FDBusiness.com

As people face the challenge of balancing an on-the-go lifestyle with maintaining a healthy diet, the food industry is being disrupted by new solutions which blur the lines between food, health and medicine.

Gil Horsky is Global Chocolate Innovation Platform Lead at Mondelēz International, the largest chocolate and biscuits company in the world, with iconic brands including Cadbury, Milka Oreo and Belvita.  In an interview with Future Food-Tech, Horsky reveals how changing consumer patterns are catalysing unprecedented innovation in food.

Horksy says, “Consumers, and especially younger consumers, are swapping the more traditional three daily meals with five or six substantial snacks per day. Snacking accounts today for over 50% of eating occasions, with 91% of consumers snacking multiple times throughout the day. Given the increased role snacks play in people’s lives and the challenge of eating healthily while on-the-go, consumer expectations of snacks to deliver nutritional benefits are rising.”

Gil Horsky.

As Horsky explains, the rapid increase of health conditions such as obesity and diabetes are shifting the way consumers are thinking about snacking. “People want their snacks to have a clear “job” that will solve a problem or enable them to better meet their wellbeing aspirations by reducing the “negatives”, delivering on the “positives” or even providing a mood uplift.”

Beyond the nutrient value of snacking, there is increased focus on personalised nutrition, where products are tailored specifically to an individual’s health needs and genetic profile. Horksy details: “Today’s younger consumers are demanding personalised products and experiences, especially as they relate to food and nutrition. Rapid advancements in DNA sequencing, gut microbiome, big data and Artificial Intelligence enable us now to make personalised food and nutrition recommendations that are tailored to an individual’s DNA or gut microbiome. This is still in the early stages, but investment is rife across Europe, US, Asia, and Israel as innovators utilise technology to pinpoint the science behind this area of personalised nutrition.”

In Israel for example the government has made a strategic decision to become a leader in food-tech and personalised nutrition, as they have done successfully with cyber-security. They co-funded VCs in this space, such as The Kitchen, and are allocating resources for a food innovation centre in the northern Galilee region, leading to the emergence of several local top-notch start-ups in this space.

Gain more expert insight from Gil Horsky at the Future Food-Tech London summit, October 18-19, where he joins an international panel including The British Dietetic Association, McCain Foods, Nestle and TNO as they discuss and debate the opportunities at the intersection of food, health and medicine.