Simple, Naturally Healthy Ingredients the Biggest Winners on Social Media, Reveals New Nutrition Business

ROCHESTER HILLS, Michigan, October 15, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Social media activity around avocado, almonds and quinoa far outstrips that of activated charcoal, collagen or pea protein - suggesting that North American consumers are more interested in foods that are easy to understand and naturally healthy, a social media analysis by New Nutrition Business reveals.

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The food and nutrition consultancy analysed social media mentions of 20 selected health food ingredients on Instagram - the most popular social media platform for food-related subjects - between 2017 and 2018. The ingredients were ranked according to popularity, from those well-known to consumers to growing and emerging ingredients:

• Topping the list, with more than 100,000 mentions per month each, were avocado, almonds, blueberries, quinoa, kale, matcha and chia.
• Instagram mentions for these six were up between 14% and 75% over the previous year.
• One of the fastest-growing health ingredients on social media is collagen (a skincare ingredient used in beverages), which had 110% more mentions on Instagram in 2018 than 2017.
• At the bottom, among those least-mentioned on Instagram, were birch water, pea protein and charcoal.
• The 20 ingredients selected gained a total of over 850,000 mentions on Instagram in one month alone (July 2018).

The internet has become the primary source of nutrition advice for most Americans - with 34% of people relying more on blogs and online platforms than on dietitians or nutritionists.

"Mainstream America wants simple, natural, easy-to-understand ingredients. They are willing to try anything new as long as it passes that test," said Mellentin. "And they are open to trying something new if the benefit is clear. Collagen, for example, a natural protein, has some robust benefits for skin and joint health so it's no surprise to see it surging on social media."

For example, despite all the hype around activated charcoal, it has only 1% of the mentions of avocado or blueberry or almond. Good looks matter, but a health ingredient needs many other supporting factors to become a success on social media - and activated charcoal still has a long way to go.

The analysis also looked at how the ingredients were discussed in global online media platforms, blogs, forums, as well as social media channels, including most-favoured images posted by consumers, most-used hashtags and most popular searches.

The complete analysis was published in the report, 20 Key Health Ingredients: What Consumers Say on Social Media, available at new-nutrition.com

NOTES FOR EDITORS 

1. Editors can arrange an interview with Julian Mellentin, by contacting Marta Matvijev at [email protected].  
2. New Nutrition Business, established in 1995, is a research and consultancy company specialising in the global nutrition business. It has offices in the United States, Europe, and New Zealand and affiliates in Japan and South Korea.
3. Julian Mellentin is director of New Nutrition Business and is one of the world's few international specialists in the business of food, nutrition and health.
4. More information on 20 Key Health Ingredients: What Consumers Say on Social Media can be found at http://www.new-nutrition.com

SOURCE New Nutrition Business