

2019 Survey Responses 1,108 a Record Number! Thank You! The Complete Food Survey 2019 is over. This year we had a record breaking number of participants: 1,108 respondents! Thank you! As an organiser, it has been hard work. However, it feels extremely gratifying when we get such a positive response from the community. Even though, the most positive predictions were not met (doubling last year's number); it has been a great result and has given us a lot of insight about the estate of Complete Foods. Therefore, I have nothing more to say, but showcase my sincere gratitude to all the participants, and also to the brands that helped the initiative. An initiative carried out by Latestfuels. With support from Blendrunner, GenesisFoods, Holfood, Jake, Jimmyjoy, KetoChow, Küik, Next Level Meal, Repas en poudre, Powdermatter, Queal, Satislent, Saturo, Super Body Fuel, Trinkkost, and Vitaline. Always open to anybody that wants to help spreading the word.

20 Fun Facts that summarize the survey Enjoy the read! #1 - This year we had answers from people who have never tried Complete Food. Most seem interested in the concept, but said that they did not have enough information to trust the products.

#2 - 1,057 people who consume Complete Food answered the survey, which is a 31% increase over the previous year. The growth of the survey was mainly thanks to North American respondents.

#3 - The profile of Complete Food users has not changed a lot when compared to previous years. The majority of users are male (77%), from 24-35 (51%) and work in an IT related job.

#4 - 46% of the responses said that they have been consuming Complete Food for over two years! We are sticking to Complete Foods and we are proving that they are a valid alternative to conventional meals.

#5 - Consumption of Complete Foods is more casual than ever. In 2019, over half of the respondents stated that they consume Complete Food less than once a week, as opposed to 40% in the previous two years.

#6 - Satisfaction is high for effectiveness but not for product offering. Interestingly, the vast majority (70%) were satisfied with how Complete Foods helped them to achieve their dietary goals. Nonetheless, only 57% were happy with the Complete Food offering in their region.

#7 - The USA, UK, Ireland, Netherlands and Czech Republic had the highest satisfaction levels. On the other hand, Australia, Japan, Norway and Canada were the most disatisfied with the offering in their region. Remote locations had the lowest satisfaction due to how difficult it is to get most products there. Custom taxes, high shipping rates and remote locations are huge issues for Complete Food companies and customers.

#8 - Europeans said that they were jealous about the offering in the US, while the users from the US thought the opposite. The pasture is always greener on the other side of the fence, I suppose.

#9 - Despite most people being highly satisfied on how Complete Food helped them with their diets, 42% have taken a break longer than 2 months. Most noticeably, people said that boredom was an issue, often triggered by the lack of options and different flavours. Similarly, the cost of the products and not being able to afford them was also a common theme, as well as, people preferring to eat "normal" food when possible.

#10 - Convenience and nutritional convenience were the two most important factors for us to try Complete Foods. These two were by far the most influential, followed by curiosity, time constraints, and Complete Foods as a tool to diet.

#11 - Not only for our first time, but the nutritional balance is also the most significant factor when choosing the right product. Nutrition is key. That's a clear message the users have put forward this year. Besides nutrition, price is also a crucial factor in choosing our favourite product. Interestingly, we don't trust our friend's recommendations most of the time.

#12 - We also care about nutritional tags. 27% said that they look for no artificial additives or sweeteners on their products. Vegan, keto, and organic were also among the most looked for features. However, there are some very interesting regional biases here. For once, most keto responses (102 out of 178) came from the USA. Similarly, there were multiple responses from the USA asking for "Proudly GMO" products; whereas 85% of the GMO free responses came from European countries.

#13 - Chocolate and Vanilla are the most popular flavours. Anyone surprised? It is largely a reflection of what brands are offering but Chocolate was the most popular flavour with over 70%. One flavour that I did not expect among the most popular was Unflavoured and Unsweetened, but over a fifth of consumers opted for it. Nevertheless, many asked for more savoury alternatives and overall more flavour options.

#14 - When it comes to buying our favourite products, we are happy buying them online, but we would like to see more retail options. 95% of the people buy directly from the brand, with only 22% buying via Amazon instead. "Buying online is super convenient, particularly when buying large". It seems that most people agree with this sentiment, but over two thirds said that they would likely buy at their local supermarket if that option was readily available. Gyms and sport facilities were also requested

#15 - We like to buy big. Similarly to previous year's bulk powder purchasing is the prefered form factor (65%). However, ready-to-drink (RTD) products are gaining popularity, with 10 points more than in 2018.

#16 - We buy from multiple brands. Well almost half of us do at least. In fact, it comes back to previous points of lack of satisfaction in terms of product offering from our current brands; since the main reasons for this include looking for different flavours, types of products and nutritional profiles. Curiosity and occasional deals are also things that we look at when buying from more than one brand.

#17 - Most of us spend less than 25% of our Food budget on Complete Foods. In fact, 62% of the consumers said that they spend less than 25% of their budget in Complete Food products; as opposed to only 18% speding over half of their weekly food budget.

#18 - We want more options; particularly more solid alternatives that are truly healthy and balanced. When asked what we would like for the future of Complete Foods, the answers were very diverse, but one message stood above others: we want variety. We want to eat hot complete foods, savoury ones, desserts, yogurts, more bars etc. We know Complete Foods are good for us, but we feel very limited in the options that we have. "More certainty on that it's safe and healthy, more marketing, more availability. More choice in nutrition values, flavours, serving ways... like all the positives of different brands all put together."

