Posts Tagged ‘sustainability’

Innova Market Insights: Protein, Sustainability Are Key Trends

Wednesday, June 27th, 2012

Consumers globally are seeking out more protein-rich food products, and interest in alternative protein sources is surging, reports Innova Market Insights. Information on this trend—“a boom for protein”—and dozens of others is highlighted on the Food Expo floor within Innova Market Insights’ Taste the Trend Pavilion (booth 2669).

“Europe is ahead [in this area],” said Lu Ann Williams, Innova Market Insights’ Head of Research, but the U.S. marketplace won’t be far behind. “It’s about to jump a notch,” she predicted.

Innova Market Insights research has shown that the U.S. accounted for more than 40% of recent alternative protein patent activity [1980–2011]. “Greek yogurt woke American consumers up to the fact that there’s an alternative to eggs [as a protein source],” said Williams.

Consumers understand the benefits protein delivers, including its ability to promote satiety, Williams continued. “It’s one of those benefits you can feel,” she said. “You know you’re less hungry when you consume protein.”

According to Innova Market Insights, traditional protein sources like soy and chickpeas are getting product development attention, and a range of new products are starting to appear based on beans as well as nuts, seeds, and grains. In addition, new techniques are being developed to enhance the texture, juiciness, and flavor of meat analogs and proteins. In the 12-month period ended March 2012, more than one-third of the new product launches marketed on an “added protein” platform contained soy, according to the research firm’s data.

Part of what’s driving interest in alternative protein sources is growth in the number of flexitarians—consumers who enjoy meat but occasionally opt out because of concerns about health and the environmental impact of heavy meat consumption, Williams added.

Innova Market Insights' Taste the Trend PavilionInterest in meat alternatives can also be linked to another of the top trends Innova Market Insights has identified—sustainability or, as Innova and Williams put it, “green is a given.” Companies are approaching sustainability in myriad ways—as it relates to packaging, water, and energy. “Everybody isn’t going to be able to do the same thing,” said Williams, but most will make an attempt to take some action as it relates to operating more sustainably.

For a close-up “taste” of these trends and dozens more, stop by the Innova Market Insights’ Taste the Trend Pavilion. The Pavilion includes six large-scale trend presentations featuring data on ingredient technology, new product trends, and consumer insights as well as more than two dozen smaller presentations broken down into “Packaging & Technology,” “Ingredients & Flavors,” and “Consumer Insights” categories. More than 200 innovative products from around the world are also on display.

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PepsiCo’s Khan Challenges Conventional R&D Wisdom

Wednesday, June 27th, 2012

At the Beacon Lecture on Tuesday afternoon, Mehmood Khan, M.D., Chief Executive Officer, Global Nutrition Group, and Chief Scientific Officer of PepsiCo, discussed the global food landscape from food policies, obesity, and food production to waste, water usage, and population growth, and how the food industry and food science can solve present and future challenges.

Mehmood Kahn“The food industry has saved more lives and helped humanity more than any other profession,” said Khan. But it is also under attack from several groups for things like water usage, pesticides, additives, and obesity, he noted. Food policies following World War II, when many young men joining the armed services were undernourished and underweight, encouraged the production of safe, affordable, and convenient food. “We did what society and the government wanted us to do,” stated Khan.

Today we have an imbalance in our food system with 1 billion hungry people and 1 billion overweight people on our planet, noted Kahn. “We added 1 billion people in the past 10 years and our population will rise from 7 billion to 9 and a half billion by 2050. We will have to increase our food production by 50% to meet the demand. Otherwise, mass starvation will lead to mass conflict between village to village, state to state, city to city, and country to country,” declared Khan.

Americans eat about 2.5 servings of fruits and vegetables today and the government recommends that we eat 4–5 servings, reported Khan. “We would have to increase our fruit and vegetable production equivalent to what the State of California produces today in order for Americans to eat the recommended amounts.”

In Africa, Asia, and India, about 40% of the food is lost through spoilage or the inability to preserve and transport it. In North America and Europe, about 40% of the food is thrown away. “If we could save half of the food that is thrown away, we could feed 1 billion more people without any more resources, such as land or water,” declared Khan.

