Avoiding Food Neophobia and Increasing Consumer Acceptance of New Food Trends—A Decade of Research

The increasingly fierce competition in food trends requires producers to innovate and develop new foods to be accepted and to avoid neophobia by consumers at the same time. Food neophobia’s motivational adoption barriers include the consumption of novel foods, social norms and conflicting eating goals. Therefore, appropriate strategies are needed to avoid neophobia amid the presence of new food trends in the market. Efforts to avoid food neophobia can also be accepted as part of the sustainability concept, in which the consumer has new foods to choose from in order to reduce scarcity in one particular type of food. The food industry is also challenged to produce healthy food by producing food from natural ingredients. In this article, new food trends and advances in food processing are described, and through them, strategies to avoid neophobia and increase consumer acceptance of new food trends are referenced. Neophobia meets marketing food products delivered to consumers facing motivational adoption barriers, such as the consumption of novel foods, social norms and conflicting eating goals, which are indicated to be challenges to purchase drivers in new food trends. Tasting foods is indicated as one of the most efficient means to ensure neophobia reduction in new foods and new food trends. Other factors identified to reduce food neophobia are education, income, taste and exposure to novel foods. Some preconditions for novel foods to be accepted by consumers are related to the very nature of food innovation, the manufacturer’s features and market circumstances. Food processed with advanced technologies may differ depending on the brand of the food production company and the knowledge of consumers about the novel foods. Moreover, food technology is seen as more acceptable for plant food products based or natural ingredients for consumers. In addition to the focus on health benefits, it is supports the sustainability of food systems. Another accidental element is the transparent traceability system providing accurate and adequate information about such novel foods.

Truths and myths about superfoods in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nowadays, during the current COVID-19 pandemic, consumers increasingly seek foods that not only fulfill the basic need (i.e., satisfying hunger) but also enhance human health and well-being. As a result, more attention has been given to some kinds of foods, termed "superfoods," making big claims about their richness in valuable nutrients and bioactive compounds as well as their capability to prevent illness, reinforcing the human immune system, and improve overall health.This review is an attempt to uncover truths and myths about superfoods by giving examples of the most popular foods (e.g., berries, pomegranates, watermelon, olive, green tea, several seeds and nuts, honey, salmon, and camel milk, among many others) that are commonly reported as having unique nutritional, nutraceutical, and functional characteristics.While superfoods have become a popular buzzword in blog articles and social media posts, scientific publications are still relatively marginal. The reviewed findings show that COVID-19 has become a significant driver for superfoods consumption. Food Industry 4.0 innovations have revolutionized many sectors of food technologies, including the manufacturing of functional foods, offering new opportunities to improve the sensory and nutritional quality of such foods. Although many food products have been considered superfoods and intensively sought by consumers, scientific evidence for their beneficial effectiveness and their "superpower" are yet to be provided. Therefore, more research and collaboration between researchers, industry, consumers, and policymakers are still needed to differentiate facts from marketing gimmicks and promote human health and nutrition.