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.

 

Social Media Marketing: Lessons for Success Part 3

5. Be first to market if possible. Conventional wisdom says being first to market creates a competitive advantage.  Reality is more complicated.   Market opportunities are constantly opening and closing, and a hit today could be a dud a year earlier or a yawning "me too" business a year later.  You gain the advantage of locking in customers, suppliers or intellectual property.  Entrepreneurs also need to launch before an opportunity closes.

6.  Marketing is key - you need to attract and retain customers.  Mars, the company behind brands like Snickers, Pedigree, Whiskas and Skittles, was celebrated as the Advertiser of the Year at the Cannes Lions 2012 International Festival of Creativity.

Since Mars landed its first Cannes Lion in 1990, the company's commercials have won 77 Lions across categories, which include 11 Gold Lions and a Radio Grand Prix in 2007 for the Snickers "Hoedown" ad.

In making the announcement, Cannes Lions CEO Philip Thomas noted that Mars has won Lions for work in countries that include France, the U.S., the U.K., Brazil, South Africa, Portugal and Chile, among others. He said the festival’s recognition is “a testament to a company which truly embraces creativity and demands outstanding work from its agencies.”

Bruce McColl, the chief marketing officer at Mars, will accept the honors on June 23 during the film, film craft, branded entertainment & content, and titanium & integrated Lions awards. Mars works with Omnicom agencies BBDO and DDB.

Social Media Marketing: Lessons for Success Part 2

3. Understand everything you market and post on line.  How could Coca-Cola have allowed anyone working for them to post a reference to a disgusting pornographic movie on a fourteen year-old girl’s wall – a movie that girl later searched for on the internet to find out what the obscure status update meant.

So where did Coca-Cola go wrong, and what can you do to avoid something like this happening to your own brand? The answer is quite simple.  Never, never allow any “social marketing agency”, no matter how edgy they seem and no matter how often they tell you that they’re “experts,” post or publish anything in your company or brand’s name without checking it first. 

4. You do not control the voting process.  Trying to control the outcome of a contest by disqualifying a charity you do not like (e.g., JPMorgan Chase & Company rejected Students for Sensible Drug Policy, the Marijuana Policy Project) or violating your own rules by giving preference to another (see Pepsi) will backfire.  The Pepsi Refresh Contest made a mistake by not following its own rules, but moving swiftly to acknowledge it, fix it, and moved on. This was failing informatively.

In fact, it might wipe out more than whatever was gained by organizing the contest in the first place.  In turn, the damage to your brand and reputation can be huge.

Social Media Marketing: Lessons for Success Part 1

1. Be Transparent. Social media is not starting but following a trend.  Social media is known for its transparency and speed, but that also means that your mistakes can be very visible. Being up front is a good way to start recovering, says Harvard Business Review.

 

One of the key benefits of social media is that your messages can reach more people faster. But this also means that your mistakes can too.

Taco Bell recently combated a traditional attack (a class action lawsuit charging that the restaurant's meat isn't really beef) with new media techniques.  On Twitter, Taco Bell linked to comedian Steven Colbert's musings on the controversy; on Facebook, they offered free tacos, encouraging customers to make up their own minds about the beef in question.   And while overall sales have taken a hit, its seven million plus loyal Facebook "friends" are as enthusiastic as ever — and the lawsuit was dropped.

So what have we learned?   Success is no longer about fancy packaging and carefully controlled messages.  When everyone can see what you're doing, the most essential values are transparency, honesty and credibility.  You win by matching your image with reality, acting with integrity, and sincerely apologizing when you're wrong. 

2. Customer Service Response Time: Act quickly to fix disgruntled customers.  In 2009, Domino's was blindsided by a YouTube video showing two disgruntled employees contaminating the food they were about to deliver. It was a PR nightmare for the company, until they fired back through social media — uploading their own YouTube video explaining what they were doing to fix the situation and creating a special Twitter account to specifically handle customers concerns about this issue.   Their quick and appropriate responses directly to the people most concerned allowed Domino's  to diffuse what could have been a catastrophic event.

