Healthy-eating trend boosts natural brand-story opportunities

In contrast, breakfast cereals and plant-based meat may face clear pressure because consumers perceive these products as requiring heavy processing and complex ingredients, conflicting with natural-food principles. Some categories such as bread and pasta/noodles show mixed effects: traditional or simple recipes remain more accepted than ready-to-eat or heavily modified products.

Amid rising pressure on ultra-processed foods from consumers and health-conscious trends, staple-food markets are showing a clear counter-trend of growth in organic and natural segments. Forecasts suggest that by 2029, the value of the organic staple-food market could rise 79%, while natural products could expand 103%. This reflects a structural shift in demand as consumers place greater importance on “clean labels”, functioning like a certificate of trust and a tool for adding value to food products.

Communicating naturalness, ingredient simplicity and avoidance of additives is becoming a marketing tool that carries more weight than explaining complex technical production processes that are difficult for consumers to grasp. This trend not only affects product-development strategies for both large and small food businesses, but also signals new economic opportunities across the food supply chain—from sourcing raw materials and processing to branding—at a time when volume-driven growth in the overall food market is beginning to slow.

Nantapong Chiralerspong, Director-General of TPSO, said the trend presents both opportunities and challenges for Thai food products—especially staple foods where Thailand has strong potential, such as rice and basic processed fruit and vegetables, which align with product categories consumers still trust.

However, policy and regulatory movements in developed countries—now developing definitions and governance approaches for ultra-processed foods—may lead to future labelling measures or trade requirements.

TPSO therefore recommends that Thai businesses accelerate adaptation, reduce dependence on price-only competition, and place greater emphasis on quality, ingredient transparency and communicating a natural-food image.

Thai SMEs can also use their advantages in size and production flexibility to access niche markets that prioritise healthy foods and clean labels—markets that are expected to continue expanding over the long term.