Solving these problems will require a different way of thinking, stated Khan. For example, Khan located his engineering center in Delhi, India, so that they could gain a new perspective on these and other food issues. For example, in large cities in developing countries, the road infrastructure is poor and PepsiCo delivery trucks spend a large amount of time sitting idle in traffic jams, wasting fuel and energy. And this will only get worse. By 2050, 70% of the global population will live in cities. There will be 50 megacities of populations of 20 million or more and 49 of those cities will be in developing countries, noted Khan.

Khan referred to the traditional practice of bringing foreign scientists to the United States to learn about our way of doing things as “historical arrogance.” Young scientists in the U.S. need to go overseas to learn and understand the culture and problems and the resources available to overcome these challenges,” declared Khan. He pointed to an example of a six-minute Pepsi marketing video that was produced inexpensively in Shanghai that was seen by 750 million people in its first 100 days. “If it were produced here, it would have cost us a couple more zeros following the 750 number,” joked Khan.

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The Technological Harvest

Wednesday, June 27th, 2012

The world’s population is slightly more than 7 billion people. Feeding such a large number of individuals requires innovative agriculture and crop technologies. Session 211, “Food and Nutritional Benefits from Sustainable New Crop Technologies,” will feature presentations that focus on the impact of new technologies on the global food supply. Crop technologies help achieve sustainability goals by increasing the yield and value realized by farmers around the globe. New technologies are being used to develop foods that could be favorable to consumer health. Such foods might have improved nutritional profiles, including increased essential amino acids and reduced saturated fat.

The benefits of crop technologies are not limited to harvests with improved nutritional profiles crops with higher yields. Scientists assert that innovative agricultural technologies can be used to enhance food security and reduce applications of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Speakers Cathleen Enright, Ross Welch, and David Jackson will discuss the success and potential of crop technologies on Thursday, June 28, at 8:30 a.m. in room N114.

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Advancing On-Trend Innovation Via New Technologies

Tuesday, June 26th, 2012

Representatives of Innova Market Insights and Netherlands Food Valley offered an update on ways in which consumer demand for healthy products, an emphasis on food safety, convenience solutions, and sustainability are advancing innovation in the Netherlands—and globally—in a Tuesday afternoon Special Events Pavilion presentation titled “Trends + Innovation + New Technologies: Bringing It All Together.”

LuAnn Williams“Food safety has crossed the barrier of being just an issue for a production manager to being something that you can market to consumers,” said LuAnn Williams, Head of Research with Innova Market Insights. She pointed out that manufacturers’ use of pesticide-free claims is increasing, for example.

That food companies will operate sustainably is becoming something of an expectation with consumers, according to Williams. “Last year we were still defining what sustainability is,” said Williams.  Now, however, “I think all consumers will assume that companies are trying to take action to reduce packaging and water use.”

Health positioning continues to be a huge driver of product development, Williams continued. Healthy aging is a particular hot button, she said. “I think every customer we have is interested in this, but no one has figured out how to crack this nut.” That’s because it’s tough to communicate the message of healthy aging without making consumers feel old, she said.

Food Valley is a community in the Netherlands comprised of food-related companies, science companies, and research institutes, explained presenter Bernold Kemperink. Food Valley provides an environment that allows companies to shorten product development time, share state-of-the art facilities, and access a worldwide trade network, among other benefits.

A long list of food industry innovations have flourished in this environment, said Kemperink. They include, among many others, new approaches to salt reduction, innovative encapsulation techniques, ingredients to help slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, 3D food fabrication, and packaging technology that helps control the temperature of different microwaveable meal components so that they can be heated at different rates. Food Valley is even home to “The Restaurant of the Future,” a field laboratory for consumer sensory research.

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Creating Winning Sustainability Initiatives

Tuesday, June 14th, 2011

by Mary Ellen Kuhn 

Odwall Dasani BottlesThe relationship between return on investment (ROI) and operating sustainably was a recurring theme in Session 230, “Sustainability: How Beverage Innovation Award Winners Did It,” held Tuesday morning, June 14, at the IFT Annual Meeting & Food Expo.

Speakers in the session, all of whom represented companies recognized for their initiatives by the International Society of Beverage Technologists, pointed out that often operating sustainably also produces economic benefits for a company. 