What type of leader are you?

Part 2. Define the type of leader you are or like to follow.  Transformational, participative or democratic leaders are focused on the performance of group members, but also want each person to fulfill their potential. This style draws on people’s knowledge and skills, and creates a group commitment to the resulting goals.  It works best when the direction the organization should take is unclear.  Leaders with this style often have high ethical and moral standards that lead to positive changes in those who follow.

Transformational leaders are generally energetic, enthusiastic and passionate about their goals, values and vision such as Richard Branson.

Authoritarian leaders make decisions independently with little or no input from the rest of the group.  They are sometimes referred to as commanding.  This is classic model of “military” style leadership – probably the most often used, but the least often effective. since it rarely involves praise and frequently employs criticism, under-cutting morale and job satisfaction.

Delegative leaders offer little or no guidance to group members and leave decision-making up to group members.  Here the team takes control of the situation.

A toxic leader is someone who has responsibility over a group of people or an organization, and who abuses the leader-follower relationship by leaving the group or organization in a worse-off condition.  I'm sure you have seen this in your past.

Narcissistic leadership has been documented whereby leaders demonstrate an egotistical preoccupation with self, personal preferences, aspirations, needs, success, and how he/she is perceived by others.   It is not very enjoyable to work in this environment.

What type of leader are you?

Part 1. What is leadership?  What defines a true leader?  Are they born or is this a learned trait?  Perhaps effective leadership can result from both nature (i.e., innate talents) as well as nuture (i.e., acquired skills).

The "Great man" leaders are deemed heroic, mythic and destined to rise to leadership when needed as opposed to those who learned the traits. This style is exemplified by the late Steve Jobs. 

Behavioral theories of leadership are based upon the belief that great leaders are made, not born and focuses on the actions of leaders. 

Participative theories vary in that  leaders retain the right to allow the input of others.  This is often called collaborative and is the kind of leadership style I use. 

Transactional theories focus on the role of supervision, organization and group performance. These theories base leadership on a system of rewards and punishments.  

Managerial theories are often used in business; when employees are successful, they are rewarded; when they fail, they are reprimanded or punished.  How often have you seen this in play where you work?

So where do you fit in?  Stay tuned for Part 2.

E-Marketing: Challenges Ahead

It all starts with W5

What is the selling feature you are trying to convey and do your customers understand your "value" statement?  What strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats do you foresee in the immediate future and down the road so to speak.

Who is your target audience and how are you communicating with them to attract AND retain them?

Why would a potential customer want your product or service over someone else's?

Where do your customers buy their products.  Do they receive a  great buying experience - so much so that they will become repeat purchases and eventually loyal brand followers?

When do your customers prefer to shop and what source of media do they prefer.  Remember demographics - this is key.  Younger buyers behave differently than mature buyers for example.  Do you use and monitor feedback from your website or Facebook page properly to increase sales?

Social Media Marketing: Challenges Ahead

Social media is here and it's time to face the challenges and take advantage of this huge opportunity.  Life as we know it is changing and we better embrace this movement or face the consequences.  Both personal and business practices are changing our lives - they way we spend our time and the manner in which news travels. 

Facebook still commands about half of the social media logins market having gained significant market share from Google and Yahoo over the past 2 years.  Who's left -Twitter, U-Tube and LinkedIn also dominate both business professionals as well as consumers. 

These very same consumers look at website content - they follow their favorite brands with hope to see advertisements, promotions and give-a-ways that they can take advantage of. 

QR codes - the new smart phone scanning technology that takes you to a company or person's website, is catching on fast from billboards to point of sale material to  QR code stickers placed beside UPC stickers.

New products are being tested through comments from Facebook pages and even new recipes or flavors are being chosen by the public - what a fabulous venue to get your customer involved. 

Buddy Media, the social media engagement company, recently completed a study of 320 top brands on Twitter — Fortune 1000 companies like Coke, American Eagle, Microsoft, and Nike — looking at what works and what doesn’t to get maximum engagement, and the greatest degree of virality.  One of the surprising findings is that the best times to engage on Twitter is almost opposite the best times to engage on Facebook.

