Can Big Brands Adapt to Healthy Consumer Demands?

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If you visit any supermarket or grocery store, then you will surely notice something new. Established packaged-food brands find it hard to compete with their healthy counterparts that are cashing in with double-digit growth. But even with this outstanding customer support, it is hard to keep up with healthy consumer nutrition demands.

Healthy Consumer Brands Sell Out For Growth

healthy consumerProducts that are additive-free, organic and non-GMO are growing at specialty-food stores, even though these companies may lack the money, marketing knowledge, and distribution chain to compete with the traditional food brands in local supermarkets. The solution that most of these firms come up with is simply to sell out. The much-needed support comes through selling to larger brands and food conglomerates. Niman Ranch, a natural pork, beef and lamb producer sold its company to become a Perdue Farms division, Applegate Farms producer of natural deli meats sold its company for $755 million to Hormel Foods. Finally, a Berkeley, California-based organic packaged foods company named Annie’s Inc. sold its brand for $820 million to General Mills.

There is no doubt that these marriages are the ideal response to changes in customer preferences when it comes to eating healthy. Customers are getting smarter, and they do not trust huge food brands anymore. It’s also tough for these big brands to use the words “healthy” or “healthier” when they use a laundry list of ingredients that are hard to pronounce. Large companies, therefore, have one option, and that is to acquire these smaller but healthy consumer brands.

The Tale of Two Brands: Kashi and Annie’s

grocery-consumerKellogg Co. purchased La Jolla, California-based Kashi in 2000. The cereal company gave Kashi resources and allowed it to manage its products. For a decade, the healthy cereal alternative grew, however, after Kellogg merged Kashi into its manufacturing arm that is also responsible for Frosted Flakes, the growth stopped. Kellogg customers sued the company for using synthetic ingredients for cereals that were branded as all-natural. Kellogg paid out a $5 million settlement for this case and in 2013, Kashi lost its California office. Its sales have never recovered.

General Mills did the same thing when it acquired Annies. Annie’s offices remained in Berkeley, California. General Mills took a different route and improved its commitment to organic agriculture. It plans to double their organically-farmed facility to 10 million acres in the next ten years. Annie’s president John Foraker uses Kashi’s tale as a reminder. “Annie’s values are a guiding influence at General Mills,” he adds. “There is a lot of change at Big Food. If they want to remain relevant to healthy consumers, they have to change.”

Change needs to be real to convince customers. This vigilance to provide the best and the healthiest food options may just be the best brand protection to consider.

Inspired by Entrepreneur.com

Change Starts With New Ingredients like NutriFusion®

It’s up to big brands to either acquire new, healthy brands, reformulate existing products, or develop new healthy products. All of these options can work for the growing healthy consumer segment. We are here to help you reformulate existing products and develop new products with our highly nutritional ingredients. Our products are made from organic, non-GMO produce and stabilized in our patent pending process. Our technology gives you the ability to create and fortify products with natural vitamins and minerals from whole fruits and vegetables without degradation through processing. If you are interested in learning more, please see the consumer packaged food page and download our products deck.

Beyond Meat CEO Says Plant-Based Protein is the Future

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Beyond Meat is a privately held company based El Segundo, California. Its CEO, Ethan Brown, believes plants are the future of protein. Beyond Meat is on the cutting edge of plant protein research and development. The company’s aim is to drive progress and innovation; it provides plant-based protein foods – without compromising the satisfaction, chew, or taste of meat. The company makes all its meat substitutes with pea or soy protein and without bioengineered ingredients, gluten, trans fats, dairy, or cholesterol. It’s all about creating a product that is completely indistinguishable from animal protein but with health benefits. They believe the future of protein is increasingly plant-based. Cattle farming is responsible for between 18 and 51 percent of greenhouse gas emissions and is also land and water–intensive. That’s why Beyond Meat is racing to diversify protein sources so as to be able to feed the world’s population for as long as possible.

Why Beyond Meat and Plant-Based Protein?

While talking to Food Business News, Brown said they’re not there yet, but every day they do get closer, and they do know that it’s scientifically possible. To support its growth, the company recently hired three food industry veterans: Jerry Joye, as the COO of Beyond Meat – he is the former COO of Fiji Water; Mark Mortimer, as the chief commercial officer of Beyond Meat – he is the former chief customer officer and president of Annie’s, Inc.; Mark Nelson, as the CFO of Beyond Meat – he was most recently the treasurer and CFO at Farmer Brothers Co.

