are providing healthier kid-friendly food and beverage products is through the stealth health movement, which hides servings of fruits and veggies in kid-friendly foods such as pastas, pizzas, breads, smoothies and desserts, Packaged Facts stated.

Beyond stealth health, food and beverage marketers will want to consider the real food movement. The real food concept incorporates health, animal welfare, social justice and environmental sustainability — buzzwords that fit under this umbrella are “clean,” “local,” “green” and “slow,” as well as “fair” and “organic,” Packaged Facts said.