Middle-aged to dictate ‘wellness’ market

THE middle-ageing of the Irish population will be the dominant factor in food and many other markets over the coming decade, a leading consultant said over the weekend.

In a speech prepared for the national conference of the Agricultural Science Association at Tullow, Co Carlow, Gerard O’Neill, chief executive of Amárach Consulting, said the number of people aged over 50 in Ireland will increase from just under 1.1 million today to over 1.4 million in 2015.

This will lead to a dramatic expansion in what he described as the ‘wellness market’, which currently accounts for an expenditure of €1 billion per year.