Germans’ attitudes towards healthy eating have become more moderate in 2025. Interest in weight management has declined, and as such, general health perception has been on a steady decline since 2021.
Healthy Food and Drink Market Analysis — Current Landscape
Time and financial concerns are key factors that prevent German consumers from consistently eating and drinking healthily. Brands can seek to overcome this by increasing the number of product launches with convenience claims, while private labels can contribute to the democratisation of healthy eating, as food prices continue to affect buyers in Germany.
Brands which best harness the power of AI in terms of product development and helping consumers improve dietary decision-making will gain a stride on their competitors, as increasingly tech-literate consumers look for ways to free up time in their cluttered lives.
Natural claims and simplicity will also attract strong appeal, especially in the self-care space, as consumers become more aware of UPFs and more intentional with their consumption of processed foods.
Healthy Food Trends and Statistics
- Consumer Attitudes Towards Healthy Eating: 55% of Germans regard finances as more important than weight management, therefore, making consistently healthy eating/drinking more achievable for those in healthy financial situations.
- Healthy Food Trends: 69% of Germans continue to try and avoid ultra-processed foods in 2025, making it a consistent consumer trend across several years.
Healthy Food and Drink Market Analysis — What’s Inside?
Key Topics Analysed in this Report
- Overview of current market performance and the outlook for the next five years.
- Attitudes towards healthy eating, including potential barriers for consumers to make healthy choices.
- Healthy food trends regarding weight management intentions and the impact of weight loss drugs on motivation and eating habits of non-users.
- Features influencing healthy food and drink purchases, including the value of satiation.
- Consumer behaviours relating to healthy eating and drinking, including how technology can improve consumer decision-making and product development.
- Key new product development trends in the category.
Meet the Expert Behind the Analysis
This report is written by Hannah Sandow, Associate Director for Food & Drink Germany. After joining Mintel in 2017, Hannah gained significant experience in quantitative and qualitative research working with GNPD and Mintel Market Sizes before joining the German reports team. Drawing from her academic background in Health Science, she now researches and writes about German consumer and market trends on health and wellbeing topics.
Our analysis of healthy food consumer trends shows that technology can be expected to play an increasingly significant role as time-strapped Germans externalise dietary decision making. Simplicity will help brands to cut through the noise.
Hannah Sandow
Associate Director — Food & Drink, Germany
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- What you need to know
- Opportunities
- Outlook
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OPPORTUNITIES
- Simplify self-care for time-strapped Germans
- Healthy eating – a pillar of self-care and longevity
- Self-care cook kits can ease the burden of food prep whilst encouraging consumers to slow down
- Cut through the growing noise with simple, easy to understand nutritional claims
- Position sleep as a self-care pillar in the pursuit of healthy ageing
- Naturalness can thrive in an era of UPFs
- Address the say-do gap of avoiding and consuming UPFs
- Embrace small batch to address concerns over mass production
- Explore naturalness claims beyond organic
- Catalyse consumer engagement with technology
- Embrace technology to appease consumers looking for dietary guidance
- Mintel Spark: AI-developed product development concept
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CONSUMER
- Healthy eating and weight management intentions
- Germans are less committed to healthy eating/drinking in 2025
- Germans are taking a softer approach to healthy consumption
- Graph 1: frequency of eating/drinking healthily, 2024 vs 25
- Women appear to place greater emphasis on healthy consumption habits
- From healthy habits to hedonistic indulgence: how inflation shapes lifestyle choices
- Graph 2: healthy eating/drinking all of the time by financial situation, 2024 vs 2025
- Weight management intentions hampered by time-poor Germans
- Graph 3: weight management intentions, 2024-25
- Weight management is fuelling healthy eating but isn’t the only driver
