Developer Creates More Visual Food Data With Interactive App

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More consumers are reading food labels than ever before. Customers expect packaged foods to contain the appropriate and promised ingredients. A developer has reinvented food data by launching a new web app, Sage Project. Co-founded by Sam Slover and backed by the FDA, the Sage Project is an online platform that gives food data and labels a new visual understanding of what we are eating.

 

The Sage Project

The project deconstructs thousands of food products–both fresh and packaged–into a personalized, interactive platform that contains necessary information you would find in conventional food labels. The information accessed with this app includes nutrients, calories, allergens, vitamins, and ingredients. But aside from providing food data, the developer wanted to communicate the nutritional content and what it means in the context of the health of an individual. The app also contains information on how it affects the fitness goals and activity levels of a person.

The app itemizes all the ingredients regarding weight in a list. While it is straightforward enough, the developer also ensured that the ingredients and nutrients also change depending on the serving size. This gives consumers a clear idea of how much of a particular ingredient or nutrient they are getting from the food in a specific amount.


Why People Are Not Reading Food Labels

There is a big reason why most consumers do not read food labels. While it takes some time getting used to reading food labels, conventional food labels are downright boring to look at. In a study conducted by researchers from the University of Minnesota, they revealed that one of the biggest reasons why people are not looking at labels is because they do not have strong visuals.

To solve this problem, the Sage Project deconstructed the traditional food label into an infographic. A list of the five most abundant nutrients of the food product is located at the top of the page, while an analysis of the nutritional content is found beneath it.

The app also features the types of exercises needed to burn off a particular food item when eaten; while an annotated list of ingredients including allergens is found in the lower part of the screen. Since most of the consumers are not familiar with some of the ingredients used in making a product, there are information icons beside each ingredient that you can scroll through to understand that particular ingredient better.

 

The Drawbacks to The Sage Project Food Data

The Sage Project provides a lot of information, which is one of its drawbacks. Some people just want their food labels to be straightforward. With so much information, some people may find the entire app overwhelming. However, the visual appeal of the data makes it easy to comprehend for the more data savvy generation, millennials.

 

According to Angela Lemond from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, consumers might experience information overload when using this app. But nevertheless, this app can be customized to fit any customers’ dietary restrictions as well as health goals. What matters is that this app can help a lot of people make the right health decisions when it comes to their food.

Inspired by wired.com

New Research: Food Shopping Habits of Millennials

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The food landscape is ever changing, and so does the behavior of people. Watershed Communications, a national brand strategy agency, conducted a study regarding the food shopping habits of Millennials. The participants, aged 18 to 35 years old, were asked to describe a food brand that they found authentic. They also had to answer questions related to their food shopping habits.

Millennials are considered the most highly engaged shoppers in all demographics. They are also the ones who have more shopping demands and higher capacities. With this study, companies will be able to understand the food shopping habits of Millennials so that they can apply the information in developing new products to meet their desires.

Food Shopping Habits Among Millennials Shows Branding Wins

Studies have found out that 84% of millennials can describe a particular brand or product that they have just discovered. They learn about brands by reading magazines, but they are keen on finding new brands through the internet. Once they have heard of a particular brand, 61% of millennials will share the information with their friends, family, and acquaintances while 63% plan to buy the product.

Millennials are consistent with the brands and products that they use. According to US food analyst Alexia Howard from the Stanford C. Bernstein, most millennials opt for products that are authentic, simple and consistent.

Millennials habits food shopping

The Need for Authenticity

Millennials have a constant need for authenticity in their products. Authenticity of a brand can be difficult to define, but five characteristics determine the authenticity of a particular product as follows:

  • The use of clean ingredients: Clean ingredients refer to ingredients that are real, natural, organic, and fresh. Clean ingredients are expected and demanded by millennials to ensure that safety and quality of the product that they are buying.
  • High-quality products: Quality products use top-of-the-line ingredients. Quality food products should also have great flavor.
  • True to its mission:  Authentic brands should stay true to its mission. They should stick to their claims.
  • Culturally accurate: A lot of millennials are exposed to global brands, but many of them feel that brands that honor their cultural heritage are more authentic than those that try to appeal to a market audience that are thousands of miles away from them.
  • Transparent: Transparency is imperative in defining the authenticity of products. Transparency divulges the origin of the product and the processes that it has to go through before landing on your table.

Millennials make decisions instantaneously. They are also the most influential. For instance, a 35-year-old mother can make decisions for her children to purchase a particularly healthy snack or she can encourage her parents to buy a product that she has already tried and tested.  It is, therefore, necessary for companies to use this information to create products and a marketing strategy to attract them.