A report by Markets and Markets, released in August 2015, lists Beyond Meat as one of the leading players in the global meat substitutes market, and projects that by 2020 that market will reach $5.17 billion, representing a CAGR of 6.4 percent from 2015. The company uses protein from plants to create products ranging from meatballs and burgers to chicken poppers. It has partnered with elite athletes to promote the benefits of plant-based protein. Specific partners include Tia Blanco, J.J. Redick, Maya Moore, David Wright, Eric Bledsoe, April Ross, and Maggie Vessey. The athlete partners come from the AVP, WNBA, MLB, NBA, and World Surf League.

At Beyond Meat, their plant-based meats let consumers continue to eat what they love, from vegetables to chili to Bolognese to burgers to hemp, without the downsides of animal protein. Beyond Meat’s, convenient and tasty products can be found at Safeway, Whole Foods, Target Publix, and in over 7,500 stores across the US and growing. Beyond Meat realized that many plant proteins contain components that promote overall bodily health and can help protect against chronic disease. Nuts, soy beans and legumes are three plant-based sources of protein that possess such beneficial properties.

Inspired by www.fooddive.com/news and www.foodbusinessnews.com

NutriFusion® Plant-Based Products

NutriFusion® was created on the development of unique, plant-based products. Our traditional GrandFusion® blends are focused on stabilizing the micronutrients and phytonutrients in fruits and vegetables. Our fruit and vegetable GrandFusion® blends can withstand all of the hurdles of modern day food processing. From there, we developed a plant-based protein product called GrandFusion® Complete, it is derived from Hemp. Hemp is considered by many to be the most complete protein in the world. It has a highly digestible balance of the 20 known amino acids. If you are interested in learning more about our products, check out our products page or contact Myra Mackey directly.

FDA Proposes Sugar Limits in New Nutritional Guidelines

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Sugar is the sweet poison in almost everything that we eat. When we eat an excessive amount of sugar every day, it not only adds extra inches to the waist but it is also slowly killing us. A recent study shows that a sugar loaded diet can be a source of a heart attack even if you are not overweight. Another study was carried out to see the drastic effects caused by sugar to a healthy person, and the results were disturbing. Over the span of the 15-year study, members who took in 25% or a greater amount of their daily calories as sugar were more than twice as prone to death from heart failure as those whose eating habits included under 10% dose of sugar. In general, the odds of dying from coronary illness increased as the rate of sugar increased in the diet regardless of person’s age, gender, and physical activity level.

An average American citizen’s diet consisting of beverages including sodas and energy drinks. These beverages are one of the leading causes of extra sugar intake. Other sugar sources include cakes, baked goods, and pastries; ice-creams, solidified yogurt; sweets; and prepared-to-eat cereals. American researchers took the notice of this epidemic. Over the past ten years, they came to the conclusion that Americans are exceeding their sugar limits. Now the advocates are taking steps to ensure the health and safety of the American people.

F.D.A. Says Added Sugar Guidelines Must Change

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on July 24, 2015, passed a resolution that stated: in addition to the labeled nutrition facts; food packages should also contain a percentage daily value (%DV) for added sugar present in that item and should change the current footnote of the nutritional label. The percent daily value would specify how much of nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet and would help consumers make an educated decision for their and their families’ health. The initiated guideline is an adjunct to the March 3, 2014, proposed principle on overhauling the Nutrition Facts name, under which the FDA recommended that food companies incorporate included sugars on the Nutrition Facts label. The proposed policy did exclude the statement of the percent everyday value for added sugars.

The FDA’s initial proposal to include the amount of added sugars on the Nutrition Facts label is presently further upheld by recently reviewed studies recommending sound dietary examples, including lower measures of sugar-sweetened foods and drinks, are firmly connected with a decreased danger of cardiac disorders. In addition to providing sweetness to the foods and beverages, sugar only appends calories having no nutritional value. According to this enactment, the beverage companies are advised to restyle their nutritional fact chart posted on their bottles with details about the percent daily value listed for total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, total carbohydrate, dietary fiber, calcium, and iron. The FDA also allowed community members to comment on the ruling for the next 75 days. The FDA has also created a survey to poll the current nutritional elements used by community members daily. Based on the comments received and the study conducted, they wanted to seek the community opinion before formally implementing the rule.