In a presentation on a technology from a company called Trustwater, Christopher Hoemeke of the company pointed out that Trustwater’s Electrochemical Activation technology—which allows for the elimination of all chemicals in processing equipment clean-in-place (CIP) systems—also allows the companies that implement it to achieve substantial savings on water and energy expenditures. 

“If the ROI is not there, it doesn’t matter how big the green footprint is,” said Hoemeke.

At Coca-Cola, which last year introduced the award-winning PlantBottle produced with 30% plant-based PET materials, the project would not have moved forward if it had not been economically viable, explained Robert Kriegel of Coca-Cola’s packaging operation.

Using the plant-based PET reduces dependence on petroleum and lowers carbon impact, but it also makes sense from a business and consumer satisfaction perspective.

“No other material can meet our quality standards,” Kriegel said. “We have the infrastructure for PET and PET recycling.”

It was important for the new material to be cost-effective, compatible with the company’s existing packaging equipment, and recyclable, Kriegel continued. Having a cost-effective technology is critical because the company is committed to keeping its price points stable. Making a change that would require a massive change in equipment would not be either cost-effective or sustainable, he emphasized.

“It’s still PET,” said Kriegel. “Make no mistake it’s still polyethylene terephthalate. … Because it is still PET, it is still recyclable, and that is critical for us in the big picture.”

Coca-Cola is working with the H.J. Heinz Co., which later this summer will begin the rollout of Heinz ketchup in the plant-based packaging Coca-Cola developed. “We have to have these partners that can share our vision and provide scale,” said Kriegel. “Ultimately, we want the entire industry to be using (plant-based) PET.”

Also in the session, Nels Anderson of Ecolab talked about the process of driving sustainability into the innovation process. He urged those developing a sustainability program to be aware that program drivers will evolve continually. “Reassess your market,” he urged, “because the factors influencing it will be changing.”

It’s also important to realize that ideas can come from many different sources. “You have to take ideas from everywhere,” said Anderson. At Ecolab, for example, the idea for the company’s award-winning innovation came from a field employee in Mexico—located more than 2,000 miles from the company’s closet R&D facilty.

To help ensure sustainable operation, it’s also important to set sustainability goals upfront. “What we have done is state our sustainability goals early in a project,” said Anderson.

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Restaurant Industry Serves Up Sustainability

Monday, June 13th, 2011

by Mary Ellen Kuhn

Foodservice operators are getting greener. Research conducted by the National Restaurant Association (NRA) supports this fact, reported Chris Moyer of NRA’s ConServe initiative, which encourages restaurant industry operators to run their businesses according to sustainable practices.

Moyer, a presenter in Session 186, “Greening of the Restaurant Industry,” held on Monday afternoon, June 13, set the stage for the discussion with some background information on sustainable practices within the foodservice industry.

NRA’s research underscores the fact that “every year, more and more restaurant operators are investing in green initiatives,” said Moyer. As for consumers, 57% of all adults said they are more likely to visit a restaurant where the menu includes food items that were grown or raised in an organic or environmentally friendly way.

NRA research done in partnership with Georgia Pacific shows that 65% of restaurant operators have a recycling program, Moyer said. Nearly three out of four (72%) say their business purchases products made from recycled materials. And more than one in10 restaurant operators participate in a composting program.

“Recycling is not [just] a trend,” said Moyer. “It’s the way that things are going to be done.”

Nika Kabiri of The Hartman Group, a consumer research company, shared the company’s simple definition for what living sustainability is all about. “Sustainability is increasingly about following the golden rule,” said Kabiri. “It’s really that basic. Treat others as you would like to be treated. That’s really the essence of sustainability.”

Hartman groups consumers into four categories according to their attitudes about sustainability. The groups include core consumers, representing 13% of the market, who care deeply about sustainability issues; inner mid-level (34%), who care about sustainability but are not rigid adherents to sustainable practices; outer mid-level (31%), who also embrace sustainability but to a lesser degree; and the periphery, which includes the 21% of consumers who really don’t care about it. 

As to why consumers do care about dining in sustainable restaurants and doing business with companies that embrace sustainable practices, Kabiri offered this simplified rationale: “Everybody wants to support businesses that are the good guys,” she said.