Inspired by businesswire.com

 

Creative Marketing Strategies Can Help Kids Eat Veggies

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Most parents find it difficult to get their kids to eat veggies. But with the right help, parents may be able to locate the solution, thanks to creative marketing strategies. Researchers from Ohio State University in Columbus used a simple method to encourage children to eat fruits and vegetables. They placed banners in school cafeterias that feature vegetable animated characters dubbed as the Super Sprowtz. These featured characters are Zach Zucchini, Miki Mushroom, and Suzie Sweet Pea.

Research on How Marketing Impacts Consumption of Veggies

They observed if the banner increased the likelihood of kids picking up veggies and salads and eating it. Four weeks after the creative marketing strategy was established, researchers noted that the number of school children who took vegetables from the cafeteria salad bars tripled. According to assistant professor Andrew Hanks, creative marketing strategies are very powerful when used correctly to encourage children to make healthy choices when it comes to their foods.

The schools were randomly assigned to different groups which include the typical cafeteria setup and one where the Super Sprowtz was used. For schools which feature the creative marketing strategy, some used only vinyl banners or videos while others had both banners and videos.

 

The study showed that while there is an increased number of students from 13% to 24% who took vegetables from the salad bars from schools that featured only the banners, a tremendous increase from 10% to 35% was observed in schools with both banners and videos. Interestingly enough, schools that had the regular cafeteria setup, as well as those that only used videos, did not observe any improvement. The researchers concluded that the videos were not an actual part of the salad bar, which created a disconnect to the students.

This study produced a positive light on advertising. According to Tamara Melton, spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, using creative marketing strategies is a great way for schools to promote eating healthy food to the children. Another advantage of this particular approach is that it is very affordable for most schools.

Can Super Sprowtz Sustain Interest in Veggies?

However, the challenge is that while this tactic is useful in the first few weeks, the novelty may wear off. It is crucial to adapt through time as what works for school children may not readily translate for the older kids. The character Zach Zucchini from Super Sprowtz may no longer appeal teenagers. The key here is how to develop a taste for veggies and fruits to children so that they retain it once they are older.

 

The responsibility of feeding vegetables to children also falls on the shoulders of parents. Melton mentioned that parents could also encourage young kids to eat vegetables by setting examples. Letting kids prepare their fruits and vegetables is also an effective way of making them appreciate such type of foods. Lastly, growing a small home garden is also a great way to introduce vegetables to children at a young age.

Inspired by consumer.healthday.com

General Mills Looking to Improve Yogurt Products in 2017

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General Mills has created a giant with its yogurt business by generating $2.8 billion in annual sales. But the company has seen a significant drop off across brands in the past two years, and they believe it’s time to innovate their portfolio to become more competitive in the evolving category.

Yogurt is an Essential Food for Most

Yogurt and other yogurt-based products have experienced steady growth in sales for the past two decades.  NDP Group Inc. analyst, Darren Seifer, noted that yogurt experienced a steady increase over the years because it is considered by many consumers as a healthy and convenient food. Innovation in flavoring has caught the attention of many consumers. Today, yogurt companies are designing their products to have less sugar and more protein since so many people are dropping sugar and other artificial ingredients.

However, there are many challenges involved in the yogurt industry. General Mills will probably experience challenges with creating yogurt-type products for the emerging vegan markets.Moreover, there is also an increasing demand for non-GMO yogurt.

What’s surprising about yogurt is the lack of nutrients. Many people eat yogurt as their primary source of calories for breakfast, yet they are getting no vitamins unless they eat fruit. General Mills and other yogurt brands have any opportunity to add natural vitamins from fruit and/or vegetables to supply essential nutrition to consumers’ favorite breakfast option.

General Mills Makes Bold Move

In its investor presentation, General Mills, President, and COO, Jeff Harmening mentioned that the yogurt portfolio of the company is not aligned with the latest trends. Currently, the company has too many light and regular yogurts. More competitors are offering a wider product range which includes Greek yogurt, organic yogurt, and yogurt drinks. The yogurt industry is worth $84 billion globally, and the company is only capturing less than 1% of the global market share.

Yogurt products are paramount to General Mills as it makes up 16% of the total business.  The company is planning to renovate 60% of its yogurt business in the following year. This means that the corporation will be able to offer new yogurt products as well as flavors. They will also be carrying organic brands such as Annie’s due to the increasing demand for organic yogurt all over the world. This dynamic change is supposed to catch up with the change in the behavior of yogurt consumers.  General Mills expects that they will be able to increase their revenues in 2017.

But aside from reinventing its yogurt portfolio, the company is also venturing to other business strategies which include buying well-known yogurt manufacturer Yoplait SAS and Carolina. The company is experiencing stiff competition with other yogurt manufacturers that have already caught up with consumer trends.  While this bold move is very promising for General Mills, the challenge here is how the company will the company restructure its yogurt business to deal with the change in consumer behavior five years from now.

