CALORIE-LABELED MENUS DO NOT HELP CONSUMERS EAT HEALTHIER

Published July 19, 2013 in Food Product Design

Posted in News, Menu, Label Claims, Labeling, Science & Research, Healthy, Healthy Foods, Calorie,Calorie Reduction, Weight Management, Obesity, Restaurant, Culinary, Health Claims

PITTSBURGH—Menu labeling does not help consumers make better food choices, according to a study published in the American Journal of Public Health.

Menu labels have become a popular tool for policymakers in the fight against obesity, despite the lack of evidence to show that they're effective in helping consumers make healthier food choices. In a recent study, Carnegie Mellon University researchers investigated whether providing diners with recommended calorie intake information along with the menu items caloric intake would improve their food choices.

Although other studies have shown menu labeling to be slightly effective in reducing women's caloric intake, results showed that the recommended calorie intake information did not help consumers use menu labeling more effectively.

In the study, researchers analyzed the purchase behaviors of 1,121 adult lunchtime diners at two McDonald's restaurants in New York City. In order to explore the potential interaction between pre-existing menu labeling and the addition of recommended calorie intake information, three groups of diners received different information. The information provided was either recommended daily calorie intake, recommended per-meal calorie intake or no additional information. Also, survey data was collected to grasp the diners' understanding of calorie consumption.

Results showed no interaction between the use of calorie recommendations and the pre-existing menu labels which suggests that incorporating calorie recommendations did not help customers make better use of the information on calorie-labeled menus. Further, it was found that calorie recommendations, either calories per-day or per-meal, did not show a reduction in the number of calories purchases.

"People who count calories know that this is pretty labor-intensive exercise," said Julie Downs, associate research professor of social decision sciences in the CMU's Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences. "Making information available on menus may have other beneficial effects such as motivating restaurants to change their information. But it may be unrealistic to expect many consumers to keep such close, numeric track of their food intake by using labels directly."

Sources:

• Carnegie Mellon University: Recommended Calorie Information on Menus Does Not Improve Consumer Choices, Carnegie Mellon Study Shows

Check out my latest e-book entitled: "Social Media Marketing in Agri-Foods: Endless Profit and Painless Gain"

The book is available on Amazon and Kindle for $4.99 USD. Visit amazon/Kindle to order now:
http://www.amazon.ca/Social-Media-Marketing-Agri-Foods-ebook/dp/B00C42OB3E/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1364756966&sr=1-1

Thanks for taking the time!

EATING HABITS, STRESS LEVELS ARE NOT RELATED

EATING HABITS, STRESS LEVELS NOT RELATED

Published July 17, 2013 in Food Product Design

Posted in News, Nutrition, Healthy, Healthy Foods, Science & Research, IFT Food Expo, Food Ingredient Show, Market Trends, Food service, Frozen / Refrigerated Foods, Snack Foods, Bakery / Cereal,Cookies, Candy, Chips, Fats/Oils, Fruits / Vegetables, Demographic, Nuts, Dairy, Grains / Pasta / Tuber

CHICAGO—Comfort food and high stress situations don't go hand in hand as most think,  according to new research that was presented at the 2013 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Expo®.

“Habits don’t change in a high-pressure situation," said David Neal, Ph.D., psychologist and founding partner at Empirica Research. “People default to what their habits are under stress, whether healthy or not."

The study, appearing in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, showed that people consuming high-calorie, low-nutrient comfort food is a false theory. Those in high-stress situations tend to seek out foods that they eat out of habit, whether they are healthy or unhealthy.

In the study, the group of researchers asked 50 MBA students at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) about their eating habits during midterms. They were asked to pick from a group of healthy snacks including, fruit, non-fat yogurt, whole wheat crackers, nuts/soy chips, and from unhealthy options like candy bars, cookies or flavored popcorn. In addition, the students were asked about the frequency of their snacking showing that at the peak level of stress like during exam time, they were likely to fall back on their habitual snack.

