What was it all about?

To help develop a competitive advantage for the Australian vegetable industry, this project was tasked with identifying trends relating to diet, dining and health; forecasting future drivers, stakeholders and consumers based on these trends; and illustrating practical examples of how the vegetable industry, including individual businesses, can take advantage of them right now.

The work identified the following large-scale trends:

• Eating right to achieve balance
• Greater vegetarianism
• Searching for new, naturally derived beauty products
• ‘Native’ as an extension for local
• Specific dietary habits:
• Optimising gut health
• Eating for mental health
• Seeking hormonal balance and spirituality
• Meat substitutes
• A change from dietary supplements to meal replacements.

Broccoli and eggplant were then identified as just two vegetables with high potential to resonate with some of these trends. They were the basis for two case studies to help growers understand how to take advantage of these, available in the final research report document.