Inspired by fooddive.com

American Consumers Want More Healthy Snacks

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Consumers are becoming wiser these days, and they are not only buying snack foods to satisfy their cravings but also to maintain good health. Healthy snacks are the leading category for growth for companies looking to enter the “better-for-you” food market. Companies like Mondelez and Diamond Foods have taken into account the needs and preferences of consumers and are now offering nutritious foods in a variety of snack categories.

The healthy snack market is rapidly growing with a compound annual growth rate of 4.7% on overall sales. In the past two years, healthy bars have led the way in “better-for-you” snacks. The industry has a very positive outlook with a predicted growth of 5.7% per year into 2020.

Healthy Snacks Sell

healthy snacks shopping One of the significant reasons is that there is a rising preference among snackers for products that provide functional benefits. Second, products with “free from” labels are very appealing as many people suffer from different health conditions. Healthy snacks that are labeled gluten-free and allergen-free cater to an entirely new yet growing niche.

In general, adult consumers are snack more than ever before. In fact, 30% of most adults believe that snacking should be a part of their daily meals. They almost all agree that snacks are necessary to achieving daily nutrition requirements to sustain them through the day.

Large companies are Catching On…                                                                                                                     

The popularity of the healthy snack market has led many food manufacturers to invest in new equipment or acquire smaller niche brands. One of the fastest growing snack categories deals with protein based snacks like meat bars, nuts, and more.

Another development is the use of innovative flavors to make the healthy snack products unique. The market uses ethnic-based and other clever combinations to catch the attention of the consumers. This trend is very popular among the millennial and younger snackers who are not afraid to try new snack items as well as use snacks as meal replacements.

Aside from influencing the types of products that we see in the market, healthy snacking has also paved the way for many conventional snacking companies to create healthier snack lines. For instance, companies like Link Snacks, General Mills, PepsiCo, and ConAgra have ventured into the healthy meat snacks and snack bars. Moreover, even small retail stores and private labels have created products to answer the demand of the growing number of consumers who are looking for healthy snacks.

Inspired by fooddive.com

Baby Boomers Want More Clean Label Products

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Clean label is a new term used in the food manufacturing industry to depict food as only using simple and natural ingredients. The trend was expected to appeal to the younger consumers, but clean label products surprisingly appeal to the baby boomers too.

Baby boomers or those who belong in their fifties are the ones who readily patronize baby boomers. According to Dr. Elizabeth Sloan, president of the Sloan Trends, Inc., this particular demographic has both the time and money to buy clean label products.

Why Does It Appeal to The Boomers?

baby boomer clean label products real ingredientsConsumers have different reasons for why they opt for products with such labels. Younger people look for products that are all-natural, gluten-free, and organic. Baby boomers have an even simpler reason, and that is to avoid artificial additives in their products. There is an increasing interest for products with clean labels among baby boomers as this age group is starting to experience many health setbacks. The need for clean and natural food is essential to maintain good health for all ages.

In the research conducted by Sloan Trends, they investigated different products with clean labels and the age groups that patronize them. A whopping 76% of the correspondents who are 65 and above opt for products with clean labels for health reasons while contributors who are 50 to 64 gave a higher value for health at 75%.

The Domino Effect of Clean Label Products

There is a domino effect on this buying trend among older consumers. The report from the Organic Trade Association showed that the food sales of organic products in the United States rose to 11% in 2014 which is equated to $35.9 billion. Moreover, one-third of the consumers opts for organic products because they know that the products are all-natural and do not contain GMOs. Many consumers are confused when differentiating organic, non-GMO and naturally-flavored. For instance, a strawberry shortcake may not contain real strawberries but are just naturally flavored with strawberries.

The thing is, while clean labeling a buzzword among many consumers, it remains a very complicated topic that needs to be defined by the experts. The Food and Drug Administration coupled with the U.S. Department of Agriculture should work hand in hand to make it easier for consumers to understand the new labeling as well as the food that they are buying.

After all, clean labeling boils down to one thing: avoidance of artificial additives. Whether you are a boomer or millennial, people want real food made with real ingredients.

Inspired by foodbusinessnews.net

Flexitarians: A Food Manufacturer’s New Best Friend

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American consumers are now opting to eat less meat in favor for plant-based protein sources like nuts, beans, and jackfruit.  Dubbed as “flexitarians” or the flexitarian diet, this has sparked a new trend in the market for products that feature meaty texture and flavors minus the meat. Around 38% of Americans claim that they have at least one meatless day in a week. So why are they gaining traction? While vegans and vegetarians are becoming increasingly popular, there are more flexitarians and they have a high demand for plant-based protein snacks and meals.