“Habits are 45 percent of daily life," Neal said. “They cause us to disregard rational or motivational drivers and instead be cued by context, automated actions, time pressure and low self-control."
This kind of research has significant implications for food manufacturers trying to establish new products with consumers, said panelist Neale Martin, Ph.D., founding partner of Sublime Behavior Marketing and author of Habit: the 95% of Behavior Marketers Ignore.

Martin noted that consumers already are habituated to the current products on store shelves, with the average weekly shopping trip taking about 45 minutes and including 31 items.

“Think about the cognitive efficiency of that effort," Martin said. “Think of how many things you’re not looking at; how many things you are ignoring."

Martin feels that about 80% of new products fail or dramatically underperform, a rate that has been largely unchanged for decades. Making  a new product a part of a consumers daily habit is key.
Martin suggests product developers go beyond the traditional consumer trials and get consumers to absorb the product into their daily life over an extend period of time. They need to find a place in their day where they are willing to disrupt their current habit and adopt a new one with that product.

“Where is the room for another brand in your life? Where is there room for another product? We are overwhelmed by choices," he said. “Figure out the automated behavior and then find out how to disrupt it and get consumers to initiate the behavior you want. You have to get the behavior to occur and then reinforce it by making sure the experience is so fantastic they want it to happen again."

Sources:

• Institute of Food Technologists: Habits, Not Cravings, Drive Food Choice During Times of Stress

Check out my latest e-book entitled: "Social Media Marketing in Agri-Foods: Endless Profit and Painless Gain"

The book is available on Amazon and Kindle for $4.99 USD. Visit amazon/Kindle to order now:
http://www.amazon.ca/Social-Media-Marketing-Agri-Foods-ebook/dp/B00C42OB3E/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1364756966&sr=1-1

Thanks for taking the time!

RETAIL SALES TO OUTPACE RESTAURANT GROWTH PREDICTS NPD

Published July 16, 2013 in Food Product Design

Posted in News, Business, Consumer Preference, Demographic, Foodservice, Refrigerated Foods,Frozen / Refrigerated Foods, Market Research, Market Trends, Menu, Restaurant, Retail

CHICAGO—Home meal replacements or prepared foods from supermarkets, drug stores and other retail outlets will continue to capture share of the meal/snacks market by stealing visits from restaurants, according to the NPD Group. NPD’s recent food service forecast through 2022, A Look into the Future of Food service, indicates that instances of prepared food purchased at retailers for at-home consumption will increase by ten percent over the next decade compared to a four percent increase forecast for commercial food service traffic.

While there is no one age group that takes greater advantage of the prepared food offerings from retail outlets than another, the needs differ by age group, according to NPD’s A Look into the Future of Food service study. For example, adults 35 years and older are more likely than 18-34 year olds to use prepared foods from retail to meet their in-home supper needs. Retailers also met lunch-at-home interests, especially for seniors (65+). Consumers 18-24 are more inclined than others to purchase afternoon or evening snacks from retail outlets.

In terms of prepared foods purchased, younger adults are more likely than older adults to purchase pizza, hot dogs, and burgers to eat at home. Home meal replacement entrees purchased most frequently from retail outlets include chicken, pizza, and macaroni and cheese. Sandwiches are also popular.

Acknowledging the growth in the number of Baby Boomers moving into their senior years, the larger share of home meal replacement purchases from retailers will source to those age 65 and older over the next ten years, reports NPD> Prepared foods retailers are also expected to benefit from increased visiting from those in their 30s.

“Capturing visits from direct competition, like prepared foods retailers, has been the primary source for a restaurant operator’s growth over the past ten years and this will continue to be the case," says Bonnie Riggs, restaurant industry analyst, NPD Group. “Efforts to pull consumers out of their homes and back into restaurants will require touting the benefits of eating out versus staying at home and cooking or eating meals offered by home meal replacement retailers."