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Kick Off the Annual Meeting with Coffee and Sunrise Sessions

Saturday, June 11th, 2011

by Kelly Hensel

Need incentive to get up early? How about free coffee and the opportunity for some bonus education? You can have it all at the Sunrise Sessions taking place from 7:15 –8:15 a.m. on Sunday, June 12, and Tuesday, June 14. There will three overview sessions offered each day. Given the popularity of the Sunrise Sessions last year, make sure you arrive early to get a seat..

Sunday’s bonus sessions are as follows (Sunday’s Sunrise coffee break is sponsored by Ajinomoto):

Nanoscale science for food: A primer
Session 6, Sunday, 7:15–8:15 a.m.
Room: 394
Track: Food Processing & Packaging

Nanoscale science, engineering, and technology are rapidly advancing and demonstrating great potential for applications in the food industry. Research is ongoing globally in various application areas, including food processing, food safety, product/ingredient development, and food packaging. The research is geared to generate a large number of new food products that could be in commerce in the near future. This symposium describes the fundamental concepts of science, engineering, and technology at the nanoscale level and discuss potential impacts. The focus is recent developments for applications in the food industry and their benefits to consumers. Also, the symposium provides a perspective of the potential risks and challenges facing nanoscale research.

Product development 101: Project and portfolio management
Session 7, Sunday, 7:15–8:15 a.m.
Room: 395
Track: Product Development & Ingredient Innovations

Product development is a project that should be established the successful formation of a concept. This session provides a tutorial on the elements of developing a project as well as the stages of project management. Speakers will share their knowledge of systematic approaches to portfolio management. The session is designed to benefit entry-level and mid-level product development project managers.

Fundamentals of sustainability for the food industry
Session 8, Sunday, 7:15–8:15 a.m.
Room: 396
Track: Sustainability

Sustainability is a trend that continues to be reflected in the business models of various companies and organizations in the food industry. It is based in three pillars: environment, economy and society. This session teaches the basics of the sustainability movement.

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Sustainability Becomes Commonplace

Thursday, May 5th, 2011

Sustainability is becoming increasingly important for the food industry, as many consumers are demanding it. In fact, a Strategy One survey found three-quarters (75%) of adults surveyed agree that “eating green or sustainable foods will help me lead a life that is good for my body and the environment.” A majority of consumers say they purchase more sustainably produced food now than they did a year ago. As one of IFT’s Focus Areas, it is obvious that the “green” trend is here to stay. Here are some sessions that will offer insight into this growing movement:

  • Fundamentals of sustainability for the food industry (Session 8): Sustainability is a trend that continues to be reflected in the business models of various companies and organizations in the food industry. It is based in three pillars: environment, economy, and society. This session teaches the basics of the sustainability movement.
  • Greening of food processing and packaging technologies (Session 26): Energy consumption is a major contributor to the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) in food processing, packaging, and transportation. Characteristics of green food technologies include recyclability and/or biodegradability of packaging material, eco-friendly transportation, and savings in water usage. Several promising food technologies for reducing impact on climate change exist: high hydrostatic pressure processing (HHP), microwave heating, ohmic resistance, pulsed electric field, electrolyzed water, ultra-violet treatment, and irradiation. HHP technology has been shown to use substantially lower energy than traditional heat processing technologies. Novel packaging technologies include plant-based packaging systems and totally compostable packages. This panel discussion focuses on possible greener approaches to technologies in processing and packaging of foods.
  • Sustainable food systems: Nutrition and the environment (Session 79): Sustainability encompasses many complex, environmental, economic, and social intersections and means many things to many people. With much of the focus on the environmental impact, there is a need to broaden the definition of what constitutes a sustainable diet: foods and beverages that are not only environmentally responsible but also promote health and wellness. This session explores multiple and overlapping perspectives that include diet, nutrition and health, agriculture land use in the face of population growth, and practical aspects relevant to consumers and families. The session also explores areas of research needed to build a coherent framework for the health of Americans, to serve families and communities, and to sustain the environment.
  • What does sustainability mean to the food industry? Part 1: Defining sustainability (Session 124) Part 2: Industry case studies (Session 142): Sustainability has many interpretations. This session defines sustainability and a second session examines case studies within specific segments of the food industry. From these two sessions, participants will gain insight into the aspects of sustainability. The first session begins with experts describing different measures being used by consumers, investors, and retailers to define sustainability for the food industry. The second session includes presentations from leaders within different segments of the food industry (e.g., ingredient suppliers/manufacturers, packaged food manufacturers, and restaurant industry) who present and discuss their efforts to achieve sustainability. Both sessions will help IFT members define and implement sustainable solutions to their food, nutrition, and health agendas.
  • Greening of the restaurant (Session 186): The roadmap to environmental responsibility for the restaurant industry follows a path of incremental steps. It is an ongoing process that continually challenges businesses to generate greater efficiencies, reduce waste, and expand their capacity to use renewable resources as new technologies and practices become available. This session reveals the latest consumer sustainability trends along with best practices and case examples from the latest industry-led initiatives. These will provide tools to help reduce the cost of running restaurant operations.
  • Sustainability: How beverage innovation award winners did it (Session 230): Winners of the 2010 Beverage Innovation Awards in sustainability discuss the processes they developed and deployed. The concepts include an innovative conveyer lubrication that has reduced water usage by 720 million gallons in 160 countries while improving sanitation, a process to create a sanitizer that has fewer issues than traditional chemical processes, and a completely renewable bottle that does not impact plant-food sources. This session focuses on the process rather than the products: how hurdles were overcome.

