Kiwis' hunger for paleo, protein and dairy free products unstoppable

Food fads come and go, yet paleo, protein and dairy free cheese products have skyrocketed in popularity this year.

Foodstuffs says sales of products with the description "paleo" went up by 65 per cent in 2017, and products labelled "protein" went up by almost 50 per cent.

"Gluten-free" and "organic" labelled products have also jumped by 8 and 6 per cent respectively.

Vegetarian food is also growing - Countdown reports double-digit growth in that area, and sales of its dairy-free cheese have gone up a staggering 300 per cent.

Foodstuffs and Countdown says there's also been a jump in sales of gluten-free and organic. Countdown says it's also seen a significant growth in fermented food such as kimchi, kombucha and sauerkraut.

It says Kiwis are very quick to pick up on food trends and it has seen huge growth across all supermarkets on so-called superfoods. Old fashioned popcorn, seen as a healthy snack, is in big demand.

Another trend is that people are more and more wanting to know where their products are from.

A recent Colmar Brunton Better Futures Report showed that 92 per cent of New Zealanders believed that it is essential to know where their food comes from and 71 per cent of Kiwis said they were willing to pay more to get the best organic, sustainable and ethically produced products.