Social media activity around avocado, almonds, and quinoa far outstrips that of activated charcoal, collagen, or pea protein, suggesting that consumers are more interested in foods that are easy to understand and naturally healthy, according to a social media analysis by New Nutrition Business.
 
New Nutrition Business analyzed social media mentions of 20 selected health food ingredients on Instagram—the most popular social media platform for food-related subjects—between 2017 and 2018. The ingredients were ranked according to popularity, from those well-established and well-known to consumers to growing and emerging ingredients:
 
Topping the list, with more than 100,000 mentions per month each, were avocado, almonds, blueberries, quinoa, kale, matcha, and chia.
 
Instagram mentions for these six were up between 14% and 75% over the previous year.
 
One of the fastest-growing health ingredients on social media is collagen (a skin care ingredient used in beverages), which had 110% more mentions on Instagram in 2018 than 2017.
 
At the bottom, among those least-mentioned on Instagram, were birch water, pea protein, and charcoal.
 
The 20 ingredients selected gained a total of over 850,000 mentions on Instagram in one month alone (July 2018).
 
The Internet has become the primary and most-trusted source of nutrition advice for most consumers—with 34% relying more on blogs and online platforms than dietitians or nutritionists. Analysis of social media provides important insights into consumer awareness of health ingredients.
 
“Knowing how health ingredients are discussed on the Internet and in social media is important for everyone, from product developers trying to select new ingredients to ingredient suppliers trying to figure out commercialization strategy,” said Julian Mellentin, director of New Nutrition Business.
 
For example, despite all the hype around activated charcoal, and hordes of Instagram images of “black foods” made with charcoal, it has only 1% of the mentions of avocado or blueberry or almond, according to the report, “20 Key Health Ingredients: What Consumers Say on Social Media.” Good looks matter, but a health ingredient needs many other supporting factors to become a success on social media—and activated charcoal still has a long way to go.
 
“When it comes to increasing consumer awareness about health foods, it helps if your ingredient is uncomplicated and is perceived to be naturally healthy,” said Mr. Mellentin. “Even health ingredients that were once unfamiliar to most people, such as chia and quinoa, can be embraced quickly if they follow this formula.”
 
The analysis also looked at how the ingredients were discussed in global online media platforms, blogs, forums, as well as social media channels, including most-favored images posted by consumers, most-used hashtags, and most popular searches.