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Mintel Report: Pressed for Time? Mug Cakes for Breakfast!

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Mug cakes, you ask? As its name implies, these are single-serve cakes in a mug that’s baked in the microwave in a jiffy. So, you have a warm, homemade, and healthy breakfast in minutes which makes it one of the most favorable new breakfast trends.

This trend has been growing in popularity over the last couple of years due to delicious taste, convenience, and speedy preparation and cooking time. The product was designed for impulsive indulgence. There’s a lot of room for expansion when it comes to breakfast and baked goodies, which leads to the niche being carved by mug cakes as your breakfast treat.

The Success of Breakfast Biscuits

In Italy, consumption of biscuits is an all-time high which inspired Belvita to offer breakfast biscuits in 2010. It has taken the global market by storm and by far is one of the top product positionings of the decade.

By targeting their message on whole grain, energy release, and convenience, Belvita has made it more acceptable to eat biscuits for Breakfast. On the other end of the spectrum are breakfast cakes, which is a whole new frontier that has a lot of room for exploration where food brands can replicate the biscuits’ success.

 

Improving Health Insights

Just by using the word cake already connotes something unhealthy, which could be the reason behind why food brands are wary of dipping their toes in this market. However, there are ways to meet the demand for variety while not compromising the health of the consumer. This is where vegetable inclusions and flavors come in.

In fact, in a survey held in the UK, half of the buyers are interested in buying cakes other than the ones made from carrots. They want to see beetroot and courgette on their options for mug cakes. Another factor that food brands should look into is the sugar content of the cake, where nearly three-quarters of the consumers agree.

Food brands are also looking at NutriFusion fruit and vegetable blends to add to their mug cakes. The inclusion of these fruit and vegetable powders add essential vitamins without compromising the taste or texture of the end product. Companies are finding innovative ways to make “cake” so much better-for-you with GrandFusion fruit and vegetable nutrient blends.

Mug Cakes For The Most Important Meal of the Day

Time is a precious commodity in any household and people who have the time to spend preparing and making breakfast are lucky in today’s busy world. Breakfast meals that are tasty, nutritious, and fresh are the dream of today’s consumers.

When it comes to mug cakes, there are different levels of convenience to choose from, now isn’t that neat? Some products already include plastic cutlery which is geared towards consumption outside of the home. There are also mug cakes that come in a microwavable cup, and all you need to do is add water and cook it in the microwave. There are those that you need to put in a microwave-safe mug, perfect for people who are wary of plastics. And there are those that need a little bit of preparation by adding milk, water, or egg. Whatever suits your needs and wants, the variety of mug cake products on the shelf are wide. How will brands take advantage of this trend and stay with the better-for-you foods movement?

Inspired by www.mintel.com

America: Make Breakfast Great Again

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A standard American breakfast includes sugary cereals, fruit juices, and toast. In fact, the first cereal plants started commercial manufacturing during the 1950s. Cereals were made from equal parts of sugar and corn flour. The sweet taste of cereals and the positive marketing of these sugary foods made them one of the most famous breakfast staples on any American table. In fact, 90% of Americans have cereals in their cupboard.

The thing is that Americans have enjoyed eating cereals for many decades, and it is only recently that this industry has been placed under the spotlight as America wants to figure out why there is an increasing rate of obesity in the country. Can it be attributed to cereals? Probably so…

Sugary Cereal is Killing Breakfast in America

Cereals may be marketed as whole grains, but they are far from that. A single cereal contains modified food starch, similar to corn syrup. When you say whole grain, it is defined as natural food and not something that is processed to give it a long or indefinite shelf life. It also contains sugar, salt, and additives like tripotassium phosphate–a type of preservative. Marketing it as whole grain is a form of corporate dishonesty. Having said this, cereals are lacking many forms of nutritional value.

Cereals are devoid of any fiber and contain simple sugar. The sugar enters immediately into the bloodstream once you eat cereal. This promotes the body to release a hormone called insulin that delivers the pure sugar to the cells. However, the sugar is then stored as fat and, but at some point, too much sugar will strain the entire system. This results in metabolic diseases like diabetes.

But even if cereals do not have a lot of free sugar in them, they can still wreak havoc on the entire body as they are made from refined grains, which are converted into simple sugar. This requires the same insulin response that overburdens the endocrine system through time.

 

We Have Been Eating Cereals for A Long Time, Why Are We Now Concerned?

Sugar and refined carbohydrates are now dubbed as toxic the same way as cigarettes were categorized. According to journalists, Michael Moss and Gary Taubes, there has been mounting evidence that shows that sugar and carbohydrates are the biggest culprits in the ballooning waistline of many Americans.

But if cereals have been around for more than a few decades, then why is America experiencing rapid obesity only now? According to Harry Balzer, a market analyst at NPD Group, cereals were not an everyday affair. A few decades back, it was eaten only on Sundays when women went to church early and did not have time to make breakfast. Today, it seems that people don’t have enough time to prepare their meals, so they rely heavily on cereals and other processed junk labeled as breakfast foods.

Breakfast is still the most important meal of the day, but America needs to start looking for ways to create more convenient and healthy options. Without this push from consumers and brands, the obesity problem in America will continue to rise.

Inspired by www.washingtonpost.com

Consumers are Replacing Traditional Breakfast with Nutritional Drinks

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The adage “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” is no longer valid today, thanks to the rise in the popularity of performance and nutritional drinks. With the dietary habits of people evolving, many people opt for nutritional beverages as a favorite breakfast item these days.  About 35% of Americans agree that they do not adequately take care of themselves because they live very busy lifestyles and drinking performance drinks has become the norm for breakfast. Research conducted by Mintel indicated that 39% of people consume nutritional drinks every morning as a meal replacement while 48% consume them as part of their daily meals.

 

What Consumers Think About Nutritional Drinks

About 80% of consumers view nutritional drinks as a guilt-free beverage. Moreover, 69% believe that they are excellent sources of nutrients compared to tablets and pills. Many consumers drink nutritional drinks because they provide a more convenient method for eating whole foods.

Nutritional beverages are marketed very effectively by convincing consumers that they can maintain healthy lifestyles just by drinking them. The functional characteristic of nutritional drinks sets them apart from the rest of the beverages sold in the market.

Senior Food and Drink Analyst at Mintel, Beth Bloom, noted that performance drinks are the epitome of modern drinks as they provide the convenience that can fit the lifestyle and diet choices of the average American. Moreover, as many consumers move away from eating the traditional three meals a day, such beverages, fit in perfectly with their current lifestyle as they are affordable and accessible to many people who live very busy lives.

The Large Market Share of Nutritional Drinks

The favorable attributes of nutritional drinks are the reason why they are gaining a significant market share in the beverage category. Currently, there are now a lot of types of drinks under this category which includes weight loss formulas and sports drinks. Many consumers look for three basic characteristics when buying nutritional drinks including flavor, amount of protein, high fiber content, essential vitamins, and minerals.

Between 2010 and 2015, there was a surge in the sales growth of nutritional drinks of around 67% which is equivalent to $31 billion. Most of the sales come from sports drinks, which the industry growth is pegged at 22% during the same period. Weight loss drinks only have a 5% growth.

According to the Mintel’s Global New Products Database, manufacturers of products such as fruit juices, water, coffee, and tea have used the functional positioning as a platform to sell their goods to the market. Currently, many products have used the value of having functional attributes which are challenging the nutritional drinks in their strategy. Since the competition is very tough, the market has diversified the choices to their consumers. Nutritional beverage manufacturers should focus on promoting and substantiating their products’ efficacy by going for more natural products.

Inspired by mintel.com