Natural Grocers, a natural and organic grocery retailer, published its eighth annual Top Trends report for 2024. The report includes predictions for the following categories: Health and Wellness, Body care and Beauty, Ecologically Thoughtful, and Food and Beverage trends.
A dedicated team from Natural Grocers’ Nutrition Education team collaborated with the retailer’s purchasing and analytics team to study consumer shopping preferences and put together the list.
THE FOOD AND BEVERAGE TRENDS
We All Get On Board with Boards
This trend isn’t going to go away anytime soon. From charcuterie boards to snack boards, butter boards, and more, boards continue to be popular for entertaining and sharing on social media. Natural Grocers explained why boards are so popular: “First, they’re beautiful (i.e., perfect for social media), and they don’t require ‘chef-y’ skills to make. People are excited to share food again while also looking for stress-free ways to host.”
The Mediterranean Diet Stands the Test of Time
This eating lifestyle, not a diet, isn’t new but is all the rage because it’s delicious, easy to follow, and supports health in various ways. “It’s not a strict diet, but an eating lifestyle that leaves you feeling satisfied, not deprived,” the report said.
Replacing High Omega-6 Oils Becomes a Health Priority
High Omega-6 oils, common in the American diet, are common in processed foods and cause inflammation in the body. Natural Grocers predicts consumers will shift away from these unhealthy oils. Instead, healthy oils like olive oil, coconut oil, and high-oleic sunflower oil will be popular in 2024. The report said, “We’ll focus on consuming more health-promoting omega-3s, found in wild salmon, pasture-raised beef, algal oils, fish oils, and sardines to support a healthy mood, healthy blood sugar balance, cardiovascular function, inflammation modulation, and so much more.”
ORGANIC MEAT AND REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE AS PRIORITIES
Two of the three ‘Ecologically Thoughtful Trends’ in the report stand out for those in the food industry. The first is that consumers are rejecting lab-grown meat and saying yes to organic meat. Lab-grown meat, which uses a ton of energy and claims it is better for consumption and the environment, customers will not accept, the report found. The second ecological trend consumers will be focused on next year is defining ‘regenerative agriculture’. Regenerative isn’t regulated, and therefore, it can be placed on a product label or marketing materials, even if the environment from which the product was derived was worse off because of it. Prioritizing conserving the land, regenerative agriculture will be a big topic among consumers, Natural Grocers predicts next year.
Natural Grocers was founded in 1955 and has 167 stores in 21 states. It is the largest family-operated organic and natural grocery retailer in the U.S. The full report is available here.
