Commonly used food marketing terms >>>>>

2008 Trend in Snacks >>>>>

Food Selection Hierarchy

WHAT THE WORLD EATS    (from Time Magazine)

  Part 1 >>>>>

  Part 2 >>>>>

aLL ABOUT WESTERN U.S. FRUITS, VEGGIES AND NUTS >>>>>

INTERESTING FACTS FOR CONSUMERS

• Hershey is disappointed in sales of its Cacao Reserve chocolate and is resorting to price discounts to sell the line of bar and truffles.  Some retailers say the Hershey image does not lend itself to the premium chocolate line. The lesson for marketers:  don't just slap a premium name on a mass product. Advertising Age, 3/5/07

• Mate herbal tea, a South American favorite, is poised to become the next beverage trend in the U.S.  Beverage World, 2/07

• A hamburger weighing 123 lbs. is now offered on the menu of Denny's Beer Barrel Pub in Clearfield, Pa.  Meatingplace.com, 2/28/07

• Coca-cola is dropping the word "carbonated" from its products, seeking to change it to "sparkling."  Carbonated beverage sales continue to lack sparkle. Advertising Age 2/19/07

• Hormel Foods is introducing Old Smokehouse Cinnamon Sugar bacon, adding to its line of flavored bacons.  Meatingplace.com 2/21/07

• At the Old Homestead Steakhouse in New York City you can purchase a single shot of Macallan Fine and Rare Collection Whiskey for just $3,000, or $38,000 per bottle. Be sure and drop by. Pocket Change, 2/14/07

• Alaska Organic Beef from Umnak Island in the Bering Sea claims its animals' natural diet provides higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids.  The USDA has approved their "excellent source" claim. Meatingplace 2/13/07

• U.S. will lead world wine consumption by 2010.  We will surpass current leaders Italy and France and will consumer 766 million gallons or 3.8 billion bottles in three years. Beverage World 2/7/07

• More students are shunning school cafeteria French fries and hamburgers and opting for healthier foods, according to the School Nutrition Association's annual survey.  Associated Press 1/22/07

• Spending for food advertising  in the U.S. in 2006 was up 4.6 per cent to $918 million.  Number one was automotive at $5 billion, down 6.6 per cent.  Advertising Age

• The venerable J. R. Watkins Inc.,has introduced all-organic line of spices, including Black Pepper, Nutmeg, Chili Powder, Rosemary and Sage.  Each is in a decorative tin and are currently available at Wal-Mart, which is demanding more organics from its vendors. Company was founded in 1868, was the first company to offer a money-back guarantee. Rosica Strategic Public Relations press release.

• Just when you thought you'd seen enough of them:  Martha Stewart will introduce a new line of food products for the retail marketing within the next 18 months, and Rachel Ray will be promoting Dunkin' Donuts.  Who says personalities don't sell products?  From Meatingplace.com and qsrweb.com.  3/14/07

• More energy drink nonsense:  After an energy drink called Cocaine was shelved, a new one called Who's Your Daddy popped up on the East Coast.  Two alcohol based energy drinks are being introduced in California, 3Sum (16 oz., 6% alcohol) and Jooce (23.5 oz.9.9% alcohol).  Beverage World, 11/06

• Produce farmers for the first time are joining a lobbying group intended to pressure Congress to create subsidies. Group represents producers of garlic, nuts, strawberries, broccoli.   Garlic has been particularly hard-hit by Chinese imports.  New York Times, 12/3/06

• Pizza is the third most popular item ordered in restaurants, following hamburgers and French fries.  Advertising Age 11/27/06

• New York Burger Co., all-natural burgers at two Manhattan locations, will launch its franchise in 2007. The beef is from Coleman Natural Foods.  Meatingplace.com 10/06

• Britain has banned junk food advertising, projected to cost the media owners $75 million in revenues.  Advertising Age 11/27/06

• Hershey's Reese's brand will introduce a peanut-butter-and banana crème cups on the 30th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley, who loved peanut-butter-banana combination.  Would that be the skinny Elvis?  Or the fat Elvis?  Advertising Age, 11/27/06. 

• Jones Soda is switching to pure cane sugar, rather than high fructose corn syrup, to flavor its drinks.   There is a belief in some quarters that high fructose corn syrup leads to higher obesity and diabetes rates.  Beverage World online 11/29/06

• Fage, a Greek yogurt with rich sour cream taste and zero fat, sees $35 million in sales within weeks of its U.S. introduction. Advertising Age  12/5/07

• A study by GFK Roper Consulting found that 83% of adults cited past experience with the product as their most important purchase decision-not price, not ads, not coupons.   Advertising Age 11/20/06

• Mintel Global Research indicates that consumers will continue to gravitate toward all-natural and sustainably-made products next year. Supermarket News 11/26/06

• McDonalds' announced in 2002 that it would move to a trans-fat-free oil for its fries.  It still hasn't.  They're afraid their French fries will taste different.  Advertising Age, 11/6/06

• Pernod Ricard of France will sell the most expensive champagne, Perrier Jouet's Belle Epoque, at $1,277 a bottle.  Independent of Britain 11/9/06

• Lucky you:  Now you can microwave Oscar Meyer's new Fast Franks hot dog and bun combination in one package in just 35 seconds.  Meatingplace 11/06.