#19 - More research, and more efforts to clear "negative stigma". We are happy and we feel good, but we want clear scientific evidence that drinking our food is safe and healthy. We feel that brands should make a bigger effort trying to prove that, as well as trying to normalize Complete Foods in society. Bring Complete Foods to stores, bring it to work cantines, bring it to my local supermarkets. Work is being done, but we are eager to see more advances. Besides, many are not very happy with the current prices and feel Complete Foods should be cheaper. "Into the mainstream, I would like to have a chance to buy Complete Foods from the supermarket. I work in a world famous startup full of bright innovative minds but most of my colleagues are completely convinced that my diet is unhealthy because it is so odd. Most people know very little about Complete Foods and that should change as it would benefit the planet if more people would eat Complete Foods."

#20 - "Easy, healthy meals that I don't need to think about. I used to eat a ton of cereal for my 'easy, quick' meal option, but now I don't have to!". This was a great answer to the question "What problem does Complete Food help you solve?". It highlights how most of us felt. Complete Foods help us with our laziness, time issues, not having to think about cooking a balanced meal, giving us proper nutrition cheaply, providing us an easy lunch option on the go, dieting, calorie counting etc. They are an easy, quick meal option that's taking many worries off our minds.

EXTRA FACT - This year one of the respondants' gender was an "Apache Attack Helicopter". It seems that Complete Foods are also valid to fuel vehicles. Who knew?



Analysis Conclusion and Future Prospects Overall it has been a very successful survey with a significant increase in participants. The data collected has also shown positive signs, such as the reasuranced of the Complete Food concept. Users are happy and have been consuming it for longer than ever. Complete Foods work and they are part of our future, helping us with a more healthy and balanced lifestyle. However, there are some concerning issues that the industry needs to address, particularly when it comes to variety. Consumers are shouting for more options in terms of products and flavours, and often consume from more than one brand to achieve this. While consuming from multiple brands is not a negative thing, people want even more variety. Another factor is that some consumers are not aware of their options. Brands and specialized websites like Latestfuels are not effectively reaching our target audiences. We hear loud and clear; we need to do more to provide you with clear info on what is available to you! Besides boredom, the raising prices were also a big concern. Many consider complete food to be more expensive than "normal" food; and the cost of products has driven them to take a break at some point. Most brands have indeed increased the prices within the last year, contrarily to consumer expectations. Higher demand, supply and competition is not dropping the prices; and likely it won't in the near future. Limitations and Biases One aspect that I was hoping to improve with Latestfuels organizing it was the removal of some biases. While CFS19' has been successful reaching a more diverse set of participants, it is still heavily reliant on the brands that promote it. Regarding the design of the survey, a very similar template to the previous year one was used. Google Forms might not be the best tool to convey these surveys, and particularly analyze them.Open-end questions, while insightful are hard to portray in the analysis. CFS should consider using other questionnaire tools in the future. Lastly, Latestfuel's lack of experience in organizing these events has limited this year's survey. Particularly the analysis, speed of events, and giveaways are areas to improve upon.

Giveaway were you the lucky winner? I am sorry to let you know that if you did not get an email from me, you were not the winner this time. All 5 winners have been contacted already. Indeed, they were 5 winners this year; two from the United States and 3 from Europe (France, Ireland and Sweden). The Europeans enjoyed a package worth around €85 of Complete Food. The products were kindly provided by the participating brands, as showcased in the picture. On the other hand, the winners in the US received vouchers for free samples (for equal value to the European counterparts) from the North American brands that supported the 2019 Complete Food Survey. Congratulations to the winners!



Interview with one of the winners Who Are You? My name is Dan, I'm in my mid-thirties, and work as a project manager in non-profit development. Why Do You Consume Food and How Do You Find Them Helpful? I originally began looking into complete foods because I was going to have jaw surgery, which necessitates a liquid diet during the seven week recovery period. I was seeking something that would keep me healthy during that time and stumbled upon meal replacements, which worked perfectly for my recovery. Afterward, I kept drinking complete foods afterward because I found them to be extremely useful: they're semi-affordable, fairly healthy, easy to make, and don't require a lot of thought about what I'm going to eat or if I have the right ingredients. I found myself saving a lot of time and energy with them, particularly for my work lunches. I could drink a shake and be back at tackling a work assignment within five minutes.

If You Were in Charge to Create One Product, What Would It Be? This is a tough question! I suppose my interest wouldn't be in one product in particular, but in pushing the industry to move toward widening the appeal of their offerings. The last year has been promising in that regard in that a number of interesting and innovative products have hit the market. Queal released Ready, Vite Ramen opened its doors, and Mana has announced a complete burger. All of these are welcome advances, particularly in the winter months where warm meals are most valued. I would hope to see more solid meal offerings in the near future - when I discuss meal replacements with people, the key objection made is that they like to chew their meals. The above products from Queal, Vite Ramen, and Mana smewhat address this, but so long as the industry's focus remains on liquid offerings complete foods will continue to be a niche market. Long term, I also hope to see companies bringing down the costs of their products. Some complete foods are more affordable than others, but for people with limited income or large families they currently are not viable options.

From the Products Received on the Giveaway, Which One Did You Like Best? What Surprised You the Most? There were several good products from the giveaway. Ketolent surprised me the most - I'm not interested in the keto diet and had heard bad things about the keto flu, but I experienced none of those symptoms and the drinks Ketolent offered were both delicious and surprisingly filling. I was quite impressed. The product I enjoyed most was from Super Body Fuel. I ended up getting their Milk Fuel powder, which also has great flavors and which allowed for a great deal of customizing. I've ordered from them again and plan on continuing to do so in the future.