For The Full Article: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/11/09/placing-a-cap-on-americans-consumption-of-added-sugar

NutriFusion® Natural Sweeteners From Fruits and Veggies

We have developed a wide variety of products for food and beverage manufacturers. Our products are made from fruits and vegetables. The secret to NutriFusion® is the stabilization of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. Our proprietary formulas can withstand the heat and cold processing methods. Contact us today to learn more about NutriFusion®!

General Mills Faces Lawsuit Over Cheerios Protein

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Cheerios manufactured by General Mills is a very familiar brand of breakfast cereals for people residing in the United States. It was launched under the brand name of CheeriOats but then changed its name to Cheerios in 1945. GM developed Cheerios Protein this past year to grab the attention of health-conscious consumers seeking more protein in their breakfast.

cspi

General Mills is in another consumer crisis due to their protein claims. They are being sued on the grounds that the exact proportion of proteins as written on the packaging is not the same as is present in the actual cereal. The lawsuit was filed by the consumer advocacy group, Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), claiming that Cheerios Protein has just “irrelevantly” more protein than usual Cheerios, yet considerably more elevated amounts of sugar. If you ask a typical mom, she’ll probably consider giving her child a breakfast with more protein. Consumers must be protected from exaggerated health and nutritional claims.

Cheerios Protein Also Known As Cheerios Sugar

As indicated by CSPI and the cereal’s nutritional labels, Cheerios Protein has seven grams of protein for each serving while standard Cheerios has only three grams. In any case, a serving size of Cheerios protein is 55 grams, while the serving size of plain old Cheerios is 28 grams. Additionally, the protein-packed cereal has 17 grams of sugar, while the classic assortment has only one gram. On the off chance that you read the label, Cheerios Protein incorporates nine unique sweeteners, extending from chestnut sugar to corn syrup to molasses. When you look at the breakdown of sugar in the two brands, the 200 calories of normal Cheerios contains only 2 grams of sugar, while Cheerios Protein has an excess of 14 grams of sugar in the same serving size.

“Consumers who buy Cheerios Protein probably think they’re doing themselves a favor, and that this more expensive product is essentially a protein-fortified version of original Cheerios,” CSPI Litigation Director Maia Kats said in an online proclamation. He further added, “In fact, the main thing that distinguishes Cheerios Protein from original Cheerios is the huge amount of sugar and extra calories.” (Star Tribune)

 

General Mills Responds To Claims

CSPI claims that Cheerios Protein contains more sugar than protein and should be firmly rejected by the F.D.A. as an unauthorized claim. General Mills, however, believes otherwise.They added to their statement by saying:

“We don’t normally respond to these publicity-seeking lawsuits from CSPI, but we do reject their comparisons as unauthorized claim” General Mills also said. “Cheerios Protein is accurately labeled, and provides a good source of protein in every labeled serving.”

In response to the charges General Mills had something interesting to say, they believe their product is playing by the F.D.A. rules as the standard for a “good source of high-quality protein.” It will be interesting to see how this lawsuit plays out over the next year.

For the Full Article From Star Tribune: Click Here

NutriFusion® is Here to Help

We hate to see consumer goods companies continue to make mistakes with nutritional and health claims on their products. Our team developed a way to stabilize the nutrients in fruits and vegetables. We didn’t stop there, we have now found ways to stabilize proteins and omega fatty acids. Our products could help you add back valuable nutrients and proteins to your breakfast foods. When you are looking for supercharged nutrition from organic, non-GMO produce that can withstand all the steps of processing, choose NutriFusion®.

Learn more about our products!

Just Mayo Struggles with Nutrient Content Claims

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In August 2015, Hampton Creek was delivered a warning letter by the Food and Drug Administration for multiple inaccurate claims by its brand, Just Mayo. Just Mayo has been in the news over the past 2 years for developing a revolutionary food product and causing a lot of controversy in the process.

