Foodnavigator-usa Podcast

Taste and smell are fundamental to how consumers experience food and beverages, but most tools for understanding and measuring these senses – including a highly trained human nose – are subjective, imprecise, and expensive making it difficult to cost-effectively create products that deliver an appealing experience consistently to a broad consumer base.

After being demonized for decades and hitting a 30-year low in 2019, per capita flour consumption is on the rise again thanks in part to consumers’ increasingly sophisticated understanding of diet and health and their duel desire to fill their plates during the pandemic with food that is both nutritious and comforting.

Years before the coronavirus pandemic shined a harsh light on the fragility of long, global supply chains dominated by a handful of multinational companies, Kim Bryden founded Cureate to connect local food and beverage manufactures with large institutional purchasers to meet growing consumer demand for local products, empower entrepreneurs, and “shift the dollar back” to communities.

The coronavirus outbreak fundamentally changed how food and beverage brands are connecting with consumers – from abruptly halting live sampling and in-store promotions to altering the types of messaging consumers want to hear.

Even as more Americans are vaccinated and some local economies begin to reopen, recent consumer research suggests many of the shopping changes consumers adopted during the pandemic are here to stay, including a heightened focus on safety, financial health and social justice.

Since the pandemic began, food insecurity in America has increased exponentially, and stakeholders across the value chain are stepping up to provide relief, including Simply Organic, which is giving $150,000 to five organizations that not only help put food on the tables of those in need but which do so with an eye towards environmental sustainability and reducing the risk of food insecurity going forward.

To mark International Women’s Day today, March 8, organizers are asking participants to “choose to challenge” and call out gender bias and inequality with the hope that from challenge will come change – something that women entrepreneurs desperately need when it comes to funding their businesses.

Before the pandemic, few Americans prepared lamb and those who did tended to reserve it for special occasions, but shortages of traditional proteins last spring pushed more people to try it for the first time, and now, nearly a year later sales of lamb continue to climb as shoppers overcome negative perceptions and incorporate it into their diets more regularly.

Upcycled foods and beverages made from ingredients traditionally not consumed by people are gaining popularity with consumers seeking more sustainable diets – creating a fast-growing market opportunity estimated to be worth more than $46 billion, which startups and emerging brands are seizing quickly.

Whether or not you believe in climate change or the food industry’s contribution to the greenhouse gasses wrapping the earth and changing weather patterns, plenty of consumers do, and they increasingly are buying products based on their environmental impact – elevating sustainability and carbon labeling from political talking points to business priorities.

Even though the coronavirus vaccine is slowly, albeit a bit unsteadily, rolling out, a recently published survey of dietitians predicts Americans in 2021 will continue to seek protection from COVID-19 and its rapidly spreading variants from food and beverages that promise to support their health – physically and emotionally.

In the next 12 to 18 months, cultivated meat could become available to the masses, according to some industry players raising funds to scale production of technological and scientific advances that will allow for lower production costs and a lower consumer price point.

Despite lingering uncertainty about the pandemic’s economic impact and the stickiness of new consumer habits developed in response to COVID-19 safety measures, new research from Deloitte finds most consumer product industry executives are optimistic about 2021, with many adopting new business strategies they hope will drive strong revenue growth.

Consumer and regulatory pressure is mounting once again for the CPG industry to cut back on the use of single-use plastics, Styrofoam, and other non-recyclable packaging despite a temporary reprieve during the pandemic when safety and hygiene fears outweighed environmental concerns.

For many Americans in 2020, pouring a stiff drink at the end of the day – or in the middle of it – was less about socializing with friends and more about coping with the chaos of the pandemic, and while many of the challenges from last year remain – research shows fewer people plan on turning to alcohol in the New Year and instead are embracing non-alcoholic and functional beverages as a healthier alternatives.

Between the pandemic, wildfires, economic losses and a contentious presidential election, 2020 was a year for the books – and as tempting as it may be to turn the page with the new year and not look back, one marketing expert and applied anthropologist warns that would be a mistake that could lead to missed opportunities and sales declines in 2021 and beyond.

As eager as many people are to shut the door on 2020, concerns about the coronavirus will follow us into the new year and continue to influence food and beverage preferences, predict trend spotters with Symrise, who forecast an increase in demand for flavors and products that are comforting, immunity boosting and sustainable in 2021.

Even as the animal protein sector nears $3 trillion dollars, it is falling short of demand while simultaneously straining limited resources – a problem that will compound in the next 20 years as the global wealth and the population grows, according to the non-profit XPRIZE, which hopes to facilitate a solution by offering $15 million in prize money to companies accelerating innovation of alternative meats.

Without the physical constraints of brick and mortar stores, e-commerce offers retailers an opportunity to appeal to more than just mainstream shoppers by diversifying their assortment to attract niche consumers who often will spend more for specialized products.

This week Americans will kick off the winter holiday season with a Thanksgiving like no other in recent memory as the ongoing pandemic forces many people to eschew typical large gatherings in favor of smaller solo or household affairs – a change that may dampen some spirits, but which the CEO of Del Monte foods sees as an chance to engage with both new and long-loyal consumers.