“Free from” products: growth slows while new claims emerge

According to the latest edition of the Osservatorio Immagino report, following a 2.3% upturn in 2017, sales growth of “free from” products slowed in 2018 to just +0.1%, reaching €6.8 billion of sales in supermarkets and hypermarkets.

The report nonetheless notes that these products retain a significant share of the food sector in general, the 11,900 products in this segment accounting for 27% of the total food sector revenues covered by the report (64,800 items).

The lack of growth is attributable to stagnant demand, although the analysis reveals a more complex scenario with two opposing but counterbalancing phenomena.

While “preservative-free”, “colour-free” and “hydrogenated fat-free” products are losing their appeal (with falls in sales of 4.0%, 5.8% and 7.9% respectively), other segments are continuing to expand such as “no added sugar” (+5.4%), “low sugar” (+5,1%), “glutamate free” (+4.8%), “additive free” (+3.6%) and “low calorie” (+2.5%).

The report also observed a number of emerging claims with a low but fast-growing commercial impact, such as “antibiotic free”.