Food habits in Spain are rapidly changing, as indicated by the latest report by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fish and Food.
The country’s population has fallen from around 47 million in 2010 to 46.5 million in 2017, yet the number of households has increased, due to the rising number of single-person homes. The report confirms that the consumption of prepared meals has increased and that non-traditional foods are being more consumed, while the Mediterranean diet consumption is decreasing. Furthermore, prepared and packaged meals have risen 4.8% in the last year.
In spite the fact that 47.3% of Spanish households do their grocery in supermarkets, traditional retailers are still an important part of sales, averaging 32.2% of fresh products sales.
This change in food preferences can cause nutritional deficiencies, which can be compensated through nutritional supplements, which is on the rise in Spain. The Spanish people are aware of the importance of an adequate diet for their health, but the lack of time and changing lifestyle (needing food solutions on the go) is modifying their eating habits.
As a countercurrent to the present tendency, a new social movement has appeared called Realfooding (https://realfooding.com/). Realfooders don’t do diet, they do not want to lose weight. In turn they are focused in being healthy and enjoy food. The objective of this tendency is to eat “real food” and avoid as much as possible processed foods. We can consider as a real food all those minimally processed foods or whose industrial or traditional processing has not worsened the quality of the composition or negatively interfered with their naturally occurring health properties (vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds, tubers and roots, legumes, fish and seafood, eggs, meats, whole grains, virgin oils, quality diary, coffee, cocoa and infusions, herbs and spices).
What side are you on?
Nuria Torres
Iberia Sales Manager
