Personalised nutrition

Present situation worldwide and in Switzerland

Personalised nutrition aims to meet consumers’ individual needs and requirements in terms of preferences, acceptability, diet and health. Individual health-related requirements can be determined in ever increasing detail owing to advances in individual genome decoding with the identification of specific risks or intolerances, self-monitoring using at-home diagnostic tools (e.g. “wearables” for physiological measurements), the expected mapping of the gut flora composition as well as findings regarding the gut-brain signalling axis. Industrial production, however, will struggle to cater to this degree of differentiation. The food value chain will therefore display increasing personalisation in direct proximity to sites of food preparation and intake (kitchens, catering services, restaurants). There is a technological trend toward the development of kitchen processes and appliances with an emphasis on “co-creation”: industrial production supplies modular base components, which consumers then prepare and combine at their individual convenience. This in turn generates new requirements in terms of coordinated industrial production and kitchen technologies (“kitchen of the future”) as well as packaging, storage and retail options.

Implications for Switzerland

Switzerland numbers many firms along the food value chain when it comes to industrial production technologies. Local consumers display a pronounced preference for quality and individuality, as well as the willingness to pay for such features. Conditions are therefore excellent for an industrial leadership role in the coming five years.