The National Restaurant Association reported a recent 14-month high for restaurant sales. Same-store sales and visitors on special holidays such as Mother’s Day help boost restaurant sales in general.

Check out my latest e-book entitled: "Social Media Marketing in Agri-Foods: Endless Profit and Painless Gain"

The book is available on Amazon and Kindle for $4.99 USD. Visit amazon/Kindle to order now:
http://www.amazon.ca/Social-Media-Marketing-Agri-Foods-ebook/dp/B00C42OB3E/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1364756966&sr=1-1

Thanks for taking the time!

Release of the Canadian Monetary Policy Report

Release of the Monetary Policy Report

Governor of the Bank of Canada

Ottawa, Ontario

17 July 2013

Good morning. Tiff and I are pleased to be here with you today to discuss the July Monetary Policy Report, which the Bank published this morning.

• Global economic growth remains modest, although the pace of economic activity varies significantly across the major economies.
• The U.S. economic expansion is proceeding at a moderate pace. The continued strengthening in private demand is being partly offset by the impact of fiscal consolidation.
• In Japan, fiscal and monetary policy stimulus is contributing to a rapid recovery in economic growth.
• In contrast, economic activity in the euro area remains weak.
• In China and other emerging market economies, real GDP growth has slowed, although it is stronger than in the advanced economies. This is exerting downward pressure on global commodity prices.
• And, as a consequence, the Bank has downgraded slightly its global growth forecast.
• The global economy is still expected to pick up in 2014 and 2015.
• In Canada, economic growth is expected to be choppy in the near term, owing to unusual temporary factors. The overall outlook is little changed from the Bank’s projection in April.
• Annual GDP growth is projected to average 1.8 per cent in 2013 and 
  2.7 per cent in both 2014 and 2015, supported by very accommodative financial conditions.
• Despite ongoing competitiveness challenges, exports are projected to gather momentum. This should boost confidence and lead to increasingly solid growth in business investment. The economy will also be supported by continued growth in consumer spending, while further modest declines in residential investment are expected.
• Growth in real GDP is projected to be sufficient to absorb the current material excess capacity in the economy, closing the output gap around mid-2015, as projected in April.
• Inflation has been low in recent months and is expected to remain subdued in the near term.
• The weakness in core inflation reflects persistent material excess capacity, heightened competitive pressures on retailers, relatively subdued wage increases, and some temporary sector-specific factors. Total CPI inflation has also been restrained by declining mortgage interest costs.
• As the economy gradually returns to full capacity and with inflation expectations well-anchored, both core and total CPI inflation are expected to return to 2 per cent around mid-2015.
• The outlook balances the many upside and downside risks to inflation. Three of the most important emanate from the external environment, and include the risks of stronger U.S. private demand, a failure to contain the crisis in Europe, and weaker growth in China and other emerging-market economies.
• The most important domestic source of risk to the Canadian economy remains the possibility of a disorderly unwinding of household sector imbalances.
• Against this backdrop, the Bank today decided to maintain the target for the overnight rate at 1 per cent.  
• As long as there is significant slack in the Canadian economy, the inflation outlook remains muted, and imbalances in the household sector continue to evolve constructively, the considerable monetary policy stimulus currently in place will remain appropriate. Over time, as the normalization of these conditions unfolds, a gradual normalization of policy interest rates can also be expected, consistent with achieving the 2 per cent inflation target.

Check out my latest e-book entitled: "Social Media Marketing in Agri-Foods: Endless Profit and Painless Gain"

The book is available on Amazon and Kindle for $4.99 USD. Visit amazon/Kindle to order now:
http://www.amazon.ca/Social-Media-Marketing-Agri-Foods-ebook/dp/B00C42OB3E/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1364756966&sr=1-1

Thanks for taking the time!

