February 2012 Issue

A Delightful Table

The trade show season is off to a great beginning. From Atlanta to San Fran- cisco, we’ve been pleased to discover manufacturers crafting great new products for the season. We’ve wrapped up some of those discoveries in this issue, from New Products and BBQ items to delicious goodies for your customers’ fridge and pantry. And while you’re looking for the best prod- ucts to add to your roster, consider some of the trendsetting predictions editors and analysts have put forward.

Organizers of the 37th Winter Fancy Food Show sent trendspotters into the aisles. And here’s what they spotted: pickling, drinks of seeds and grain, advances in gluten-free products, innovative coconut products such as coconut jam, and a plethora of ancient grains reborn. Other trends identified at the Winter Fancy Food Show include savory sweets such as bacon brittle, mindful snacks such as raw bars, bean chips and seaweed, cocktail mix make- overs, new takes on chai, and everything fig.

The Hartman Group, Inc. also gives us some trends. In fact, it’s got 12 big trends it believes 5 will carry over into 2012. Keeping these predictors in mind while speaking with cus- tomers and reviewing what new products manufacturers are betting their own sales reports on, may help guide you in making inventory choices.
In general, how Americans eat has dramat- ically changed and will continue to change, which in and of itself should be enough to make anyone working in or connected to the food industry take a moment to pause and consider.

Here goes:

1. Changing Food Culture – Meal Fragmen- tation: Unlike 50 years ago when primarily mothers dictated norms within the home, today’s households are run as loose democ- racies where, if they are present, children have an equal say in many household concerns – chief among them, what, where and when the family should eat.

2. All By Myself – Eating Alone: Forty-four percent of adult eating happens alone, with nobody else – friend or family member – present. Many CPG companies continue to market to family occasions, all but ignoring the vast number of adults who are increas- ingly eating alone, especially meals alone.

3. Did You Say Meal? Sorry, We’re a Snack Culture: Make no mistake – we are living in the Great Age of Snacking: Forty-eight percent of all adult eating occurs between meals. Our data suggests that the growing percentage of snacking occasions is primarily a result of changing American eating habits – in this case, the simultaneous, culturally interlinked growth in eating alone and the decline in family eating.

4. Immediate Food Consumption – My Way, Now Please: Today, adult eating, even kids eating, is increasingly about whimsy and mood. ‘What do I feel like having for dinner?’ is now a legitimate question to ask oneself or one’s family at 3 or 4 p.m. More than 11 percent of all adult eating today includes foods or beverages consumed with- in one hour of purchase. Immediate con- sumption is about a long-term shift toward impulsive, unplanned eating of all kinds.

5. Sorry, June – It’s a Modern Family: While we suspect that meeting June Cleaver today really is as likely as, say, meeting D.B. Cooper, marketers still like to portray and promote to stay-at home moms and the traditional nuclear family. Who We Really Are: Today’s family really is more like Modern Family: Intergenerational, non- traditional, single parent, unmarried, and multi-ethnic.

6. Wellness Is Quality – Move over Jane Fonda and Dr Weil: Consumers want to enjoy trying to live healthier by seeking a higher quality of life. This translates to all things intersecting with health and well- ness – food, exercise, health practices – and having fun doing them. “Health and wellness” is an aspirational lifestyle. Health is no longer a goal in and of itself. Health (and wellness) is about maintaining the ability to enjoy a higher quality of life.

7. Food Culture – Classes Begin Today: We think that in order to truly understand food and see beyond your category or competitive set, you need to first under- stand something we call “Food Culture.” Food Culture is the sum total of values, ideas, practices, ingredients, preparations, tools, techniques, actors and everything else that allows us to make sense of the world of food. In short, Food Culture rep- resents everything there is to know about food that lies beyond our own personal preferences.

8. Nutrition Education – Class Dismissed: While our social focus is seemingly per- manently stuck on “nutrition education,” findings both within our firm and elsewhere are so far inconclusive that actions like requiring calorie counts on foodservice menus actually change consumer purchase behaviors. What consumers really want is help that is relevant to their daily lives – help that inspires their interest in all things food and cooking – not symbols, icons and calorie counts.

9. Food Occasions – New Vision for Meals: Our analysis of food culture shows that over 150 distinct eating occasions exist beyond the traditional vision of what used to constitute traditional “meals.” While our occasion-based findings have a quantitative basis, rigorous, ethnographically based cultural analysis brings clarity to occasions and reveals shifts in American Food Culture affecting retailers (e.g., snacking frequen- cy) as well as CPG brands. Understanding occasions and occasion-based trips can spotlight opportunities for both retailers and CPG brands alike.

10. Millennial Marketing – Fun Please: When trying to market to Millennials, tech- nology is obviously important: The secret is to tease out the specific role of technology with regard to Millennials vs. techno- logy with regard to the wider society. As an example, we believe Millennials are leading the way into the adoption of smartphone technology for shopping. In terms of building brands that reso- nate with Millennials, remember that transparency, integrity and a sense of fun with less of a preoccupation with building “loyalty,” are paramount.

11. Moooo-ve Over Cash Cow: Today’s food marketers managing legacy cash cow brands should realize that innova- tion is increasingly the victim of today’s marketing mix. To find whitespace op- portunities in crowded CPG categories, marketers should assess food and bever- age categories culturally and consider investing in small emerging brands as well as deeper understandings of changes in food culture.

12. Retail – Crossing the Chasm: Retail, and designing the retail experience, is ripe for change – ready to be stood on its head. Much of what passes for retail experience has quite literally lost significance with today’s shoppers. Un- derstanding how to combine culturally developed, creative insights, stories and concepts with data analysis can produce transformative and culturally relevant retail and brand experiences.