From superfoods, to antioxidants, live gut bacteria to protein. Periodically, culture likes to identify a new nutritional ‘hero’ and over time offer it in as many different products and formats as possible. In recent years the favoured hero has been protein, and it has been made available in shakes, bars, balls, ice cream, cereals, and even waters. While protein still rules the dietary wellness roost, increasingly however a new pretender is showing increased attention: fibre. But what are the cultural drivers of this growing interest?

While fibre has long been known to be healthy, its role has typically been framed in an ‘folk wisdom’ paradigm. Fibre continues the gut as the ‘brain of the body’ narrative established by probiotics and products offering ‘live’ gut bacteria. A wellness discourse that goes beyond a focus on superficial appearances to get to the very core of our being. In this space high fibre products were marketed with images of hearts, and stock photo strangers embracing, coding a sense of gentle emotional nurture, not protein’s technical high performance. In part this emotive folksy role was due to fibre’s association with breakfast cereal, the most cosy and casual of meals, served snuggled in a bowl and combined with the rich nurturing creaminess of dairy. Now however a significant shift is happening – fibre is going science.

Brands like Re:Nourish, or Mornflake’s Fibreful range employ a stripped back aesthetic, sans serif typefaces, and gridded layouts inspired by the periodic table and technical diagrams coding highly functional foods that offer a measurable improvement in bodily performance. Leaning into science can also be a intelligent strategy to position brands as supporting users of GLP-1 weight management medications. Ranges like Nestlé’s Vital Pursuit brand in the US, employ this aesthetic to proudly proclaim the fibre, protein and essential nutrient content of their expert designed meals.

Designs like these update and modernise the functional narrative long communicated by products like the established Fibre One brand, whose stark white packaging, and large “90 calorie” promise, in a sky blue ‘lite’ font suggest compromised enjoyment in the name of nutritional benefit. A discourse of wellness that focuses solely on reducing harm to the body.

But while embracing the functional credibility of science is a clear route to highlighting fibre’s nutritional credentials, high fibre brands need to retain some sense of warmth and comfort. Mornflake’s recent pack redesigns for their heart healthy oat bran range, have clear science connotations, with the new Beta3 sub-brand name suggesting either a chemical or the unknown in an algebra puzzle to solve, and a logo reminiscent of the flow of energy in physics diagrams, but these are paired with a bright and bold colour palette and playfully mismatched typography that suggest a sense of positivity and unrestrained joy.

Fibre has long been somewhat of a shameful part of the wellness space. Its unglamourous association with digestion (vs. muscle or brain health), has made it something of a taboo subject. For many brands this remains the case, indications of high fibre content are often hidden on the back of packs, or only discernible by closely reading nutritional tables (vs. “high protein” loudly proclaimed on the front), but now a new class of brands are proudly celebrating their fibre content. Eye catching design and art inspired aesthetics, bold typography and playful names that communicate emotional positivity e.g. “xoxo” or “Superkeen”, all openly celebrate a sense of pride and joy in fibre.

Fibre’s role as a breakfast staple, something that gives us the boost to start our day on the right foot, is also evoked by a number of brands that use pointed logos and arrows to suggest a sense of movement, and names like “Up and Go” or “Fibre Up” communicate energising physical uplift, and push back against fibre’s more earthly connotations.

At the most uplifting end of the spectrum, the “Fibe” brand name’s similarity to “vibe”, and use of psychedelic style pack and comms visuals, subtly suggest the ‘high’ of recreational drugs. Adding not only emotional uplift, but a sense of rebel ‘edge’ to fibre’s wellness proposition.

Alternatively, other brands are celebrating fibre’s culinary outsider status, and bringing new taste experiences to the table such as “Other Foods” and “Off the Eaten Path”  who proudly bring alternative fibre sources such as artichoke chips, shitake mushrooms, and bean and pea crunch to market. Spotlighting these less familiar fibre sources adds a sense of exciting culinary exploration to the wellness space.

Overall, there are a variety of approaches currently employed to drive greater interest in fibre as a source of deep physical and emotional wellbeing. There is a clear sense of positivity and dynamism in this dietary wellness sub-category, and over time we will likely see even more creative approaches employed. Fibre’s cultural relevance is only growing, and we should expect to see only greater celebration of high fibre content going forward.

3 Key Takeaways for Brands:

  1. Fibre has long communicated a sense of wellness, but this has been cloaked in cosy narrative of folk wisdom and gentle nurture. Culturally there is a growing appetite for a more confident narrative of high fibre wellness.

  2. One route into this is by brands employing the more scientific cues of functional wellness, but high fibre products need to be cautious that in the context of broader wellness narratives that celebrate not only physical, but emotional wellbeing, fibre- based products need to continue to communicate the emotional part of the wellness equation.

  3. Bold and bright aesthetics, playful names, mismatched typography, and references to physical elevation all provide useful cues for brands and products to transcend fibre’s cosy connotations, into something more contemporary and culturally engaging.

Mark Lemon, Director

The Fibre Revival: The cultural drivers behind fibre’s revitalisation