‘Physical and mental condition marketing’ – Mutiny with the Bounty

On the third day of Anuga the director of Rheingold – a prestigious German qualitative market research company – gave a presentation titled ‘Current nutritional trends, from sensibility through renouncing to oral masturbation’. The presenter, Stephan Grünewald earned a degree in psychology and founded the company in his twenties – Rheingold’s annual turnover has been around EUR 10 million for seven years.

In his presentation he told that the pace of life speeded up and people get tired in all the hard work. They wish to get away from it all and feel they have to do something against this rat race. All these conditions create the current nutritional trends – this is the background to ‘physical and mental condition marketing’. Rheingold differentiates between the ideal of eating and the reality of eating. Their research identified seven trends: 1. Tabooing of oral giving, 2. Functional food, 3. Unplanned eating during the day, 4. Absolutisation of organic products, 5. Longing for home, 6. Transitional shower of emotions, 7. Oral masturbation. Meanings: 1. There is great pressure from society: only thin people can be winners, so many feel ashamed to eat. 2. Belief in miracles, every problem can be solved with the help of technology. 3. Eating behaviour is de-rhythmised – food and beverages are miniaturised by marketing. 4. Organic food provides magical protection and enhances the feeling of joy. 5. This desire is practically the ‘new organic feeling’. For many people home means protection and a place where things – including food – can be enjoyed undisturbedly. 6. This is also called wellness trend. Consumers want sensual moments that give a feeling of completeness, e.g. chocolate is able to give this to them. 7. Unhealthy, fat and salty products (crisps, popcorn, hamburger, etc.) – the goal is to eat a lot. Stephan Grünewald’s conclusion was that consumers try to achieve a certain spiritual condition by eating. Consequently, ‘physical and mental condition marketing’ is becoming more and more important and thinking in traditional target groups is becoming obsolete. He described current consumer relationship with eating as ‘Mutiny with the Bounty’.