Meeting nutritional needs of ageing population

One of the main reasons people are living longer is due to better nutrition. Food giant Nestlé has been producing nutritional products targeted at the elderly since it acquired the medical nutrition division of Novartis in 2006 for $2.5bn.

Nestlé offers nutritional solutions for people with specific illnesses, diseases or age-related nutritional needs. Much of the nutritional science behind these products is similar to that behind infant formula.

Nestlé’s nutrition and healthcare accounts for 13% of total group turnover. The division grew by 9% in 2014, with 21% profit growth.

China’s addiction to luxury goods

The expanding wealthy middle class in China has developed a fondness for expensive western brands, so much so that China will soon become the largest market for luxury goods, accounting for 20% of global demand.

Apple now ranks as the most coveted luxury brand in China, ahead of the likes of Louis Vuitton, Cartier and Hermès. Last month, Apple announced it had sold more iPhone units in China than in the US for the first time.

Greater China accounts for 29% of Apple’s total sales, compared with 37% for the Americas. Revenues in China increased 71% in the three months to March 2015 compared with the same period last year, with just 19% growth in the Americas.

M&S dine-in offer

In response to the changes in family size and more people living alone, Marks & Spencer has been selling easy-to-cook ready meals since the 1980s, with almost 40% of British households consuming one or more of them a week.

The chilled prepared food market in the UK has grown exponentially over the years and was worth £12.3bn in 2014. M&S has drawn in busy consumers living alone or in a small family home with convenient offers, such as its dine-in deals for two with prices as low as €14.

The success of its prepared meals offering means that food now accounts for 55% of M&S’s total business.

Company agenda

Even though China has huge potential for Irish food exports, perhaps the greatest potential is for luxury and premium brands of food. For example, the perceived wisdom is that meat demand in Asia is for offal and lesser-quality cuts. But if the wealthy Chinese have an appetite for luxury, then perhaps we should be exporting premium cuts of steak instead.

The fastest-growing segment of the global population is people aged over 65. The demand from this demographic is for nutritional, natural food products that will preserve their good health. The focus up to now has been on sports nutrition and infant formula, but creating nutritional solutions for the ageing generations may have strong future growth potential.

For years now, millennials have baffled companies, brands and marketers alike. Businesses need to change the way they market to this generation, but also need to be prepared to accommodate them as future employees in the hours they work, the flexibility of their roles and the technology they expect to work with.

Read more from this year's KPMG/Irish Farmers Journal Agribusiness report here.