Food trends have come and gone throughout the decades, and fad diets have had their time in the spotlight as well. While fads and trends don’t last, every group of consumers is looking for healthier food options. They’re even willing to pay more for healthy foods and snacks.

What Makes a Food Option Healthy?

Not all food is healthy, and health foods vary in their degree of nutritional benefit. Consumers are looking for a healthy food option that has at least one of these qualities:

• GMO-free, certified organic or all-natural, no artificial additives, preservatives, or coloring
• High in fiber or protein
• Made with whole grains
• Fortified with calcium, minerals, or vitamins

There are a lot of choices when it comes to food options and with consumers becoming more interested in their dietary health for both the short- and long-term benefits, they are finding more healthy food options as well. Consumers are happy to find food choices that boast one or more of the qualities above and they’re willing to pay extra for those foods.

Why are Consumers Paying More for Healthy Foods?

Throughout the country, people are being influenced and educated on the benefits of healthy foods from a variety of sources. Everything from demographics to technological advances are playing a role in the increased interest in a healthy diet. Many people live sedentary lifestyles sitting in chairs for most of the day. More and more people are learning about how a healthy diet can positively affect both mental and physical health, and even add years to their lives.

Health and wellness professionals, from doctors to fitness trainers, are spreading the idea that health food can serve as medicine. Consistently consuming healthier foods in place of the unhealthy alternatives is shown to prevent chronic illness, and when a lifestyle change is made, those same illnesses can be reversed or treated. The higher price tag of healthy food options seems irrelevant when consumers consider the medical bills or prescription costs they can avoid.

A Healthy Lifestyle vs A Healthy Trend

Yes, trends come and go. Will the interest of healthy food options also disappear? Marketing experts say that is unlikely. There’s an aspirational quality to eating healthy foods and living a better, longer life. Plus, with so many professionals and organizations discussing the benefits of a healthy and balanced diet, people may change which healthy foods they choose, but they’re likely to continue to choose healthy foods.

A Healthy Business

An unlikely place, like a vending machine, has healthy options too. If you want to own a business that meets the health needs of consumers throughout the country visit Naturals2Go.