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Consumers Seek Simplicity, Innova Reports

Monday, July 19th, 2010

by Mary Ellen Kuhn

When it comes to food and beverages, consumers want to keep it simple, according to Innova Market Insights (“Taste the Trend” Booth 3660).

Consumers are seeking products made with simple, wholesome ingredients with minimal processing, and manufacturers are responding with an array of new “clean label” offerings. Lay’s Classic Potato Chips, for example, now feature the claim “made with three simple ingredients in as little as 24 hours, and that’s it.” Pillsbury Simply…Cookies are advertised as being “made with just the simple, whole ingredients you and your family know and love.”

Innova Market Insights tracked 987 new products using either the word “simple,” “simplest,” or “simplicity” in 2009 vs 467 tracked in 2008. Use of the word “pure,” “purity,” or “purely” grew from 3,013 in 2008 to 5,705 in 2009. Consumers are also being greeted with an array of new products marketed using terms such as “like grandma made,” “homemade,” and “homestyle.”

Even if a product doesn’t have a particularly healthful profile, consumers seem to be responding to simple ingredient statements, observed Lu Ann Williams, Head of Research at Innova Market Insights. So important is the drive toward simplicity that Innova ranked it as the year’s No. 1 trend.

No. 2 on Innova’s trend list is sustainability. The company listed the top 10 market categories for products with “sustainable claims” in 2009. They are as follows, in descending order: chocolate; tea; juice and juice drinks; fish and seafood; breakfast cereals; cake—pastries and sweet goods; sweet biscuits/cookies; vegetables; carbonates; and cooking sauces.

Here’s a round-up of the year’s Top 10 trends, per Innova.

1. Sense of Simplicity

2. Sustainable Gathers Steam

3. Continuing to Cook at Home – Driven by the economic downturn, more consumers are cooking at home, but often seeking to prepare higher quality products.

4. Inherent Nutrition – Rather than relying on specific health claims, for which it may be difficult to get regulatory approval, marketers are touting products’ inherent health benefits and natural goodness.

5. Functional Superstars – Healthful ingredients that have survived European regulators’ early rulings are moving to the forefront in functional foods as others are forced for the moment to rely on softer claims.

6. Going Immune – Interest in immunity-enhancing products may have been boosted by last year’s H1N1 virus; ingredients to boost immunity are turning up in a variety of product forms.

7. New Delivery for Energy – Energy is a popular benefit, and products positioned to deliver it are proliferating in a broad range of categories including drinks, bars, tea, breakfast cereals, and more.

8. ‘Free From’ Rises – More and more companies, including major players, are rolling out gluten-free and other “free-from” offerings.

9. Extreme Flavors – Rising levels of interest in very hot and extreme flavors are being reported, with major brands (i.e., Pringles Xtreme) launching products.

10. Real Authenticity – It’s no longer enough to simply create a product with a regional positioning: the product should be based on ingredients from a specific region and ideally even produced there.

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