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Would you like some "gelatinized amylose amylopectin mixture
embedded in plant tissue of solanum tuberosum heated in glycerol
esters of oleic acid, linoleic acid and linolenic acid, sprinkled
with some sodium chloride?"
Most people would say "Yikes, no thanks." But they could
have said: "Yes, bring on those french fries... Great, fried
in healthy canola oil, easy on the salt please."
Just want to make the point that it matters how you call
something. What's in a name....
Consumers have a strong aversion to difficult terms they
do not understand. This is not a new trend and for many years
food companies are working to "clean up their labels". But it
seems this trend is gaining importance.
In the
PotatoPro Newsletter on food trends for 2010 this trend
showed up in multiple lists:
Supermarket Guru Phil Lempert called it "back to basics"
, while in
this Australian trend article it is included in "Sense of
Simplicity"
An online survey carried out by TNS among Canadian adults
on behalf of McCain Foods Canada illustrates just how strong
the consumer's aversion of chemical names is and how
much they prefer "real ingredients":
- More than 80% of Canadians said they are avoiding foods that have
excessive ingredients that look more like chemical names
than real food.
- 85% look for prepared foods that are made with “real
ingredients” that they recognize.
- 86% of respondents want food companies to be more transparent
about the ingredients in their food products.
- A whopping 90% said they would be more likely to purchase
frozen convenience foods if these foods were made with "real
Ingredients"
So as a manufacturer of frozen foods, you've got your work
carved out. But more on that later.
Let's first put this in a bigger context. The referenced survey
focused on frozen convenience foods and ingredients. Would the
results be much different for other food categories or in
other countries? Likely not, but if you need actual data for your region: check
out the market research section
of this newsletter.
Just look at Frito-Lay in the United States. Although
somewhat overshadowed by their
"local" campaign, Frito-Lay goes the extra
mile (pun intended) to point out that Lay's classic potato
chips are made with "Three
Simple Ingredients" only. Their slogan "Happiness is Simple (TM)"
did not fall out of the blue sky either, while their campaigns
featuring potato farmers seem to reinforce the image of the
"real ingredient", potatoes....
Back to McCain Foods Canada: Earlier this year
McCain Foods Canada launched the McCain It's all good(TM) commitment.
Potato products are among the first 70 products launched
under the McCain It's all good(TM) banner.
Here is how Fred Schaeffer, President and CEO of McCain
Foods (Canada) describes McCain's commitment:
"It's really quite simple. We're taking simple ingredients,
producing a great tasting product and delivering it to the
consumer. That's it," says Schaeffer. "When you read a McCain
label the ingredients will be simple and easy to understand.
And if we have to use an unfamiliar ingredient, we will
explain what it is and why we use it."
And indeed, McCain explains the function of ingredients both
on the product package and on their revamped website. E.g. the
ingredient list of Superfries mentions "sodium phosphate (to
retain natural colour)". The explanations are more prominent on the updated
McCain Foods Canada website: if you hover your mouse over each
ingredient, details on the ingredient pop-up. Also a FAQ section
is available for each product.
It is great to see how potato processing companies
increasingly make use of the educational opportunities the
internet has to offer!
Enjoy reading,
Paul van Eijck
Visiting the
International Potato Expo on Prince Edward Island? Make
sure to stop by at the booth of PotatoPro. Furthermore
we have added
the second International Conference " Potato of Ukraine
2010" to the calendar.
Finally, you may want to pencil the date of the
Potato Expo 2011 in your agenda.
All Events...
The following reports published in December 2009 provide
data related to today's newsletter topic for specific regions:
Food Nutrients and Ingredients: Attitudinal and Behavioural
Trends in the Americas
This report highlights that consumers in both North and South
America are becoming increasingly health conscious, and are
therefore paying closer attention to the nutritional profile
of foods including ingredient composition. This puts additional
pressure on regional food and beverage manufacturers to respond
with appropriate product formulations.
Food Nutrients and Ingredients: Attitudinal and Behavioural
Trends in Europe
European consumers are becoming increasingly health conscious,
and are therefore paying closer attention to the nutritional
profile of foods including ingredient composition.
In France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, more
than 40% of respondents told Datamonitor in April/May 2009 that
'low/no' (added) sugar claims had a 'high' or 'very high' amount
of influence on their general food and beverage product choice.
This was higher than the equivalent response towards salt claims
Food Nutrients and Ingredients: Attitudinal and Behavioural
Trends in Asia Pacific
Like their counterpart elsewhere, consumers in Asia Pacific
are becoming increasingly health conscious, and are therefore
paying closer attention to the nutritional profile of foods
including ingredient composition.
Maintaining or improving health has become more important
to over three-quarters of Asia-Pacific consumers. Accordingly,
consumers are trying to make more informed choices by paying
greater attention to specific food ingredients. This partly
explains why nutritional labelling has emerged as such an important
topic in food and beverage marketing
More Market Research Reports
French Fries and Potato Specialties
Chips and Snacks
Dehydrated Potato Products
Potato Starch
Ingredients for Potato Processing
Processing Equipment
Packaging Equipment
Potato Supply Chain
QSR Restaurants
Health and Nutrition
Energy and Environment
Food Trends
Industry Associations
Jack in the Box
Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ: JACK), based in San Diego,
is a restaurant company that operates and franchises
Jack in the Box® restaurants, one of the largest hamburger
chains in the United States, with more than 2,200 restaurants
in 18 states. |
United States |
Snack Brands Australia
Snack Brands Australia is an Australian Snack Food manufacturer. |
AAustralia |
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Norika
Norika (Nordring- Kartoffelzucht- und Vermehrungs-
GmbH Groß Lüsewitz) is a breeder and supplier of
seed potatoes in Germany. Norika has a special focus
on breeding and marketing of seed potatoes for processing.
|
Germany |
Danespo A/S
DANESPO A/S is the leading company in the field of breeding
and producing quality seed and ware potatoes in Northern
Europe. |
Denmark |
Comité National interprofessionnel de la Pomme de Terre
(CNIPT)
Comité National interprofessionnel de la Pomme de Terre
(CNIPT) is a french organisation to create added value
to the potato chain and to stimulate the consumption
of fresh potatoes. The CNIPT incorporates all actors
of the potato chain. |
France |
Food and Consumer Products of Canada
Food & Consumer Products of Canada (FCPC) is the largest
industry association in Canada representing the food
and consumer products industry. Its member companies
make and market retailer and national brands sold through
grocery, drug, convenience, mass merchandise and foodservice
distribution channels. |
Canada |
VC999 PACKAGING SYSTEMS AG
VVC999 PACKAGING SYSTEMS AG of Switzerland has been manufacturing
vacuum packaging machines for over 35 years. They are
marketed worldwide under the registered brand name VC999®,
which stands for "Vacuum Capacity 99.9%" . 100% family-owned
(Bernhard Inauen) and the main offices are in Herisau,
Switzerland. |
Switzerland |
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