- Graph 4: frequency of eating/drinking healthily by weight management intentions, 2025
- Reasons for eating/drinking unhealthy foods/drinks
- Fast-paced lives prompt unhealthy food/drink choices
- Graph 5: selected reasons for eating/drinking unhealthy foods/drinks, 2021 vs 2025
- Most committed healthy eaters crumble when tired
- Sleep and healthy eating intimately linked
- Graph 6: frequency of eating/drinking intentions, by sleep satisfaction, 2025
- Social occasions decline as a reason for unhealthy consumption
- Features influencing healthy food/drink purchases
- Consumers appear keen to reduce sugar and calorie intake
- Graph 7: factors encouraging the purchase of one healthy food/drink product over another, 2025
- No/low sugar claims particularly appealing for 55+
- Following no/low sugar claims, nutritionally complete claims help reach a larger audience
- Focus on nutritive value, not reductive claims
- Curb cravings with long-lasting, satiating nutrition
- 16-34s are attracted by unique innovations yet struggle to keep apace with health trends
- Attitudes & behaviours towards healthy eating and drinking
- Behaviours towards healthy eating
- Graph 8: behaviours towards healthy eating, 2025
- Artificial intelligence tools are starting to impact dietary choices
- 16-34s are a key cohort for AI-powered dietary advice
- AI plays an exciting role in expediting product development
- CGMs’ usage and appeal are highest among 16-34s
- Finances take centre stage as Germans seek to cut corners in the pursuit of healthy living
- Graph 9: behaviours towards weight management, 2025
- Weight loss drugs pique interest but accessibility is unlikely to be widespread
- Busier lives mean more interest in weight loss dietary supplements that mimic prescription weight loss drugs
- Broad agreement that healthy eating is a long-term self-care solution
- Graph 10: attitudes towards healthy eating/drinking, 2025
- 16-24s find it hard to keep apace with healthy eating trends
- Graph 11: attitudes towards trends and trendy marketing in healthy eating, 2025
- Mass production/processing may drive older consumers away
- Product launches explain the benefits derived from processing
- UPFs are widely available yet viable, natural alternatives will likely find appeal amongst ageing Germans
- Graph 12: agreement with “I try to avoid ultra-processed foods”, 2023 vs 2025
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INNOVATION
- Ethical and environmental claims a mainstay in food/drink launches
- Graph 13: food/drink launches by claim category, 2022-24
- Vegan, vegetarian, plant-based launch activity is steady
- Graph 14: food and drink launches with vegan, vegetarian or plant based claims, 2021-24
- Vegan and low in saturated fat launches
- Lack of low/no/reduced saturated fat claims
- Collagen/appearance launches
- Texture can contribute to feeling of fullness, but crunchy launches remain low
- Graph 15: food and drink launches by texture, 2021-24
- Creative texture launches
- Food & drink launches with health-related claims
- Expand natural claims beyond organic
- Graph 16: food & drink launches with health-related claims*, by natural claims, 2022-25
- Convenience claims lacking within the healthy food/drink space
- Graph 17: food & drink launches with health-related claims*, by convenience claims, 2021-25
- Private label start strong into the first quarter of 2025
- Graph 18: food & drink launches with health-related claims*, by private label vs branded, 2021-25
- Innovative private label launches democratise healthy eating
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MARKET DRIVERS
- Decline in perception of general health
- Graph 19: self reporting of general health, 2021-24
- Finances remain a barrier to healthy living
- Traditionally unhealthy foods experienced a surge in CPI
- Graph 20: change in consumer price index, by food & drink category, 2023 vs 2024
- Exit of the Greens from government may stall progress of Ozdemir’s policies
- Expect healthy ageing to dictate the role of healthy eating/drinking
- Graph 21: forecast population size, by age demographic, 2025-50
- Technology will increasingly ease the burden of decision making
- Ozempic era may offer solution to Germany’s complex obesity problem
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APPENDIX
- Report scope and definitions
- Market definition
- Abbreviations
- Methodology – consumer research
- Consumer research methodology
- CHAID analysis methodology
- TURF analysis methodology
- TURF analysis
- A note on language
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