Medical nutrition

Accelerated by the COVID-19 crisis and the growing importance of dietetics among consumers, personalized nutrition is rapidly developing in the market and pushing market players to evolve their product ranges. Many are therefore venturing into developing new products or services tailored to patients’ behaviors and genetic profiles, aiming to provide more targeted and personalized solutions. It is therefore necessary for market players to develop their hyper-segmentation strategies (such as consumers with food allergies, high-performance athletes, etc.) to meet increasingly precise and complex needs.

How can the personalized nutrition market be penetrated in its environment? What services can be developed beyond the product to enhance the personalization of the nutritional approach?

Health professionals, patients, and reimbursement organizations expect a high quality of offerings in terms of food safety and regulation. Market players now face particularly strict and evolving legislation.

How can compliance with food safety standards be ensured for different patient profiles? What are the regulatory requirements in the market, and how can their compliance be ensured?

Malnutrition is a key issue that affects the elderly and people suffering from cancer. Indeed, 20% of oncology deaths are due to malnutrition. Several products address this need (including oral nutritional supplements), but these solutions are not always appealing to patients, who become tired of “medicalized” offerings. There is thus a challenge for industry players to restore the enjoyment of food during therapy for sick people by innovating with textures and flavors. Another aspect is that existing formats are not always adapted to the situations of patients health journey (such as mobility or the need for rapid consumption), and an innovative solution becomes equally necessary in this case.

What are the expectations and tendencies of sick people regarding orally-consumed food? What new formats, textures, and tastes can be developed to meet the demand?

In the current context, industry players face significant cost constraints (cost of raw materials, complexities of production costs, streamlining purchasing in hospital settings, etc.). Medical nutrition faces the challenge of reducing these costs while preserving quality and safety.

How can prices be optimized while complying with food standards and maintaining product and service effectiveness? What persistent strategies should be put in place to secure the supply chain and develop my product?

The market is experiencing significant growth and increasing competition. In order to differentiate, players are seeking to address new needs, improve adherence, penetrate new distribution channels, expand internationally, leverage new technologies, and/or develop their offers to cover multiple aspects of the value chain (diagnostics, product offerings, service offerings, etc.).

How can general nutrition players differentiate themselves from the competition? How can specialists optimize and enrich their offers? What growth strategy should be put in place in an increasingly coveted market?

Driven by the evolving profiles of consumer-patients and reinforced by the development of home healthcare services (with an increasing number of providers – home healthcare companies – in this market), the trend of transparency and naturalness is becoming increasingly important, as is the case in the more traditional agri-food market.

What are the expectations of sick people in terms of transparency and naturalness? How can packaging and labels be re-designed to meet these expectations?