Baked Goods: Culinary Trend Mapping Report

For the past several years, consumers have been soothing themselves with all manners of baked goods, ranging from freshly made pies and Parisian macarons to decadent cookies and oozing lava cakes - all while enjoying new twists on old favorites as well as a more varied selection of baked goods and flavors.

Despite recent economic difficulties, baked goods generally remain an affordable indulgence, and one consumers can access in many places. The recession hasn't prevented sales of baked goods from growing, as the market has been pushed by a variety of drivers: convenience, premium ingredients, global flavor twists, wellness and nostalgia/comfort.
 
In Baked Goods: Culinary Trend Mapping Report, Packaged Facts and the Center for Culinary Development use the CCD signature Trend Mapping technique to profile seven sweet and savory baked good trends that provide fresh ideas for manufacturers and restaurant operators to enliven stale offerings, spruce up the bread basket and add excitement to both the baking aisle and freezer case.

The seven sweet and savory baked good trends appearing across the Trend Map® include:

• Stage 1: The Micropatisserie
• Stage 1: Alfajores
• Stage 2: Popovers & Gougres
• Stage 3: Specialty Frozen Desserts
• Stage 3: Better Baking Mixes
• Stage 4: Pretzel-mania
• Stage 5: Gone Gluten-Free

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High Quality Prepared Food Departments Add Dine-in Cafes to Drive Traffic at Grocery Stores

Prepared food bar at Wegmans.  Photo Courtesy of
toujourspretamanger.com

Been to a Wegmans lately?  The Market Cafés have pizza, freshly-made sushi, burritos, Thai food, and vegetarian choices for dining in or taking home. And Kroger took out the underused salad bars to make way for prepackaged salads, sandwiches, and carnitas. My own local Harris Teeter offers chef-staffed prepared food stations.  Imagine that, a live person ready to make my perfect California roll.

As a self-proclaimed 'foodie' you would think I'd stick to the trendy new restaurants in downtown D.C. But on today’s shoestring budget that’s not possible.  Instead, I find myself eating what I want at attractive, upscale bistro area of my local grocery store.

The traditional grocery channel made 57% of retail food & beverage dollar sales in 2010, according to market research publisher Packaged Facts. Through their in-store foodservice options, traditional grocery stores stand to further grow in share of U.S. food & beverage sales.

Grocery stores are aiming to make shopping more appealing by providing upscale restaurant-like experiences to customers. In order to attract as many shoppers as possible, stores are providing a wide range of restaurant-style foods and amenities: wood-fired pizzas, made-to-order soups, sandwich and sushi bars, and dining areas. And the eager (read: hungry) shoppers who want to grab a quick meal while grabbing the groceries, take a break for lunch, or get a snack before the drive or walk back home are eating it up.

Packaged Facts analysis expects to see food retailing and foodservice channels continue to converge around fresh prepared foods, working fervently to make consumption more convenient. As a result, the competitive lines between grocery stores, restaurants, convenience stores, and other channels will continue to blur in a U.S. food & beverage retail market projected by Packaged Facts to reach nearly $700 billion by 2015.

At the end of the day, when the sushi stand has been cleaned and the fresh olive bar has closed, what else will retailers be looking to add? Besides adding to their variety of on-the-go foods, deli and prepared food departments will expand with easily accessible take-out entrances and check-out lanes; curbside pick-up and call-ahead ordering; website and smart phone apps for ordering.

Well, that’s where its heading, but for me its lunch-time and I’m heading over to the Parisian café at my local Whole Foods Market. Or maybe a grilled vegetable sub at Teeters? I could really go for some sushi-…

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Wellness Ingredients

Wellness Ingredients: Culinary Trend Mapping Report

Long before today’s pharmaceutical industry, civilizations treated illness with diets meant to balance one’s humors (Greeks), yin and yang (Chinese) or doshas (Ayurveda). Whatever the bodily ailment or concern, food in the form of herbs, spices, barks, teas, soups and what-have you was administered to make a body better. This age-old notion is regaining traction, and represents a growing trend in the American health and wellness arena today.

Consumers are more engaged than ever trying out new foods and diets in hopes of curing what ails them or preventing ailments to which they are susceptible. Consumers’ participation in uncovering and treating various conditions with food is part of this era’s DIY-care mentality. Hobbled with healthcare issues and economic woes, while simultaneously emboldened by innumerable Internet pages and a growing understanding and acceptance of alternative medical systems —Traditional Chinese Medicine with its acupuncture, holistic medicine and its tinctures, naturopathy and even yoga—consumers have never had more motivation or ammunition for finding new cures themselves, especially diet-related ones.
The wellness ingredients profiled in this report all have this ancient medicinal wisdom element in common. These ingredients have been consumed for healthfulness by cultures around the world for centuries, and are finding new life today in natural food stores as well as the natural food aisles in mainstream grocery stores.

