Top 10 US Food Trends for 2013

SRG's 2013 Top Ten Food Trends were compiled with the expertise of SRG's culinary council – a team of more than 100 famous chefs, restaurateurs, and foodies – and feature examples of cutting-edge restaurants and brands leading the way for each trend.  With health and global realities top-of-mind concerns for consumers, look for these food trends to go big next year as they move from cutting-edge to mainstream:

1    Sour gets its day: Fermented cherry juice and sour beer? In 2013, yes, as food palates move beyond sweet, salty and fatty to tart, acidic, and bitter.
2.      Chefs watch your weight: Chefs are changing their habits and exchanging their butter and bacon for broth and beets. The result, better-for-you food that actually tastes good.
3.      Asian infiltrates American comfort food: The spicy and fresh flavors of Thailand, Vietnam, and Korea will give consumers a new take on comfort food.

4.      Veggies Take Over the Plate: No longer prepared as just a side or salad, vegetables will get their chance to star as the main dish.
5.      Kids' menus grow up: Mac and Cheese and chicken nuggets take a backseat to kid-friendly versions of adult dining options.
6.      American Artisans save you a trip to Europe: With the emergence of local artisans budding in cities across America, why fly to Paris when you can go to Philly? Foodies can think globally, but travel locally.
7.      Small plates for me only: Small plates for sharing will be replaced with smaller, singular servings of meat, veggies, or starches – for a truly customized dining experience.
8.      Savory Fruit: Look for fruit used with savory flavors, incorporated as a touch in appetizers, soups, and meat dishes.
9.      No diner left behind: From gluten-free to vegan, more and more restaurants will offer all-inclusive menus and services to accommodate all eaters.
10. Popcorn is THE snack of 2013: Sweet or savory, the all-time favorite (and healthy) snack will pop up everywhere - in ice cream, as croutons.

Glanbia to rebuild flax plant in South Dakota

Glanbia Nutritionals Ingredients Technologies (GNIT), a Wisconsin-based U.S. wing of Irish food processing firm Glanbia, announced last Tuesday it will build a new 40,000-square foot cereal ingredient processing plant at Sioux Falls, S.D., for startup in July 2013. The South Dakota facility is meant to replace the Glanbia Nutritionals plant at Angusville, Man., about 120 km southeast of Yorkton, Sask.

The Angusville plant was destroyed in mid-March by fire, which the provincial fire commissioner's office ruled accidental, saying it appeared to be caused by flax meal overheating in a pasteurizing unit. Damages were estimated at over $7 million.

"After years in Angusville, this was a very difficult decision, given our longstanding relationship with the community," GNIT CEO Jerry O'Dea said in a release. "We spoke to our employees (last Tuesday) and will look to retain as many as we can through an offer of relocation to Sioux Falls."  Severances will be offered to those staff unable to relocate, he said.

Glanbia had considered "all options" including rebuilding in Manitoba, O'Dea said, but found the Sioux Falls option to be "the best decision for our customers, suppliers and company."  O'Dea was cited in an Associated Press report last week as saying Sioux Falls was picked for its proximity to flax-growing regions, its transportation infrastructure, its "convenience and support from state and local leaders."

The new plant is expected to produce whole and milled flaxseed ingredients as well as "other seed and grain products" for the food, beverage, supplement and animal nutrition sectors, GNIT said.
To that end, GNIT said it "will continue to source flaxseed from Saskatchewan, Manitoba and northern U.S. states as before."

Glanbia has expanded its offerings of flax-based ingredients for the food, beverage and supplement markets, touting its antioxidant properties, its high levels of ALA-Omega 3 and its protein and fibre content.

Canada Adopts New Federal Food Safety Law

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government has won the unanimous consent of the House of Commons for Canada’s new federal food safety law. With its earlier passage by the Senate, that means the Safe Food for Canadians Act, Bill S-11, now becomes law with the routine “Royal Assent.”

                                                                         
Unanimous votes among the 308 Members of Parliament (MPs) in Commons are not seen often in Ottawa and Canada’s multiple parties rarely agree on anything but the crisis at the XL Foods plant in Brooks, Alberta helped bring unity for the food safety law sought by the Prime Minister’s government.

According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), the new federal law:

• makes food as safe as possible for Canadian families;
• protects consumers by targeting unsafe practices;
• implements tougher penalties for activities that put health and safety at risk;
• provides better control over imports;
• institutes a more consistent inspection regime across all food commodities; and strengthens food traceability.

Additionally, CFIA outlined the improved food safety oversight, better legislative authority, and improved access to international markets as advantages of the new law. Specifically the agency said the new law promises:

1. Improved food safety oversight to better protect consumers/New prohibitions against food commodity tampering, deceptive practices and hoaxes
2. Streamlined and strengthened legislative authorities/Modernization and simplification of existing food safety legislation
3. Enhanced international market opportunities for Canadian industry

Crowd sourcing exemplifies social media at its best:

Social media is a valuable tool to solicit and engage potential customers - let them create and pick the next Big Thing. Think of crowd sourcing as an online tool or think tank of ideas followed by a social media vote for the best idea.  Rewarding the winner can really drive success.

