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- Top Ten Food Trends
Top Ten Food Trends
- By Collaborative INSIGHTS
- Published 2 January 2007
- Market INSIGHTS
- Unrated
4 The Year of the Diabetic
It's the big 'D' on radar screens this year, as in foods better designed to meet the needs of America's growing diabetes demographic. So far, it's been all about lowering carbs, but diabetics (way, way over 20 million Americans) want much more that. They want foods and beverages that really are diabetic-designed and diabetic-safe, and they're going to get it. I have always said, health-wise, what's good for diabetics is good for most adult Americans interested in eating better food. I think '07 is the year when a major food marketer or two breaks through with mainstream meal and snack solutions tied more directly to the needs of the diabetic. E.g., a meal or snack that really does have say, 15 carbs, and ONLY 15 carbs, with no hidden sugars anyway.
5 Crossing the Bridge to Black America
I have long thought food processors took America's blacks and their food culture for granted. We tend to Hispanics, we tend to Asians, we tend to Caucasians ... but we have yet to identify with the African-American demographic and their food heritage. I think we will begin to see more attention paid to this important population segment, and it will show itself with more products playing to the food culture of America's South, where blacks have defined and refined their ethnic food culture . Meals and entrees featuring black-eyed peas, yams, barbecued meat and poultry, barbecue sauces with African heritage, gumbos, cornbread and hush puppies, and desserts like sweet potato pie. I have no idea how it will all come together, but this is the year when some serious attention is paid to the food preferences of African-Americans.
6 Packaging + Glass
I'm the wrong guy to hear from if you think packaging isn't a key player in what makes consumers buy new products, or any product for that matter. I think we will see more intense efforts in '07 to make packaging even more appealing to consumers. How? I think at least one of the big sodamakers will see the wisdom of reintroducing the glass bottle to Americans, because it connotes freshness, tradition, and superior taste. Whether that's true or not - and Coke and Pepsi argue that drinking their colas out of glass is not superior to drinking cola from cans or plastic - the perception is the perception. This might be a way for RC Cola (Diet Rite) or Dr Pepper, for example, to set itself apart from its bigger competitors ... But if not there, I still see glass moving up the packaging scale as a way to entice Americans in pursuit of fresh anything. Glass may be more expensive, but if we believe what we say about consumers paying more for perceived benefits, price may not be an obstacle.
7 The Reinvention of Cereal
This is a strange-sounding product from the cereal aisle: Kashi's Vive Probiotic Digestive Wellness Cereal from Kellogg Co. It might be a tongue-twister to say, but it may also be symbolic of a beginning transformation in the cereal aisle to develop cereal based on truly contemporary wellness needs and concerns. If cereals such as these can parley good taste into the configuration, it may be a way for the brand-name marketers to distance themselves from the ever-encroaching private label competition. I think 2007 will be the year when cerealmakers step up their focus on wellness. Look for cereals with enhanced functional benefits that separate contenders from pretenders in the wellness cereal category. It gets down to taste, but cereal marketers know they have to be in this game to stay relevant with health-minded Americans, so the question of taste will be resolved when it's all said and done.
8 A Stall in Development of Healthy Kids' Foods
Okay, this is a negative trend I see coming. The only way I could be dragged onto the 'Kids Eat Healthy' bandwagon ... is kicking and screaming, especially if healthy means feeding kids an overload of foods dominated by veggies and fruits. Look at how many kids are rebelling against the nation's school districts which are mandating ONLY healthy food and beverage in their vending machines and cafeterias. It's a losing strategy right now because kids are adamant that their food and drink be fun, feisty, weird and tasty, and all bets are off when they leave the school grounds. So I see a stall coming, and a realization by marketers targeting kids that it's too soon to go radically healthy on them. It might please adults, but it's the kids who do the eating and drinking. So I see more effort in 2007 to inject 'health and wellness' into products that kids actually like. Like I always say, good luck if you think the way to woo kids is to please school boards, parents and wellness advocates.
9 On-The-Go has Big Mo'
In life, momentum is a big deal. Sports teams talk about the importance of momentum all the time. Well, in our world the Big Mo' works its magic too, and is definitely pushing on-the-go foods and beverages uphill. Despite the incessant chatter about Americans wanting to turn down the 'frantic' in their lifestyles, it's not the reality. People are still operating in overdrive. Plus, everyone from packaged food manufacturers to restaurants and retailers are doing everything possible to make it easier and easier for Americans to eat fast. Very fast. So this is an easy prediction - a plethora of new products in 2007 that fit in the hand, to be eaten on the run, or as a fast-grab, sit-down snack.
10 Vending Here, Vending There ... Vending, Vending Everywhere
Okay, this is it ... this is the year when vending starts to come into its own as a mainstream, main-meal food distribution channel, offering hot and cold dinners and entrees, snacks, desserts and beverages. This may be the year when my prediction a few years back of v-stores (v for vending) takes root, looking like traditional c-stores from the outside, but inside are only vending machines offering all sorts of goodies, including chef-prepared meals (kitchen behind the vending machines). With America in a mobile mode, it only seems logical that vending will play a big role in delivering food choices to Americans. We will see the beginning of that momentum in 2007.