• Stage 1: Healing Spices — Holy basil and turmeric are two Ayurvedic staples situated at Stage 1 but gaining momentum in the health food world as functional ingredients with therapeutic properties. Boasting digestive and mental health benefits, these spices are being incorporated into teas, nut butters and energy bars.
• Stage 2: Hemp — Although industrial hemp production remains illegal in much of the U.S., the market for hemp products is flourishing. Hemp seed is the edible part of the hemp plant, and it packs quite a nutritional punch. No wonder it’s become a healthful booster to everything from nut bars to milk to salad dressing.
• Stage 2: The New (Old) Fermented Foods — Fermented foods like miso, kasu, tempeh and pu-erh tea are rapidly gaining adherents as consumers seek out foods that are less processed and more nutrient-rich. Benefits range from an ability to improve digestion to naturally high protein content, and these imported superfoods can enhance taste, too.
• Stage 2: Sprouted Foods — Health-focused manufacturers are sprouting wheat, rice and other grains, nuts and seeds and using them as a base for wholesome grain goods that offer more nutrition and are more digestible than similar products made without sprouted grains.
• Stage 3: Grass-fed Meat & Dairy — Grass-fed Meat & Dairy has an impressive health halo as well as an improved reputation for taste. It also feeds into consumers’ desires for more authentically good-for-you products, those our grandparents and great-grandparents relied on.
• Stage 3: Agave Nectar — Agave nectar fits well with consumer desires for a more healthful plant-based sweetener. Its lower-than-white sugar glycemic index means it helps maintain even blood sugar levels, and because it is sweeter than sugar, consumers can use less of it, making it a good value.
• Stage 5: DHA — Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) may be the hottest long-chain fatty acid you can’t pronounce. DHA is a source of Omega-3 that is being promoted for its ability to enhance brain function and development.

• • • • •
The Culinary Trend Mapping Report is an indispensable tool for those whose job it is to stay abreast of what's hot - and what will be - in the food world.
The reports leverage the Center for Culinary Development’s (CCD) signature Trend Mapping technique, a validated method for identifying which culinary trends are gaining traction and which are simply flashes in the pan.
Each 65+ page journal is packed with trends, data, strategies and insights on the food industry that simply aren't available anywhere else.
Each Issue of the Culinary Trends Mapping Report

• Identifies the maturity level of foods and ingredients according to CCD’s unique, proprietary 5-stage trend mapping process.
• Concentrates on a theme that is affecting the food industry, and then looks at the emerging and established trends along the Trend Map that are shaping this theme.
• Delves into these trends and what they mean for you and the manufacturing, retailing, and foodservice industries.
• Gives strategic insight into how consumers are thinking of and reacting to new foods and ingredients.
• Provides business know-how regarding opportunities, challenges, and ways to implement current trends into foodservice, retail, and packaged goods operations.
• Presents a feature interview with a member chef from CCD’s exclusive 80+ member Chefs’ Council who offers expert analysis and unique perspective on a specific trend.

Trend Mapping
Trend Mapping is guided by the premise that major food trends pass through five distinct stages on their way to the mainstream:

• Stage 1: The ingredient, dish and/or cooking technique appears at upscale dining establishments, ethnic and popular independent restaurants.
• Stage 2: The item is featured in specialty consumer-oriented food magazines such as Bon Appetit plus retail stores such as Sur La Table that target culinary professionals and serious home cooks.
• Stage 3: The item begins to appear in mainstream chain restaurants—Applebee's or Chili's—as well as retail stores such as Williams-Sonoma that target recreational cooks.
• Stage 4: Publications such as Family Circle and Better Homes and Gardens pick up the buzz.
• Stage 5: Finally, the trend makes its way to quick service restaurant menus and either starts to appear or gains increased mainstream presence on grocery store shelves.

Availability
Published bimonthly, the Culinary Trend Mapping Report is available for purchase as a single issue or a six-issue subscription.

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The Future of Pet Insurance in North America

The North American market for pet health insurance has never been more competitive. During the past five years the number of established players has doubled, and all of the companies now in the market appear to be on solid ground. Where is this market headed? How will companies incorporating distinct trends now impact the industry in the next five years? Furthermore, what business strategies will maximize their bottom line?

Presentation authored and read by David Lummis, Senior Pet Market Analyst, Packaged Facts

Pet Insurance in North America, 4th Edition—Blog Entry



David Lummis



As the pet market analyst for Packaged Facts, I started covering this market in 2003.  Wow.  Talk about a market that’s come a long way—and yet still has a long way to go.  Back in 2000, the market was valued at under $50 million, with almost all of those sales coming from a single company, Veterinary Pet Insurance (which founded the market in 1980).  In the fourth edition of our report, released on Monday October 18, 2010, sales were at $354 million, with a dozen companies established in the North American market.