Examples are endless: Samuel Adams asked their consumers to create a new crowd sourced beer. Arizona Iced Tea is asking consumers to create its next flavor.

 

 

 

Outside of the US, McDonald's has crowd sourced burger recipes and Lay's create-a-chip contests produced Caesar Salad flavored chips is Australia, Shrimp chips in Egypt Sausage-flavored chips in Poland.

Lay's is now launching a $1 Million winner campaign through it's "Do us a Flavor" Facebook vote.  Facebook is changing its rules with the familiar "Like" button being replaced with an "I'd Eat That" button. Lay's will select three finalists - all of which will be developed into flavors and sold in early 2013. Then a final Facebook vote will decide on a winner.

Food for thought: What a tremendous way to create a buz with a head-to-head flavor showdown.  Try it!

Social Media Marketing: Lessons for Success Part 6

9. The government can be your partner.  There are many funding programs available in Canada and the US as cost sharing or tax incentives that can help you offset the huge costs of entering a market.  For example, INAC Services Ltd. can assist you in obtaining grants and interest free loans for export marketing, plant expansion, energy reduction, product development, R&D, employee training, human resource development and much more. 

                                                                          

10. There are angels out there.  Find a venture capital firm to get financing.  For example, Loewen & Partners Inc. is a privately-owned corporate finance firm serving business owners needing access to sophisticated corporate financial services.  Instead of taking a year to find money, with your eye off the ball and giving many often demoralizing presentations to inappropriate investors; you could outsource your financing needs to Loewen & Partners.  They can match your company  with the best investors at the right price, and all of this within a far shorter time frame.   Their focus is on high-growth firms that require any of the following services: Equity, Debt, and Mezzanine private placements; Growth financings; Management buy-outs; Recapitalizations; Strategic acquisitions; or Family business advisory services.

Social Media Marketing: Lessons for Success Part 5

8. Tailor your product to the market you want to sell in.  By customizing Oreos to suit local tastes, Kraft Foods expects $1 billion in sales of the iconic cookies from markets such as China by 2013

Whether it’s green tea Oreos in China, a chocolate and peanut variety in Indonesia, or banana and dulce de leche Oreos in Argentina, a lot rides on Kraft’s efforts to develop alternatives to the iconic cookie-and-cream combination.   The 100-year-old sandwich cookie, a $2 billion brand, is going global in a big way.   Emerging markets will account for about half of Oreo sales this year, and over the past five years emerging markets including Asia and Latin America have been the major drivers of the brand’s growth.  Thanks to the overseas push, overall Oreo sales grew nearly 25 percent in 2011.

Kraft has tailored the cookie’s marketing to better resonate among local consumers.  In one Chinese commercial, a child gives a lesson in dunking (cookies, not basketballs) to former Houston Rockets star Yao Ming.   In a South Korean ad, a baby clutches an Oreo while nursing at its mother’s breast. Kraft says that spot was made by its ad agency only for an awards program.  However it's gone viral since its leak online.

Success outside mature developed markets is important for Kraft as it prepares for a spinoff of its snacks business later this year.  Given unexciting prospects in the U.S., the new company, which will be called Mondelez International, will focus heavily on emerging markets.

Oreos haven’t always been popular outside the U.S. Kraft struggled for years in China, for instance, and considered leaving five years ago.   The cookie “was spectacularly underperforming,” says Sanjay Khosla, Kraft’s President of Developing Markets.   One problem: Kraft offered Chinese consumers the same type of Oreos that it sold in the U.S. “There was a belief that what was good for the U.S. was good for the world,” Khosla says.

After surveys showed that Chinese consumers found Oreos too sweet, Kraft put Andrade to work coming up with a new formula to better suit local tastes. In India, Kraft encountered the opposite problem: The American-style cookie was too bitter, Indians told researchers. Adjusting for local preferences “isn’t a matter of just removing one ingredient,” says Andrade. “It’s about making sure you balance the flavors. You almost have to reconstruct the product.”

For Asia, Kraft also decided to jettison many of its dozens of brands and instead concentrate on a few important ones such as Oreo and Tang.   That simplification strategy makes sense in China, where many multinationals are trying to introduce their brands to middle-class consumers, says James Roy, a senior analyst with China Market Research Group in Shanghai.   “There’s too much noise in terms of how many brands there are,” he says.   “Those brands don’t have a history in China, and people get confused if you introduce too many things at once.

Kraft is trying the same approach in India. The company acquired Cadbury in 2010 and the following year started putting that name on Oreos in India, taking advantage of Cadbury’s well-known brand and extensive distribution network there.

Social Media Marketing: Lessons for Success Part 4

7. Cross promote for better results.  One billion cans of Pepsi rolled out in May 2012 plastered with a most unlikely ingredient: Michael Jackson's silhouette.  Pepsi is trying once again to breathe serious life into the deceased King of Pop's global image in a move that has left some marketing experts aghast and others applauding.

The unexpected marketing announcement comes on the heels of a new, global partnership between Pepsi and the estate of Michael Jackson.   Pepsi has lost global market share to rival Coke the past year and is eager to grab some back with what it bills as a 25th anniversary celebration of Jackson's multiplatinum Bad album and tour.  Only time will tell the success of the campaign.