2020 New Year’s Resolutions: Where Are They Now?

2021 is here! We take a look back at the functional motivations consumers tied to New Year’s resolutions at the start of 2020, and examine how those trends are performing now. Did they stick?

Eating and drinking often find their way into New Year’s resolutions. Food and beverage become the site of so many hopes as one year rolls into the next – will I be able to eat healthier? Lose weight? Save time while cooking? Make better choices at the grocery store?

At the start of 2020, many of these resolutions hit a brick wall when our world transformed about 3 months into the new year. Which resolutions continued to hold up throughout COVID-19, and which resolutions fell to the wayside? Read on for a bite-sized look at the data behind the top 11 New Year’s trends for last year; use these numbers to inform your product marketing as we head into 2021.

Healthy

• Eating healthy saw a 36% jump in interest between December 2019 and January 2020.
• Healthy food and beverage continued to grow in interest +2.8% MoM on average throughout 2020.
• At the end of the year, interest in healthy food and beverage had grown a full +22% YoY in interest among consumers.

Weight Loss

• Weight-loss-friendly food and beverage saw a +67% jump in interest between December 2019 and January 2020
• The trend continued to grow +2.6% MoM on average throughout 2020
• At the end of the year, weight-loss had grown +18% YoY in consumer interest.

Meal prep

• Meal prep saw a +44% jump in interest between December 2019 and January 2020
• Although consumer attentions shifted more and more to home cooking throughout the pandemic, the labor-intensive category grew only +1.7% MoM on average throughout the year. This relatively low growth may be due to fatigue in the kitchen.
• Overall, the trend grew +9% YoY.

Energy

• Eating and drinking for higher energy levels saw a +35% jump in interest between December 2019 and January 2020
• Food and beverage for energy levels saw a +3.1% MoM on average increase throughout 2020.
• At the end of the year, the trend had grown +36% YoY.

Gut health

• Eating and drinking for gut health saw a +31% jump in interest between December 2019 and January 2020
• Gut health continued to grow a solid +2.5% MoM throughout 2020.
• As 2020 drew to a close, the category had grown +27% YoY. Gut health, with its many associated functional benefits, is a trend to watch.

Wellness

• General wellness needs saw a +37% jump in interest between December 2019 and January 2020.
• The broad trend grew +2.4% MoM on average throughout 2020.
• The trend showed +23% YoY growth over the course of the year.

Animal rights

• Eating and drinking ingredients conscious of animal-rights saw a +20% jump in interest between December 2019 and January 2020
• Despite renewed interest in eating in an animal-conscious way, the category decreased in interest -4% MoM on average as the pandemic set in.
• Overall, the category took a -5% YoY hit throughout 2020.

Cleansing

• Cleansing/detoxing eating and drinking saw a +31% jump in interest between December 2019 and January 2020
• The category grew +3.8% MoM on average over 2020.
• Ultimately, cleansing food and beverage saw a +45% YoY increase at the end of 2020.

Anti-aging

• Functional eating and drinking for anti-aging purposes saw a +50% jump in interest between December 2019 and January 2020
• Anti-aging grew +2.9% MoM on average throughout 2020.
• At the end of the year, the category grew +20% YoY

Protein

• Protein-rich eating and drinking saw a +57% jump in interest between December 2019 and January 2020
• Protein-rich food and beverage saw a +3.4% MoM on average increase in interest over 2020.
• At the end of the year, protein was up +28% YoY on average.

Low carb

• Low carb eating and drinking saw a +67% jump in interest between December 2019 and January 2020
• Interest in low carb grew relatively slowly at +2% MoM on average, despite having one of the highest increases between December to January.
• At the end of 2020, the category had only grown +.2% YoY – 2020 was a volatile year for low carb eating and drinking, and experienced peaks and valleys throughout the course of the year.