WELL-BEING, ENGAGE, CONNECT AND EXPRESS ARE THE FOUR MACRO TRENDS THAT IN 2017 CONVEY CONSUMPTION, AND NOT ONLY OF WINE, REVEALED THE "GLOBAL CONSUMER TRENDS" 2017 BY THE BRITISH WINE INTELLIGENCE RESEARCH INSTITUTE

What key words will describe purchases in 2017, and create new consumer trends? Every year, "Wine Intelligence" identifies them in their most popular study on quality titled, "Global Consumer Trends". The 2017 study has identified 12 words that can be grouped into 4 main themes: Well-Being, Engage, Connect and Express (www.wineintelligence.com).
The concept of "Well-Being" is immediately visible on the shelves in supermarkets that are constantly offering healthier (or seemingly so), as well as lighter, products, which they achieve in at least two ways.
The first way is excluding (Exclude) natural elements in food and drinks judged harmful, such as fat, alcohol, or flour, often replaced with substitutes suitable for coeliac, which now represent 1% of consumers.
The second, on the contrary, is adding (Enhance) nutrients, proteins, vitamins, antioxidants, also to chocolates and snacks, which are not among the healthiest products (for instance, a Mars bar that has fewer than 200 calories). Well-being also depends on the ability of food, like a nice glass of wine, to create consumer awareness (Mindfulness).
Another key theme is commitment (Engage), i.e., product research that satisfies a very specific niche, also creating physical contact with the consumer. There are three sub trends in this category. One is Obsession, or the ability to rotate an entire offer around a single product. A case in point is bars that are linked to a single brand, such as Campari's Negroni Bar, which offers dozens of cocktails, which, however, are all Campari based.
Then there is Fusion which merges two different brands to find one in the other’s target: like, Aston Martin and Silver Cross, which created an ultra-luxury stroller, on sale at Harrods for 3.000 pounds. Finally, the latest trend in the category is Activate, making a brand distinct through interaction, and the easiest way is to offer the product for free to make it known to consumers.
Another trend "Wine Intelligence" has identified is the need to create connections (Connect); for instance, organizations and communities that help people to make their skills, as well as goods and services, profitable by sharing them. One of the indications is the desire to exchange and share virtually anything (Exchange), while another is to focus on environment and sustainability in general, because we all share the earth, which must be preserved by reducing (Reduce) the use of energy and food waste.
All of this, of course, creates a sense of community (Community), strengthened by proper use of the network, which is often transformed into a real force. In New Zealand, for example, a group of 40.000 people has collected 2.3 million New Zealand dollars to buy one of the most beautiful beaches in the country and keep it public, as otherwise it would have ended up in private hands.
Finally, there is the macro concept of Express: a product that is immediately usable. It is better if it can be done effortlessly (Effortless), like shopping is now- consider Amazon, or the many food deliver apps like Just Eat, which make everything simple, fast, and also Instant (Instant). Finally, and this is especially true for Millennials, consumers like the idea of a product created exclusively for them, tailored, individual (Individual). One example is personalized M & M's for sale in M & M's stores or online.