• 40% of all U.S. bottled water comes from municipal tap water, and more bottlers are adding vitamins, flavorings and other "enhancements."  If it does not say spring water, it likely comes from the tap.  New York Times, 2/15/06

• Coca Cola is introducing Coca Cola Blak, a coffee flavored Coke, in France.  Advertising Age, 3/15/06

• It takes 4 to 7 years for a lobster to grow to one pound in size.  Meat and Seafood News,3/06

• Mars Inc. will introduce CocoaVia snacks, enriched with vitamins and injected with cholesterol-lowering plant sterols from soy.  Company will make health claims for the chocolate product.  Associated Press, 2/21/06

• Nearly half of all children in the North and South America will be overweight by 2010, creating profound impacts on everything from public health care to national economies.    3/06 Study by the International Journal of Pediatric Obesity.

• Pomegranate-based ice cream in steel anodized cans, designed to eliminate freezer burn, will be introduced this summer in Florida by SheerBliss.  Company claims non-porous can will prevent drying and gumminess. Packaging Digest, 2/06

• Close CallT drinkable breath freshener, said to eliminate rather than mask tobacco, onion, garlic, coffee from breath, is available via web (www.myclosecall.com.) and at select bars, convenience stores in the East.  An alcohol-free formula retails for $2.99 per 1.69 oz. bottle.  Packaging Digest, 2/06.

• Not long after disclosing their French fries had more fat than previously stated, McDonald's now cautiously discloses that wheat and dairy ingredients are used to flavor their fries, possibly causing allergic or other medical reactions in food-sensitive consumers.  Associated Press, 2/14/06

• Supermarket sales are expected to grow 2 per cent per year through 2009.  Retail Forward's "Food Channel Industry Outlook."

• Whole Foods retail chain grew 23.1% in 2004, while Wild Oats grew 8.1% during the same period.  Meat and Seafood Merchandising, 9/05.

• Genetically Modified?  According to British researchers, biotech (genetically modified-GM) crops have saved farmers $27 billion, and global pesticide use has dropped 6 per cent between 1996 and 2004.  Ken Ashby, past president, Utah Farm Bureau Federation 3/06

• Genetically Modified II?  A 2001 study of genetically modified soybeans by Iowa State University showed GM soybeans with an average yield of 43.5 bushels per acre, where conventional shows 45 bushels per acre.  Net farm income has not increased since the early 1990s and Iowa farmers that harvest GM corn and soybeans reap no greater financial gain than farmers that grow conventional.  The U.S. has lost more than $1 billion in corn exports to the EU where opposition to GM runs high.  Seth Winterton, Utah Department of Agriculture and Food.3/06

• Not exactly a stampede, but U.S. sales of bison meat is up 17 per cent over 2004, in part because of lower cholesterol and fat. 35,000 animals were processed for meat last year.

• Rural residents eat 75 pounds per year of beef, compared to 66 pounds of beef consumed by urban residents.

• Independent Natural Food Retailers Association reports there are now 2,700 natural food stores who are localizing purchases and creating community programs tailored to local customers. NY Times.

• Newcomers add to rich culinary diversity: "I have to say that some serious eaters think of the Immigration Act of 1965 as their very own Emancipation Proclamation." Calvin Trillin, New Yorker magazine.

• Supervalu Inc. has purchased Albertsons Inc. in a $9.7 billion deal that will result in closing of many Albertsons' stores and revamping of many others. Supervalu CEO Jeff Noddle says he plans to transform the surviving stores into "community centers," with expanded online delivery and additional services such as dry cleaning. Wall Street Journal

• Fast fooders are working on speeding up the time from initial order to time the customer is served the food. Wendy's clocks in at an average of 135.7 seconds elapsed from order to service with McDonald's at 167.9 seconds. Dairy Queen is 212 and Hardee's is 228.5. National average is 193.2 seconds. A 2001 study showed Wendy's forgot to give one in 10 customers a condiment or gave them the wrong one. QSR Magazine drive-thru study. Associated Press.

• The cereal industry uses enough sugar each year to coat each and every American with more than 3 pounds of the stuff. Highest amount of sugar per serving is Honey Smacks. "The Breakfast Cereal Gourmet" by David Hoffman.

• Tucson holds a food film festival in January. The films shown this year included Big Night, Ang Lee's Eat Drink Man Woman, Tortilla Soup and others. From The Snail, publication of Slow Food.

• Starbucks is now in the motion picture business. On April 28 they will release the film Akeelah and the Bee. Advertising Age

• No Superbowl ads this year: Frito Lay is using the internet and more "cost efficient grass roots means" to reach the elusive upper-income demographic purchasers. The Pepsico-owned unit is sponsoring a Susan G. Komen breast cancer foundation tie-in.

• Most people are either great fans of milk, with 42 per cent claiming to drink it once a day or they are milk avoiders. Very few fall into the category of occasional drinkers. A Dairy Management, Inc., survey, quoted in Packaging Digest.

• In 1989 10 per cent of all main courses in restaurants were salads. In 2005 it's just 5.5 per cent. The percentage of Americans who said they find overweight people less attractive steady dropped from 55 per cent to 24 per cent over the past 20 year period. About half the U.S. population is considered overweight. NPD Group, quoted by Associated Press.

• Food labels in the U.S. will soon begin showing if products contain peanuts, milk, or any of six other ingredients that can cause potentially fatal allergic reactions, including eggs, crustacean shellfish, fish, tree nuts, soybeans and wheat. About 5 per cent of babies and 2 per cent of adults in the U.S. have food allergies. FDA requirement, Bloomberg News

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