 

Mayo vs. Mayonnaise

Last year, Just Mayo faced a lawsuit from Unilever, parent company of Hellman’s mayonnaise, for fraud of not meeting F.D.A. regulations for mayonnaise. Unilever would later drop the suit, but the F.D.A. picked up where they left off with a warning letter to Hampton Creek. The F.D.A. claims that Just Mayo products purport to be standardized food mayonnaise due to the use of misleading imagery and name on the label.

Hampton Creek has fired back on the mayo warnings with the following:

“While there is a food standard of identity for “mayonnaise,” there is no current standard for “mayo.” Hampton Creek does not use the term “mayonnaise” on any of its products or any of its marketing materials … If FDA had intended to cover products that use the term “mayo” in its standard for mayonnaise, it could have done so, yet it did not.”

We will wait and see how this plays out, but they must also improve and change their nutrient content claims.

Nutrient Content Claims

On top of the mayonnaise madness, Just Mayo was asked to correct two other nutrient content claims. They do not meet the standards for “cholesterol-free” and a heart health claim on their website. Hampton Creek could face huge consumer lawsuits with these unauthorized health claims. KIND saw aggressive consumer lawsuits after a similar warning letter from the F.D.A. earlier this year. It’s important to verify and confirm any nutrient content claims that your brand is making on its label. If you are not, it could cost your brand millions of dollars in lawsuits in the future.

NutriFusion® to the Rescue

Most of the companies like KIND and Hampton Creek are trying to create innovative food products that are healthy but appeal to our current eating habits. We applaud them for advancing the food industry and running with the trends in healthy eating. We are here to help you make important health claims with your food products going forward. Our fruit and vegetable blends are revolutionizing processed food products because of their micronutrient and phytonutrient stabilization. Our products give you the ability to make claims like “50% of your daily value in 6 different vitamins, equivalent to 2 servings of fruits and vegetables, etc.” We use organic, non-GMO produce in our products to meet the highest standards of health conscious consumers. Contact us today for more information on our blends and how we can help you create healthier, better for you food products.

For the Full Articles:

www.foodnavigator-usa.com/just-mayo

www.businessinsider.com/just-mayo

Most Americans Believe GMO Foods are Unsafe

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Many Americans are becoming more and more aware of the problem we are faced with, and it’s one that hits us where it hurts. The debate over the safety of genetically modified foods has put state lawmakers who favor requiring labeling of these products at odds with counterparts in Congress who oppose it. The GMO lobby is pushing congress around to keep their products from facing the scrutiny that this recent Pew Research highlights in detail.

Who-Spends-the-Most-Money-Lobbying-GMOs-2012-600The House last month passed a bill that would nullify any state laws that require labeling, dealing a blow to state lawmakers and advocates who support such a move

Vermont Connecticut and Maine passed legislation this year making GM food labeling mandatory; dozens of other states are exploring similar bills on the issue.

 

FT_15.08.10.GMODemographicsPew Research: Most Americans Believe GM Foods are Unsafe

As this issue plays out on Capitol Hill, polls show that a majority of Americans support labeling genetically modified foods, and half check for GM food labels while shopping. “More than half (57%) of U.S. adults believe that GM foods are generally unsafe to eat, while (37%) say these foods are safe”, “Women are more likely than men to view GM foods as unsafe (65% vs. 49%).” Opinions also vary by race and ethnicity; blacks and Hispanics are more likely than whites to say that genetically modified foods are generally unsafe to eat according to a Pew Research Center survey

The Pew Research survey also found differences in vie
ws based on education levels and science knowledge. Those with lower levels of educational attainment or science knowledge are more inclined to view GM foods as unsafe.

NutriFusion® agree with the majority of American that genetically modified foods are unsafe. We have been committed to the non-GMO movement since we started. Our concentrated, fruit and vegetable powders always come from non-GMO produce. We believe in the transparency and honesty that health conscious consumers expect in 2015.

 

 

Millennials Leading an $18 Billion Food Revolution

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Our post focuses on a recent article from Fortune about a panel discussion, The New Food Revolution, at the Most Powerful Women Summit. The panel included Julie Smolyansky, Denise Morrison, and Tracy Massey.

 

Trends Facing the Food Industry

Julie Smolyansky, CEO of Lifeway Foods, believes the dramatic change in food is being driven by millennials and their desire for transparency. Our smart phones are enabling smarter choices at the point of purchase because of the unlimited access to information about the food we buy.