HERSHEY TO HOST COCOA SUMMIT

Published July 12, 2013 in Food Product Design

Posted in News, Cocoa, Chocolate, Agriculture, International, Economics, Confectionery, Crop,Business, Costs, Market Trends, Sustainability

MEXICO CITY—The Hershey Company and cocoa supplier Agroindustrias Unidas de Cacao SA de CV will host a cocoa summit to unite stakeholders committed to saving Mexico’s cocoa industry.

The summit will take place on July 13, 2013, in Tapachula, Chiapas, marking the next phase of The Mexico Cocoa Project. This 10-year, $2.8 million initiative will provide training in farm renovation and good agricultural practices (GAPs), along with the distribution of 100,000 disease-tolerant cocoa trees to restore cocoa farmland devastated by tree disease. The effort intends to quadruple yields, substantially increase family incomes and contribute to the worldwide supply of sustainable cocoa.

Participating farmers will be trained in the highest standards of sustainable cocoa and labor practices that will enable them to be certified by third-party cocoa certification NGOs.

“The summit will be an important means to reach out to the various stakeholders who are critical to bringing back cocoa farming in Mexico and supporting the family cocoa farmers," said Hector de la Barreda, vice president and general manager for Hershey Mexico and Central America. “From farmers to producers to government and research institutes, this symposium on cocoa will bring together the right people to begin the process of replanting and restoring cocoa farming in the same area where the ancient Olmecs, Mayans and Aztecs first cultivated cocoa as a food."

During the past year, Hershey and AMCO have built and maintained nurseries to grow disease-resistant tree stock in the Chiapas region. The area was hit by Moniliasis, also known as frosty pod rot, a disease that attacks the fruit of the cacao tree, causing its cocoa beans to become unusable. As a result, cocoa yields in the area have dropped by nearly half since 2005.

Hershey’s growth in Mexico is part of the company’s vision to grow its international business through key focus markets.

The Mexico Cocoa Project is one of The Hershey Company’s cocoa sustainability programs around the world. Its “21^st Century Cocoa Plan" addresses an ongoing concern of the cocoa industry, which involves supporting the long-term sustainability of the world’s cocoa supply. Last year, Hershey committed to using 100% certified cocoa in its products globally by 2020. Hershey’s percentage of certified cocoa will surpass 10% of its total cocoa volume this year, and will increase to between 40% and 50% by 2016.
New research on the cocoa genome sequence could also aid current cocoa deficits by accelerating the breeding process of cocoa plants, resulting in higher yields.

Sources:

• The Hershey Company: Hershey Hosts Cocoa Summit to Restore Cocoa Farming in Mexico

Check out my latest e-book entitled: "Social Media Marketing in Agri-Foods: Endless Profit and Painless Gain"

The book is available on Amazon and Kindle for $4.99 USD. Visit amazon/Kindle to order now:
http://www.amazon.ca/Social-Media-Marketing-Agri-Foods-ebook/dp/B00C42OB3E/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1364756966&sr=1-1

Thanks for taking the time!

NORTH AMERICAN FOOD-SAFETY TESTING MARKET TO HIT $5.4B BY 2018

Published July 12, 2013 in Food Product Design

Posted in News, Food Safety, International, Demographic, Market Research, Market Trends, Costs,Retail, Foodservice, Recalls, Frozen / Refrigerated Foods, Dairy, Beverages, Bakery / Cereal, Grains / Pasta / Tuber, Meat Products, Snack Foods, Confectionery, Bacteria, Microbial, Salmonella, E. Coli,Listeria, Bacteria, Campylobacter, Laboratory Testing, Food Analysis, Quality, Inspection, Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP), Fruits / Vegetables

DALLAS—The North American food-safety testing market is projected to grow from $3.7 billion in 2012 to $5.46 billion in 2018, according to a new report from Markets and Markets. In 2012, the United States was the largest food-safety testing market with 70% of share followed by Canada and Mexico.