The Rise of the Flexitarians                                                       

There is an increasing number of people whose diets lean towards plant-based foods. In the United States alone, more than 120 million people claim that they follow the flexitarian diet.  This is a tremendous market opportunity that is twice as large as the domestic vegan and vegetarian markets. Also called as part-time vegetarians, flexitarians have influenced many food manufacturing companies to develop new products that will appeal not only for the flexitarians but also to vegetarians and vegans.

The Effect of the Flexitarian Diet

The rise of consumers who follow the flexitarian diet has also increased the demand for food manufacturers to create alternative plant-based proteins. According to Lu Ann Williams from Innova, these alternative products are becoming more sophisticated over time. Gone are the days when people can only opt for soy and tofu as alternative protein sources. NutriFusion in particularl offers a variety of plant-based protein options for food manufacturers including potato, pea, cranberry, and hemp.

made good products grandfusion vegetables vitaminsAside from creating alternative protein sources, many food manufacturers are also joining the bandwagon of free-from foods. Free-from foods are those that do not contain a particular detrimental ingredient. These include gluten-free, dairy-free and allergen-free foods. Many food manufacturers produce these specialty food products for flexitarian consumers who suffer from certain conditions that can be triggered by the presence of “detrimental” foods.

The rise of the flexitarian diet has led many food manufacturing companies to launch new products. The number of launches that feature vegetarian claims has increased by more than 60% from 2011 to 2015. Products with vegan claims also rose to 4.3% from 2.8% from 2012 to 2014.

Consumer Food Market Trends Colliding 

beyond meat nutrifusion natural vitamins fruit vegetablesIt seems the rise of the flexitarian is due to the collision of the health, nutrition, and wellness trends in the market. The “clean label” and “simple ingredients” trends fall in line with the demand from flexitarians. Many flexitarian consumers are now opting for products that are made from natural ingredients using natural processing methods.

For instance, the use of natural processing methods such as the cold-pressing of juices has also increased by 64% between 2011 and 2015. The same growth has been observed in products like chilled soups. Using natural processing methods has led many food companies to invest in new machinery and equipment to meet the demands of the consumers.

Plant-based protein and ingredients are booming, and it doesn’t look like they are slowing down anytime soon. Food companies should launch more new products that appeal to this 120 million consumer market over the next five years.

Inspired by prnewswire.com

Simple Ingredients are Attracting Consumers to Natural Products

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Many consumers are not only more health conscious but are also becoming more careful shoppers. While many consumers still don’t look at the label, a growing group is focused on natural food and beverage products with simple ingredients.

The Clean Label Trend

There is an increasing number of people opting for clean labels. A clean label is simplifying the list of ingredients in a particular food and beverage product. It is a guiding purchasing behavior for future consumers, but it is a challenging call for food manufacturers.

This particular trend follows the five-ingredient rule which means that products should contain fewer and more recognizable ingredients to become attractive to many consumers. As this trend has evolved over time, efforts have also been made by many food and beverage manufacturers to use simple ingredients, and ensure that the ingredients used are as natural as possible.

Natural Ingredients are Simple Ingredients in Consumer Minds

With a lot of food products marketed as containing natural ingredients, many consumers find it difficult to define what “natural ingredients” means. Unfortunately, many food products claiming to be natural either have legitimate claims or just use buzzwords. The agency responsible for the ingredients’ definitions is the Food and Drug Agency (FDA).

So what are natural ingredients? Food writer Michael Pollan defines such ingredients as those that consumers can easily pronounce and recognize. These ingredients should be as close to their natural form and should not be overly processed nor should they contain additives like dyes or artificial preservatives.

The Demand for Natural Food Products

Clean labels are very popular throughout the industry and the demand for simple ingredients is influencing the sales of many food and beverage products. Many believe this trend is the leading reason for the organic & natural foods industry projected growth to experience a 14% rise in its total sales by 2020.

Unfortunately, this trend has also produced a lot of confusion among the consumers. According to global consumer research firm Mintel, more than 37% of the consumers remains confused about the information indicated in food labels, while 38% are skeptical of the information provided by these companies.

The solution to this confusion is to uphold transparency within the food industry so that this trend will resonate with all consumers. But how do food companies maintain transparency? Aside from making food labels comprehensible by using simple language, companies must reformulate their products using natural ingredients. Instead of using artificial sweeteners, natural alternatives may be employed. Food manufacturing companies can also look into their packaging and opt for a more sustainable look, instead of using plastic or foil packs.

This trend provides a tremendous opportunity for brands to increase revenue but also to connect with consumers. The cherry on top is brands will be seen as more trustworthy if they adopt simple ingredients and create clean labels for their products.

Inspired by fooddive.com