As the US population continues to age, dairy products that meet the nutritional needs of older consumers will become increasingly influential, according to Canadean.
US dairy marketers should communicate the health benefits of their dairy products by promoting their advantages for maintaining an active lifestyle.
Figures reveal that the number of people in the US aged 65 and older is set to more than double from current levels to 85 million by 2050.
Functional dairy products for health, wellness
Health needs among consumers aged 55 years and above have influence dairy consumption in the US, according to Canadean’s report entitled Consumer trend analysis: understanding consumer trends and drivers of behavior in the US dairy food market.
Rather than looking for more therapeutic products that help with maintaining certain issues such as bone decay, consumers in their fifties and sixties in particular are looking for dairy products to act as preventatives, to keep them active and in good health.
The company has tracked the influence of 20 consumption motivators in the US dairy market and found that 34.6% of yogurt and 32.0% of milk consumption volume, was tied to the consumers’ age requirements.
“Markets should look at this as a good opportunity to focus on the older consumer market by producing functional products that offer a health boost and cater specifically to the needs of an ageing US population,” said analyst Joanne Hardman.;
Older consumers are increasingly looking to dairy products for their functional, nutritional benefits in satisfying age-based needs such as tooth-retention, avoiding osteoporosis and maintaining heart and brain health.
Minerals such as calcium are desired by consumers to help maximize healthy bone strength, as is riboflavin to maintain good nerve function and limit the risk of cancer, dementia, and heart disease.
High dairy consumption among consumers 55 years and above
Hardman said there is opportunity for US dairy marketers to take advantage of these findings as dairy consumption is increasing among the US population aged 55 and above.
This age band has the highest amount of dairy food occasions per year totaling 33.5 million.
However, this is due to the sheer size of the demographic, and they have the smallest number of occasions per person at 416.1 per year.
With this being the case, more dairy products with age-specific benefits need to be on the market to encourage older consumers to eat dairy products more frequently.