Studies consistently portray consumers buying patterns being significantly affected by promotions on company websites that they follow.

Good news and fast customer responses can turn a potential disaster into something good.   You must be transparent - that is tell honestly what is going on.  Your brand's personality is your biggest asset when running a social media campaign -- but only if you're authentic and believable.  

Launch your New Product with Crowd Sourcing

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.

Gateway into Canadian & Emerging Markets

How do Canadians Measure Up?

So why write a book about the Canadian food industry, how we eat, shop, buy and sell value-added food products?  There is no single source guideline that depicts the Canadian experience from field to table. 

Why is Agri-food such an important asset for Canada?  Why do companies want to set up shop and diversify their businesses into Canadian or developing markets?  What is so enticing about being a "Canuck"?  Why is the Canadian economy embracing economic growth ahead of the US which is still experiencing high unemployment rates, outsourced manufacturing trends, declining health and nutrition standards and a sluggish recovery out of an economic recession? 

Our food and beverage industry is flourishing.  We respect our health and diets.  We love social media.  Despite huge geographical distribution hurdles, our retailers, wholesalers, and food service industries are thriving.  The Canadian marketplace is a hidden treasure that drives our economy. 

Canada truly is the land or opportunity.  This book will enlighten you with an in depth analyses of current market trends; best practices of multinationals; tips on launching your products,

technologies or  processes into Canadian or emerging markets; and even ideas on how to annihilate your competitor. 

Whether you are a food scientist, an executive, a health food addict, an athlete, someone working within the Agri-food industry, an entrepreneur, a dietician, a nutritionist, a consumer, or food junkie, you will surely gain a better insight into what all the excitement is about - food for thought!

                                                    Coming soon...a new book entitled -

"Food for thought. Gateway into Canadian and Emerging Markets - Tips for Success"

Health & Wellness in America

How do North Americans Measure Up?

So why write a book about health & wellness in America, what we eat, and how we take care of ourselves?  There is no single source guideline that depicts the North American experience from field to table and what to do along the way.  Diets are everywhere and most do not work in the long term.  Exercise is not always an achievable and sustaining lifestyle alternative.

Why is health and wellness an important asset?  Why do companies want to set up shop, diversify their businesses and get everyone exercising and dieting to look and feel great?  What is so enticing about being a "Healthy American or Lean Canuck"?  Why is the family unit embracing the ideal aura of healthy living while realizing declining health and nutrition standards when compared to other cultures like Norway? 

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 1.5 billion adults aged 20 and older are overweight worldwide.  As if that weren’t anxiety-inducing enough, more than 200 million men and nearly 300 million women among them also qualify as obese. 

Obesity is defined as having a body mass index (a ratio of weight in relation to height) of 30 or above. That's equal to a five-foot, six-inch (168-cm) person weighing 186 pounds (84.4 kg) or a six-foot (183-cm) person at 221 pounds (100 kg).

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force said the guidelines echo its 2003 recommendations on screening for obesity, but take into account more recent evidence that adults can lose weight and keep it off with the right help.

"The good news is that even what you might consider to be modest rather than radical weight loss has tremendous health benefits," including lowering diabetes risk and blood pressure, said Susan Curry, a member of the task force and dean of the University of Iowa College of Public Health in Iowa City.

"Losing 5 percent of your body weight has tremendous health benefits, and intensive behavioral counseling programs help you do that and sustain it," Curry told Reuters Health. "Your primary care provider can, we hope, help you to find evidence-based programs."

The need to address weight gain nationally has grown as America tallies the health and economic costs of its obesity epidemic. More than two-thirds of the country's adults can be classified as overweight or obese.

Effective weight-loss programs, Curry said, include both nutrition and exercise support. They should help people address any barriers they have to making - and maintaining - changes in their lifestyle.

Coming soon...a new book entitled -

"Food for thought. Health & Wellness in America - Tips for Success"