Superfoods: it's not a popularity contest (or is it?)

As consumer awareness around the importance of healthy lifestyle choices continues to rise, so too does the global superfood powder market, with some valuing it in the region of $7 billion.

Superfood blends can be classified into four main categories: greens, reds, adaptogenic, and ‘other’. Within our ANIE database, we currently track nearly 1,000 superfood products across Europe and North America, giving us ample insight into the market.

So, what did we find?

Unsurprisingly, the OG greens blends are the most dominant across both markets (45.6% Europe, 52.4% North America).

And both geographies see similar distribution when it comes to adaptogenic blends (17% Europe, 16.8% North America) and reds (10% Europe, 11.4% North America).

However, there is a difference when it comes to ‘other’, a category which comprises blends that have a superfoods base but also include additional claims and specific ingredients that position them towards one specific health benefit. In North America, these make up just under a fifth (19.4%) of available products, compared with more than a quarter (27.4%) in Europe.

What does this tell us?

When most people think about superfoods they think of the big brands that the industry perpetuates – take Athletic Greens or Bloom Nutrition, for example. And although greens may make up around half of the industry, that means the other half are NOT greens.

This chart then is a reminder that there is much more to the superfoods’ category than meets the mainstream eye and there’s a huge scope for innovation that we haven’t seen yet.

We’re looking forward to seeing which brands are going to be the breakout stars in those other categories.

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