Report suggests 19% of Americans buying ancient grains

Maryland – Data published by market research firm Packaged Facts in the report Food Formulation Trends: Ancient Grains and Sprouted Ingredients indicates that 19 per cent of American adults have purchased menu or grocery items featuring ancient grains in the past 30 days.

The same percentage purchased products containing sprouted grains/ingredients.

Quinoa still dominates menus and new product announcements, but more ubiquitous wheat, oats and corn and less familiar ancient grains are increasingly likely to be the workhorses in ancient grain formulations, reports Packaged Facts.

In terms of packaged foods, ancient grains have become more widely available at mainstream and natural food retailers, appearing in multiple locations within these stores, and are now found in a growing number of food and beverage products and categories. Some of the grains themselves and flours made from them are being marketed alongside standard flour, corn meal and other specialty flours in the baking aisle. They can also be found in the rice aisle packaged and sold for use as side dishes and recipe use.

While many of the more recent ancient grain product launches continue to be in categories traditionally associated with grain ingredients (e.g. cereal, bread, bars and baking mixes), others include salty snacks, entrée salads, side dishes, boxed dinner mixes, frozen meat alternatives and yogurt, notes David Sprinkle, research director at Packaged Facts in a news release. In addition to innovating with ancient grains by extending their use across categories, the form of ancient grain ingredients is also benefiting from innovation to provide enhanced nutritional, flavor and textural characteristics, to facilitate incorporation into more finished product forms and to promote stability for extended shelf life and enjoyment.

Read the full report abstract, including scope and methodology at: http://www.packagedfacts.com/Food-Formulation-Trends-9271768/.

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