‘Health at the heart of food innovation’

At the round table held at SIAL Paris on 22 October 2024, experts from the food industry came together to discuss the challenges and solutions involved in combining nutrition and innovation

Faced with a growing world population and ever more demanding expectations in terms of nutrition, how can the food industry combine innovation and health?

This was the central question addressed at the round table on 22 October 2024, organised as part of the Ciel Talks at SIAL Paris. Chaired by Nathalie Hutter-Lardo, founder and CEO of Évidence Santé, the discussion brought together major players in the sector: Anne-Gaëlle Lanic (Managing Director of Lactalis Nestlé France), Carole Galissant (Director of Food Transition and Nutrition at Sodexo), Claire Chambrier (Head of Scientific and Educational Development at Aprifel) and Freddy Tiburce (CEO of Manger du Sens). Together, they shared their initiatives and strategies for meeting the new food challenges

Changing consumer expectations

Today’s consumers are placing increasing emphasis on health in their food choices. ‘Health is now the third most important selection criterion after taste and accessibility, and it’s on the rise all the time’, stresses Nathalie Hutter-Lardo. However, one major issue remains: accessibility. ‘55% of consumers feel they cannot afford quality food’, she continues.

Faced with this growing demand, manufacturers are rethinking their strategies. At Lactalis Nestlé, Anne-Gaëlle Lanic explains that their approach is based on ‘continuous improvement’ of products: reducing additives, simplifying recipes and cutting sugar. She cites the example of Nesquik, which now contains 30% less sugar than it did three years ago. But for these changes to be accepted, they have to be introduced gradually. ‘If we had removed 30% of sugar all at once, we would have lost all our sales’, she explains.

Innovation for healthier nutrition

Innovation is at the heart of the strategies of major groups and start-ups alike. Carole Galissant, from Sodexo, emphasises the importance of adapting to different target groups: ‘We have to respond to the specific needs of children, senior citizens, hospital patients, etc. Our recipes and menus have to be rethought to meet the specific needs of these groups. Our recipes and menus have to be constantly rethought’. Contract catering also plays a key role in raising awareness. ‘Not only do we have to improve the quality of our products, but we also have to help our customers to eat better’, she adds.

Freddy Tiburce, with his Manger du Sens platform, is seeing the emergence of innovative solutions driven by start-ups. In his view, ‘health has become a key factor in the development of new products. A third of the start-ups competing for the Lauriers de la Transition Alimentaire in 2024 had a health promise’. Current trends include fermentation, the exploitation of microbiota, and the hybridisation of algae and legumes.

Nutritional education, a key issue

Access to healthy food cannot be achieved without appropriate education. Claire Chambrier (Aprifel) points out that nutritional education alone ‘is not enough to change behaviour’. She stresses the importance of a combination of actions: repeated exposure to products, parental involvement and, above all, learning by doing. ‘The more children are exposed to fruit and vegetables, the more likely they are to appreciate and eat them’, she explains.

Food education is not just for the younger generation. Sodexo also works with companies such as Mercedes to raise awareness among their employees, particularly after the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to a rise in overweight. ‘We even organise nutritional workshops at weekends to help families rebalance their diet’, explains Carole Galissant.

While innovation and education are essential, we also need to think about tomorrow’s food from a sustainable perspective. As Freddy Tiburce points out, ‘the transition to a healthier diet also requires sustainable products and the emergence of new agricultural practices’. The greening of our plates and the development of regenerative supply chains are fundamental trends that are gradually taking hold.

Nathalie Hutter-Lardo concluded the round table by reminding us that to make this transition a success, companies need to adopt a global approach, draw on internal and external expertise and, above all, adopt a long-term strategy. ‘We can’t make healthy eating just a marketing argument. We need a genuine transformation, involving all levels of the company’.

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Source image: SIAL Paris

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