It's the big 'D' on radar screens this year, as in foods better designed to meet the needs of America's growing diabetes demographic. So far, it's been all about lowering carbs, but diabetics (way, way over 20 million Americans) want much more that. They want foods and beverages that really are diabetic-designed and diabetic-safe, and they're going to get it. I have always said, health-wise, what's good for diabetics is good for most adult Americans interested in eating better food. I think '07 is the year when a major food marketer or two breaks through with mainstream meal and snack solutions tied more directly to the needs of the diabetic. E.g., a meal or snack that really does have say, 15 carbs, and ONLY 15 carbs, with no hidden sugars anyway.
5 Crossing the Bridge to Black America
I have long thought food processors took America's blacks and their food culture for granted. We tend to Hispanics, we tend to Asians, we tend to Caucasians ... but we have yet to identify with the African-American demographic and their food heritage. I think we will begin to see more attention paid to this important population segment, and it will show itself with more products playing to the food culture of America's South, where blacks have defined and refined their ethnic food culture . Meals and entrees featuring black-eyed peas, yams, barbecued meat and poultry, barbecue sauces with African heritage, gumbos, cornbread and hush puppies, and desserts like sweet potato pie. I have no idea how it will all come together, but this is the year when some serious attention is paid to the food preferences of African-Americans.
6 Packaging + Glass
I'm the wrong guy to hear from if you think packaging isn't a key player in what makes consumers buy new products, or any product for that matter. I think we will see more intense efforts in '07 to make packaging even more appealing to consumers. How? I think at least one of the big sodamakers will see the wisdom of reintroducing the glass bottle to Americans, because it connotes freshness, tradition, and superior taste. Whether that's true or not - and Coke and Pepsi argue that drinking their colas out of glass is not superior to drinking cola from cans or plastic - the perception is the perception. This might be a way for RC Cola (Diet Rite) or Dr Pepper, for example, to set itself apart from its bigger competitors ... But if not there, I still see glass moving up the packaging scale as a way to entice Americans in pursuit of fresh anything. Glass may be more expensive, but if we believe what we say about consumers paying more for perceived benefits, price may not be an obstacle.
7 The Reinvention of Cereal
This is a strange-sounding product from the cereal aisle: Kashi's Vive Probiotic Digestive Wellness Cereal from Kellogg Co. It might be a tongue-twister to say, but it may also be symbolic of a beginning transformation in the cereal aisle to develop cereal based on truly contemporary wellness needs and concerns. If cereals such as these can parley good taste into the configuration, it may be a way for the brand-name marketers to distance themselves from the ever-encroaching private label competition. I think 2007 will be the year when cerealmakers step up their focus on wellness. Look for cereals with enhanced functional benefits that separate contenders from pretenders in the wellness cereal category. It gets down to taste, but cereal marketers know they have to be in this game to stay relevant with health-minded Americans, so the question of taste will be resolved when it's all said and done.
8 A Stall in Development of Healthy Kids' Foods
Okay, this is a negative trend I see coming. The only way I could be dragged onto the 'Kids Eat Healthy' bandwagon ... is kicking and screaming, especially if healthy means feeding kids an overload of foods dominated by veggies and fruits. Look at how many kids are rebelling against the nation's school districts which are mandating ONLY healthy food and beverage in their vending machines and cafeterias. It's a losing strategy right now because kids are adamant that their food and drink be fun, feisty, weird and tasty, and all bets are off when they leave the school grounds. So I see a stall coming, and a realization by marketers targeting kids that it's too soon to go radically healthy on them. It might please adults, but it's the kids who do the eating and drinking. So I see more effort in 2007 to inject 'health and wellness' into products that kids actually like. Like I always say, good luck if you think the way to woo kids is to please school boards, parents and wellness advocates.
9 On-The-Go has Big Mo'
In life, momentum is a big deal. Sports teams talk about the importance of momentum all the time. Well, in our world the Big Mo' works its magic too, and is definitely pushing on-the-go foods and beverages uphill. Despite the incessant chatter about Americans wanting to turn down the 'frantic' in their lifestyles, it's not the reality. People are still operating in overdrive. Plus, everyone from packaged food manufacturers to restaurants and retailers are doing everything possible to make it easier and easier for Americans to eat fast. Very fast. So this is an easy prediction - a plethora of new products in 2007 that fit in the hand, to be eaten on the run, or as a fast-grab, sit-down snack.
10 Vending Here, Vending There ... Vending, Vending Everywhere
Okay, this is it ... this is the year when vending starts to come into its own as a mainstream, main-meal food distribution channel, offering hot and cold dinners and entrees, snacks, desserts and beverages. This may be the year when my prediction a few years back of v-stores (v for vending) takes root, looking like traditional c-stores from the outside, but inside are only vending machines offering all sorts of goodies, including chef-prepared meals (kitchen behind the vending machines). With America in a mobile mode, it only seems logical that vending will play a big role in delivering food choices to Americans. We will see the beginning of that momentum in 2007.