Immunity is the focus of the latest chapter of Wixon Innovates – a product development trendspotting project. Americans were already beginning to explore products with immune-enhancing benefits prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, but earlier this year as the pandemic took hold, this trend accelerated. In fact, Google searches for the combined terms, ‘food’ and ‘immune system’ skyrocketed by 670% between February and March 2020, according to Google Trends data.

“We’ve seen awareness of the connection between health and diet gain momentum as the virus continues to impact communities around the globe,” said Wixon Marketing Manager, Becca Henrickson. “The result of this is people are putting a greater focus on products that can help them support a healthy immune system.” Evidence of this trend is seen in a recent Innova Consumer Survey where 45% of global consumers say they’re consuming more food and beverage products that boost their immune system in the wake of COVID-19. “As demand ramps up for immune-enhancing products, food and beverage manufacturers have an opportunity to innovate with immune-supporting ingredients and flavors.”