According to MediaPost Communications/Marketing Daily, a new report finds a shift away from foods with reduced sugar or fat toward "functional" products that promise benefits such as appetite suppression and increased metabolism/calorie burning.

The Euromonitor International Trend Watch report, entitled "Opportunities Within Functional Weight Management Products," reveals that "functional" is the new frontier for food and beverage companies looking to grab the attention and dollars of the growing number of overweight consumers at home and abroad.

Whereas "better-for-you" (BFY) or "lesser evil" ingredients and claims were once mainly the bailiwick of those diet supplements promoted on TV via startling before-and-after photos of women and men in bathing suits, mainstream companies are increasingly looking to get in on the action.

The reason: Worldwide BFY packaged foods sales reached $116 billion, and beverages reached $36 million last year, but together, their annual growth rate was only marginally higher than the 2 percent to 4 percent seen by the overall packaged F&B market, according to Euromonitor. Meanwhile, fortified/functional F&Bs continued to see growth of about 10 percent in 2007.

A few major U.S.-based F&Bs have already stuck their toes into the functional waters. Kellogg has been particularly active with its Special K brand, including its recent launches of Special K Sustain cereal with fiber and soy protein, and its "innovative -- especially for a cereal company" -- Special K20 Protein Water mixes and bottled waters. Both products hone in on the "satiety" trend, points out Euromonitor.

The joint Coca-Cola/Nestle launch of Enviga in the United States in late 2006 stimulated controversy and lawsuits with its "negative calorie" claim. But that hasn't dissuaded PepsiCo from introducing, with a less aggressive marketing/claims approach, both Diet Pepsi Max (zero-calorie cola with ginseng and extra caffeine to provide "a kick of energy") and Tava -- another zero-calorie, carbonated beverage fortified with vitamins and chromium, and offered in three "exotic flavor blends."

Euromonitor explains that functional weight-management products fall under three broad categories/benefits claims: products that suppress appetite/induce a feeling of satiety and include functional ingredients such as chromium, hoodia gordonii, fat emulsions, added protein and fiber; products that boost metabolism and include ingredients such as conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), omega-3 and green-tea extracts; and products that inhibit digestion of macronutrients (carbs, fats) or their conversion into body fat with elements such as hydroxycitric acid (HCA).

Here's a summary of the most promising areas of opportunity for F&Bs in the functional weight-management arena, per Euromonitor's analysis:

* Dairy: Dairy products provide the "ideal" physical and marketing medium for the addition of many types of functional ingredients, in part due to the global probiotic yogurt boom. "Consumers the world over are more than ready for the next line of functional dairy products," says Euromonitor, noting that, for example, one-shot yogurt drinks "lend themselves especially well to employing a satiety-enhancing positioning." Such products are already available in other countries.
* Beverages: In addition to the carbonated and other drinks already noted, waters are ripe for functional marketing because of "the bottled water industry's well-communicated rehydration message" and because bottled waters in general are already associated with weight management in consumers' minds, reports Euromonitor. Waters with weight-management-purporting benefits are already available in other countries.
* Bakery: Since the reduced- or low-carb craze began to wane in 2004, marketers have largely failed to capitalize on the "golden opportunity" in weight-management-positioned carb products, says Euromonitor. "Weight-management products ideally need to have a daily presence in consumers' lives if they are to stand any chance of being effective;" hence, the opportunity in products like bread or breakfast cereals, say the analysts.