In North America, the government, regulatory bodies and food industries together are responsible to assure the safety of manufactured food. GMP, GAP and HACCP are been practiced by the food companies to manufacture safe and standard quality food products. The food safety testing has been conducted at every stage of food production and supply. Increasing outbreak in food borne illnesses, food recalls and increasing consumer demand for safe food, and implementation of food-safety regulations has been driving the market for food-safety market.

According to the report, in 2012, pathogens testing in food samples dominated the safety testing market, as pathogen contamination has been responsible for maximum cases of food poisoning and food recalls in North America. Salmonella contamination was responsible for most of the registered food recalls by FDA in United States during the same period. Testing of processed food has dominated the market in North America. Adoption of new advanced technology market players has been focusing on application of rapid testing methods that provide quick and accurate qualitative and quantitative results on contaminants.

Sources:

• Markets and Markets: North America Food Safety Testing Market worth $5,460.1 Million By 2018

Check out my latest e-book entitled: "Social Media Marketing in Agri-Foods: Endless Profit and Painless Gain"

The book is available on Amazon and Kindle for $4.99 USD. Visit amazon/Kindle to order now:
http://www.amazon.ca/Social-Media-Marketing-Agri-Foods-ebook/dp/B00C42OB3E/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1364756966&sr=1-1

Thanks for taking the time!

COCA-COLA, WWF ADVANCE SUSTAINABILITY PARTNERSHIP

Published July 12, 2013 in Food Product Design

Posted in News, Sustainability, Business, Economics, Green, Packaging, Beverages, Carbonated Beverages, Ready-To-Drink (RTD) Beverages, Caffeine, Science & Research, Agriculture, Soft Drinks,International

ATLANTA—The Coca-Cola Company and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) expanded their partnership by adding new global environmental goals and working to advance the Coca-Cola system’s sustainability stewardship.

These goals focus on the sustainable management of water, energy and packaging use, as well as sustainable sourcing of agricultural ingredients through 2020.

Coca-Cola and WWF agreed to extend their efforts by meeting  new conservation and performance targets, promoting the integration of nature’s value into decision-making processes and convening influential partners to help solve global environmental challenges.

“As we face a resource-stressed world with growing global demands on food and water, we must seek solutions that drive mutual benefit for business, communities and nature," said Muhtar Kent, chairman and chief executive officer at The Coca-Cola Company. "Working with WWF will continue to challenge our company to advance our sustainability programs, and WWF’s expertise will be instrumental in reaching our environmental performance goals, some of which they help us set."

Carter Roberts, WWF CEO and president, said there are currently "unprecedented demands" on natural resources around the world.

"Continuing with business as usual puts everything at risk, including the viability of business," Roberts said. “These problems can only be solved by working together, and our work with Coca-Cola has proven that collaboration can amplify and accelerate the impact we need."

Under the renewed and expanded partnership, Coca-Cola and WWF developed new 2020 environmental sustainability goals for the Coca-Cola system, which includes the company and its nearly 300 bottling partners in more than 200 countries. These goals include improving water efficiency by 25%, ensuring healthy and resilient freshwater systems, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 25%, responsibly sourcing material for PlantBottle™ packaging and sustainably sourcing key agricultural ingredients. In addition, the companies hope to replenish 100% of water used and reach a 75% recovery rate of bottle and cans in developed markets.

Coca-Cola has also agreed to develop PEF (polyethylene furanoate) bottles and ideally bring 100% bio-based PEF bottles to the market by 2016.

Sources:

• The Coca-Cola Company: The Coca-Cola Company and World Wildlife Fund Expand Global Partnership, Announce New Environmental Goals

Check out my latest e-book entitled: "Social Media Marketing in Agri-Foods: Endless Profit and Painless Gain"

The book is available on Amazon and Kindle for $4.99 USD. Visit amazon/Kindle to order now:
http://www.amazon.ca/Social-Media-Marketing-Agri-Foods-ebook/dp/B00C42OB3E/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1364756966&sr=1-1

Thanks for taking the time!