Denise Morrison, CEO of Campbell Soup Co., said,”I believe consumers have a right to know what’s in their food, how it’s made, and where it’s grown,” she said. “As a company, we’re working on it, and we have a lot more work to do.” Food companies need to lead the education effort to consumers about their food to gain the trust of millennials.

Tracy Massey, president of Mars Chocolate North America said,“Low-fat was big a few years ago, and that’s gone away now.” “We need to make sure we label our products and be very transparent about what’s in them. You can’t dictate what people eat, but you can make sure they’re very clear on what they’re putting into their bodies.”

 

 

What is the Next Big Thing in Food?

The panel strongly agreed that that health is no longer about fat and calories. It’s more about supplementing your diet with simple, nutritious foods. NutriFusion® was created to help many of these large brands develop more nutrition in their existing products. Our ingredients are created from whole, non-GMO, ogranic produce. We use our proprietary technology to stabilize the vitamins and minerals in fruits and vegetables, so that we can supercharge many of the processed foods that we already love. We believe our products are the next big thing in food and we are excited to see more and more brands create nutritious, healthy snacks.

For the Full Article: http://fortune.com/2015/10/13/food-revolution-millennials/

 

KIND Bars in Trouble with “Healthy” Snacks

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Earlier this year in April, KIND bars was asked by the FDA to make changes to its labeling of four products. The 4 bars  in violation of the “healthy” labeling rules include: almond and apricot; almond and coconut; peanut butter and dark chocolate + protein; and dark chocolate cherry cashew + antioxidants. We read a few articles from Food Business News and Quartz on the issue and we will be sharing some of the key information in our post.

The FDA

“According to the F.D.A., a product only may feature the term “healthy” as an implied nutrient content claim on the label if, among other things, it is “low saturated fat” as defined in the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (i.e., the food has a saturated fat content of 1 gram or less per reference amount customarily consumed (RACC) and no more than 15% of the calories are from saturated fat).

In its review, the F.D.A. found that Kind’s almond and apricot bar and peanut butter dark chocolate + protein bar both contained 3.5 grams of saturated fat per serving, while its almond and coconut bar contained 5 grams of saturated fat and its dark chocolate cherry cashew + antioxidant bar contained 2.5 grams.”

The FDA also indicated in their letter that Kind must remove labels such as “anti-oxidant rich,” “good source of fiber,” and “no trans fats” from the four products. Using an ingredient like NutriFusion® would allow KIND to make claims like “anti-oxidant rich” because our products are made from all natural fruits and vegetables.

KIND’s Response

“The F.D.A. is requesting adjustments to the labeling language on four of our bars and our web site, and we’re workinwebsite bring all items to compliance,” the company said. “Please know that there are no quality or safety issues relating to our snack foods or their ingredients. Kind snacks remain a safe and nutritious choice for our fans and their families.”

In working to come into compliance with the F.D.A.’s labeling rules, Kind pointed out that nuts are partly to blame for the violations.

“Nuts, key ingredients in many of our snacks and one of the things that make fans love our bars, contain nutritious fats that exceed the amount allowed under the F.D.A.’s standard,” the company said. “This is similar to other foods that do not meet the standard for use of the term healthy, but are generally considered to be good for you like avocados, salmon and eggs.”

Kind said it will keep its recipes the same even as it makes updates to its packaging and web site.

Lawyers are Filing Lawsuits for Consumers

Quartz covered the story from the consumer’s perspective and it looks like the FDA letter is going to lead to a few lawsuits. Of course consumers are not pressing the issue, but lawyers are on their behalf.

“In California, three separate class action suits have been filed against the company, all within 10 days of the letter’s publication, all making the same basic argument: KIND’s misleading marketing deceives consumers into buying food that isn’t healthy, at least by FDA standards. Consumers would receive the value of their KIND purchases back if the lawsuits were ever to prevail.”

Why Does This Matter?

KIND is relatively small in the energy and nutrition category and a young player in the industry. Their products are not necessarily bad for you. They just do not meet the FDA standards for saturated fats. Saturated fats are still going through on-going research, so science is not completely settled. This was simply a slap on the wrist by the FDA, but it has caused a lot of harm for KIND. They now have to do extensive work in new packaging and website design as well as manage consumer complaints. All of this could have been avoided by using the right ingredients and the approved claims by the FDA.