Consumer Perceptions of Functional Foods

“People are saying, ‘I want my food to be food. I want my medicine to be medicine. I don’t want my food to be medicine.’” —Harvey Hartman, The New York Times, August 2007

Functional food is a very temperamental food and beverage category. Consumers, in growing numbers, continue to pursue lifestyles centered on health and wellness; and food and beverage manufacturers continue to churn out new (and sometimes bizarre) functional food and beverage products. Some foods boasting health claims are widely accepted by consumers, while others are short lived and seem to be of little interest.

Even though functional foods have been around for quite some time, longevity does not guarantee success. In the case of functional foods, success is exceptional, as most attempts at functional foods have been disappointing, if not utter failures, for the companies marketing them. There are several reasons for this that could be lumped together and labeled “misapprehension of the functional consumer.”

Consumers and industry experts are often at odds over what constitutes “real” food. While food is the main character in consumers’ quest to lead healthier lives, the term “functional food” is not one consumers understand or use.

In an online poll of 683 consumers in 2007, the Hartman Group explored various types of food and beverage products consumers associate with having a health-promoting or disease-preventing property beyond the basic function of providing daily nutrition, or if they consumed these products just for the sheer enjoyment of it. As Figure 1 depicts, consumers choose fresh “real foods” over fortified or enhanced food and beverage products. The health promotion and disease prevention benefits of fresh foods trump the health claims of fortified/enhanced foods and beverages.

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