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The growth potential of personalised nutrition

Published on
September 29, 2021

Can personalised nutrition go mainstream and does it really change consumer behaviour? What are the biggest learnings from startups in the field of personalised nutrition & health? What can scientific research add to personalised nutrition and how can start ups benefit from science? Join me and my WUR colleagues in the workshop ‘Startups & Scale ups’ at the PNH Conference on 7 October 2021 and we will definitely find a few answers together.

Martine van der Mast, program manager Food & Health, Wageningen University & Research (WUR)

Personalised nutrition is not really new. Already for centuries dietitians successfully give personalised nutrition advice to their clients and patients and they still do so. So what is new now and how can this trend of smart personalised nutrition benefit human health? Personalised nutrition could not only play a role in the prevention or treatment of certain diseases, it could also have an impact on athletic performance, mental health and immunity.

Advanced technologies & increased health awareness

According to experts the personalised nutrition market might soon be growing to a very large size. The combination of advancing technologies and increased health awareness has developed in such a way that this could push targeted or personalised nutrition into mainstream. Furthermore personal health data become real time available beyond the domain of dietitians, hospitals and labs. Nowadays we are checking the apps on our phones and digital devices on a daily basis.

Checking your health status frequently could very well become our next app to become addicted to. According to market researcher Euromonitor International’s global Health and Nutrition consumer survey in 2020, just over 46% of consumers would be “extremely comfortable” (19.5%) or “very comfortable” (26.8%) using personalized nutrition online and app-based services (1).

From niche to mainstream

Digitalised personalised nutrition is still in an early development and implementation stage from a technical perspective, a science perspective as well as the adoption by consumers. But it is quickly gaining traction all over the western world with a lot of new knowledge and experience being gained. Especially in the Covid-19 pandemic, awareness by the general public to have a good health to prevent getting ill is increasing and this could very well be THE momentum for startups and scale ups to become mainstream companies.

Personalised nutrition is a relatively young business model, but a hugely exciting area with a lot of growth potential and room for innovation. The competition is fierce with companies looking to differentiate themselves not only from each other, but also ‘steal’ share from the more traditional companies.

In my workshop at the PNH Conference we will have a very interactive discussion between the audience and several early movers in the field of personalised nutrition and health. We will learn from their experience, but will also challenge them. We aim to answer the questions raised above, create new connections between the participants and of course have a lively discussion around this very exciting topic.

Want to join us in this workshop? Please register for the Conference Personalised Nutrition & Health at 7 October 2021.

(1) Euromonitor International Health and Nutrition Survey 2020. Fielded in February 2020.