Jon Gibbs examines how brands can stand out – and scale – in one of food and drink’s fastest-growing, most competitive segments
From Huel to Hunter & Gather, Misfits Health, Freja and Little Dish, there is no shortage of start-up success stories in the Better for You food and drink space.
And it’s little surprise, given global spending in the category is set to grow by 10 percent a year at least until 2030, that there are so many start-ups racing into this space.
Yet, remarkably, when you look at the top 30 companies in global food and drink – a group representing 23 percent of total sales in that market – only 34 percent of their total sales come from these ‘healthier’ products, according to recent research from campaigning group ATNi.
This is a missed opportunity for those corporates. With their innovation, production, distribution and marketing capabilities, they could deliver significant revenue in a space where there’s still clear untapped consumer demand.
The obstacle deterring many is finding a product and brand that will stand out amidst so much competition. As more people shop by benefit – from protein, to gut health, energy, low sugar, and so on – so retailers are increasingly organising ranges this way, driving more and more brands to lean into functional benefits. Anyone can claim to be “high protein” or “gut friendly”, and when everyone does, it’s harder and more important than ever to stand out.
So, how to get attention in such a noisy space?
The power of a big idea
The brands that cut through are built around a single idea that feels fresh and motivating. Look at Little Dish. Launched in 2006 with the simple ambition of creating happy, healthy mealtimes, it’s stuck firmly to that goal and with more than 250 million meals sold, is now a £30m brand. It hit on an idea that is simple, distinctive and repeatable across everything the brand does, and, regardless of external pressures, it has stayed true to that big idea.
We saw that firsthand when we worked with the team in 2025 to evolve its identity. The world had changed, and its customers were facing new pressures from soaring food prices, cost of living increases, rising child obesity figures and more two working-parent households than ever before, but that didn’t change the focus of the Little Dish team. The evolved identity simply aimed to bring more people into the know about the brand and its healthier, happier mealtimes. With sales up 24 percent since the launch of new packaging, it has certainly achieved that.
Healthy is table stakes
Remember too, that the big idea does not have to be all about the health credentials of the product. If it centres too heavily on ingredients it can rapidly get reduced to a war of inflationary numbers – which has the most grams of protein, for instance.
However, more fundamentally than this, leading with health credentials is rarely a successful strategy. Not only does it reduce stand out, but it also falls foul of the intention-action gap – an academic way of saying that people don’t always do what they say they’ll do. In 2022 Cambridge Judge Business School conducted research among 1,400 people, and found that healthy cues standing alone have, surprisingly, little impact in prompting more healthy buying decisions.
It is not enough to be healthier. You have to give people a reason to care. Look at Bio&Me. The health claim – good for your gut – is there, but the primary message is clearly taste. It’s a food you’ll enjoy which also happens to be good for you. Or Yeo Valley: “We get nature, you get delicious”. Taste is not the only route. Hunter & Gather invites us to identify and connect with its founders, Amy and Jeff.
Beyond convention
Distinctive design is one of the fastest ways to stand out. Startups are good at making their packs feel like statements, not just products. Too often corporates fall back on category conventions. A bold design that signals something different will always win attention in store and online.
Often, it’s about bringing the distinctive aspect of the brand into the foreground. When Manomasa asked us to help them tell a wider audience about their tortilla chips, we went back to the brand’s Latin America inspiration, spicing up the existing visual structure of the packaging with passion, colour and warmth, as well as adding the energy and movement of a pair of dancers as its icon. It delivered double digit growth in Waitrose, as well as new listings across the multiples.
Honest but human
There is no room for anything other than total honesty and transparency in this market. Consumers have facts at their fingertips, and any attempt to hide or obscure uncomfortable facts will be discovered and will be fatal to the brand.
However, this is not the same as saying that on-pack copy needs to be worthy or technical. The best brands here find ways to deliver the information in a way that is human, conversational and even entertaining. Look at Tideford Soup. Rather than filling every square inch with desperate claims, it simply states what it does, and this quiet confidence, allied to bright and vibrant visuals delivers impressive stand-out.
Think long term, not launch only
It is easy to put all the energy into a launch, but distinctiveness is built over time. Equally, it’s easy to follow the latest Better for You trends – mushrooms, nootropics, collagen, and so on – but the brands that become memorable are the ones that show up consistently, with ideas that stay true to their core thought while evolving in interesting ways.
Our client Lindt is an exemplar of this long-term mindset. It has long been focused on building its brand as a premium gifting experience, and as the price of cocoa rises it has stayed true to this.
A moment of opportunity
It’s not easy to stand out in this space, but it can be done. And it’s increasingly urgent for corporates to take action here. As demand for Better for You products grows, so demand for less healthy options dwindles, and this will soon have a material negative impact on the income of organisations that have relied on these products for decades.
The corporates that take the lead right now in Better for You will be the ones who thrive in the years ahead.
Jon Gibbs is the Managing Director at Derek&Eric
