CPG Industry “Gut Health Revolution”
Even with the gut health revolution in full swing across the CPG industry, most consumers still have a knowledge gap… which might end up creating a double-edged sword effect on categorical growth.
Mo’ Growth. Mo’ Knowledge?
I recently saw consumer health survey data that the Nutrition Business Journal published that stated only a quarter of consumers consider themselves knowledgeable about their personal gut and digestive health. When reading that data point, my initial gut reaction was that the percentage of respondents seemed a bit low. The consumer market has come a long way from the topic of gut health being mostly associated with the consumption of yogurt during the breakfast eating occasion.
Gut health has become such a well-known trend within the food, beverage, and supplement CPG categories…bringing with it tons of new market growth and product development. So, it’s natural to assume then that all this positive market activity also greatly improved consumer education, right? There’s little doubt in my mind that consumers are certainly more aware and educated than ever about gut health, but even I get frequently tripped up with the ever-evolving information and gaps in knowledge that it creates about the topic.
I think most consumers (myself included) know that the gut microbiome influences everything from energy levels to immunity, that it can be influenced by diet and lifestyle choices, and things like probiotics and fiber can improve gut health. But that would be the proverbial gut microbiome 101 course offered at your local community college. What happens if someone were to ask you questions like:
How do fermented foods compare to probiotic supplements in terms of results?
Do normal pesticides found on food matter and if so, does that mean organic food is better for gut health?
What about plastics consumed inadvertently on a regular basis?
Does taking antibiotics or OTC medications create issues inside our gut microbiota?
Knowledge Gap Creates a Double-Edged Sword Effect
Would you be able to knowledgeably answer them off the top of your head? While there have been clinical studies that looked at these questions and 100s of other adjacent ones regarding its impact on gut health, I didn’t mention them to validate countless studies or get into the science nitty gritty, but to basically say there’s so much the general consumer market doesn’t know about gut health. I also think it’s that consistent newness of information, and knowledge gap that it creates, which forms a paradoxical relationship with the expected massive categorical growth.
On the one hand, all this new information consistently coming out and being disseminated across today’s most popular communication mediums…garners an elevated amount of attention. That provides a fertile curiosity-rich environment for consumers to take additional deeper looks at how small changes in daily nutrition and lifestyle choices can make improvements to their gut health. This is because most consumers, even the ones that might not be knowledgeable, are currently and actively trying to optimize their gut health. It’s poor dietary habits, like over-indulgence, unhealthy meal timing, and the overreliance on convenience foods, that are causing higher rates of digestive problems…resulting in immediate health problems. This is where I think we are right now.
On the other hand, growth rates could obviously slow if CPG brands follow “smoke and mirrors” type inadequate research on the gut microbiome because it’s hard to keep up with what replaced what or which is most valid, I guess you could say. With prebiotics, probiotics, fermented foods, and other CPG products marketed for a healthy microbiome, eventually ineffective products get sniffed out by the public…especially when a lot of the categorical consumption is based around the intent of solving a problem. While I still think the growing prevalence of gut-related conditions will drive the lion’s share of market growth for the immediate future, demand for products that may offer gut-health benefits will create long-lasting upside and push the category forward to new heights.
Gut Health Knowledge is Evolving
Maybe that’s the gut-brain connection or the fact that the gut is estimated to house 70% of the body’s immune cells or its impact on heart health, sleep quality, or skin health. The fact is, nearly all our internal systems are influenced by the gut. It’s that interconnectivity which should drive an elevated thirst for knowledge when it comes to the difference between various probiotic strains, or how prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics function differently. To educate and bring more awareness to this subject matter, brands need to think about an integrated approach that meets the consumer where they are at…in a way that breaks down scientific findings into easy-to-understand nuggets of information.
CPG brands should also be aware of what leading thought leaders are saying about gut health. You don’t have to be 100% aligned with what Andrew Huberman, Dave Asprey, Dr. Gundry, or the various experts that have gotten on a massive platform like the Joe Rogan podcast, have to say about gut health. But being unaware puts you that’s at a competitive disadvantage because that’s also likely where the highest concentration of relevant information is being consumed by your target customers. Someone’s point of view on gut health that I have always appreciated learning from is Matt Titlow, CEO of Compound Solutions, which is the supplier of the popular gut health ingredient CoreBiome. After one of our recent meetings, I persuaded him into letting me press record, so I could capture the insights from the few gut health questions that I knew would add depth to this content. That conversation can be seen at the 7:02 mark of the below YouTube video…
Gut Health Supplement Category
Probiotics have been a sizable supplement category for some time, but recent trends have impacted the growth of products focused pure digestive health. Alternatively, I think the holistic approach to gut health is super appealing, especially to the convenience generation (Millennials), so synbiotics should gain prominence over the next decade. With a product like Synbiotic Plus from Ritual, I think it’s a compelling value proposition that you get a 3-in-1 of prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotic. Finally, consider what someone like Dr. Gundry has built with Gundry MD, a massively successful multi-hundred-million-dollar brand off the back of various integrated gut health supplements that focus on both gut-related conditions and gut-health benefits.
Gut Health Food & Beverage CPG
Before I share some insights about the various gut health food and beverage CPG trends, I must acknowledge the over 100 years of Bragg and their famous Apple Cider Vinegar. They not only were an early champion of the gut health CPG trend, but also continue to be a huge driver of its success. Similarly, kombucha is another fermented beverage category that has had consistent double-digit sales growth. A kombucha brand that I’ve enjoyed following over the years is Health-Ade. They’ve also started dabbling more into other nutraceutical ingredients through their Glow line that I think adds a cool multifunctional gut-health benefit approach. Shifting to the food side of fermentation, and being Northeastern Ohio guy myself, I have to mention Cleveland Kitchen. That brand is killing it with a range of products in traditional fermented foods categories like Kraut and Kimchi, but also making it approachable with fermented dressings to pickles.
On the sweeter side of gut health friendly foods, and I think it’s important that I focus on packaged snack items, since it’s our overreliance on convenience that is playing a major role in digestive health issues. Attacking it from the probiotic side, you have a brand like BelliWelli. On the prebiotic fiber side, you have a favorite of mine Uplift Food…that has the backing of snacking giant Mondelez International. Finally, I couldn’t miss the opportunity to talk about the gut healthy soda movement and the attempt to disrupt the $40 billion massive carbonated soft drink category that’s dominated by Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Dr Pepper. While they are still in the early stage of rewriting the soda story, the two leading brands would be market leader Olipop and then Poppi.
Final Thoughts
Knowledge about the relationship between the gut microbiome and overall health is moving at a rapid clip. An obvious gut reaction to that is by today’s consumers looking for more foods, beverages, and supplements that support gut health. Something else that seems extremely obvious to me is that there will be this sort of flywheel effect in the coming years and decades with new gut health research emerging, which drives additional consumer demand, that feeds more categorical innovation and product development. That increased market size feeds the additional research, and we start back up again bigger and bigger.
We are in the early stages of a Gut Health Revolution, is your CPG brand ready to take advantage of it?