If that sounds like phenomenal 10-year growth it’s because it is, at approximately 600%.  But get this:  This figure still represents less than 1% of the 180 million-plus dogs and cats in North America.  That means (doing a little very rough math) that if the level rises to 10%, we’ll be looking at a market worth $3.5 billion, and with 25% of dogs and cats insured, a market worth nearly $9 billion.  This isn’t out of the question, since about one-quarter and one-half of dogs and cats are insured in the United Kingdom and Sweden, respectively.  There’s a lot going in the North American market right now too, including major insurance companies weighing in as underwriters, such as Aon with Healthy Paws, Aetna with Pets Best, and Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary Central States Indemnity Co. of Omaha with PurinaCare.

Still, marketers have their work cut out for them in dealing with the lingering impact of the recession.  In Packaged Facts’ September 2010 consumer survey, among those who did not have pet insurance, 42% cited as the reason “don’t want additional bill” and 37% said they “don’t want to spend the money for it.”  With economic recovery slow at best, this reticence does not seem likely to change overnight.  Packaged Facts does not expect consumers to throw open their pocketbooks any time soon, but rather to continue to practice moderation.  Thus value will remain a major marketing theme in 2011 and 2012 as pet insurance companies strive to communicate the benefits of their products and keep the pricing options as attractive as possible.  Expect to see more zero- (and other very low) deductible plans, following in the footsteps of Trupanion and, more recently, VPI (via its new Feline Select Plan).

That said, the level of competitive activity is at an all-time high, and with so many irons in the fire I’m not ruling out a “big boom” in the North American pet insurance market.  Such growth will, however, depend on the ability of marketers to move from what appears to be a stage of market cannibalization (and perhaps some retrenchment, even) to one of more uniform growth via an expanded consumer base.  One possible catalyst to higher-level growth would be the entry into the market of another mega-retailer, such as PetSmart (via its Banfield units) or Walmart, the latter of which is reportedly planning a Canadian launch as a Western Financial white label (although neither company could confirm this).

One thing’s for sure, given the currently very low level of pet insurance penetration and very high level of competitive activity—about a half dozen companies have entered the field just since 2004, including PetFirst, Pets Best, Embrace, Fetch/Petplan USA, Trupanion, PurinaCare, and Healthy Paws—the North American pet insurance party is likely just getting started.

~David Lummis, Senior Pet Market Analyst, Packaged Facts

Pet Insurance in North America, 4th Edition

Now in its fourth edition, Packaged Facts’ Pet Insurance in North America is the most comprehensive examination of the U.S. and Canadian pet insurance markets available and a must-have for any company interested in this dynamic industry. Although sales growth slowed due to the recession, revenues (measured as gross written premiums) remained in the double digits in 2009 while delivering a 2005-2009 compound annual growth rate of 21%. Packaged Facts expects the North American market for pet insurance to continue to chart strong annual increases over the next five years, with the high level of competitive activity helping to offset the slow economic recovery and ongoing challenge of communicating the value of pet health insurance to budget-watching consumers.

As of 2010, industry pioneer Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI) continues to lead the market. However, both the U.S. and the Canadian pet insurance markets have experienced significant market share shifts during the past five years as more than a half dozen new companies have come onto the field. Each of these companies brings with it unique strengths, in some cases including potent co-marketing affiliations with powerful brands (e.g., PetPartners and the AKC, PurinaCare with its own famous name), and in other cases including important retail channel thrusts (e.g., PetFirst with Kroger and Petfinder.com, and Trupanion with Petco). The industry is also seeing more investment backing and large insurance companies coming into the market as underwriters, including Aon with Healthy Paws, Aetna with Pets Best, and Berkshire Hathaway with PurinaCare.

Pet Supplies and Pet Care Products: The U.S. Market and a Global Perspective

Even as the economic picture improves, consumers remain cautious about spending, including in terms of the pet products they buy. Having lived up to its “recession-resistant” reputation once again, the business therefore continues to face challenges that have retailers, marketers and product developers relying more heavily than ever before on the all-important notion of pets as family. Accordingly, themes including health, function, comfort, safety, gifting, travel, and yes pet pampering are all weighing heavily on the value scale as market participants look to strike the perfect balance in pet categories across the board.

Tapping into Packaged Facts’ extensive pet market report collection and analyst expertise, Pet Supplies and Pet Care Products in the U.S., 8th Edition: Pet Health and Pampering: The New Value Equation provides detailed market breakouts and insights not available elsewhere. Covering non-food pet supplies of all types and for all companion animal types, the report examines trends in flea/tick care products, cat litter, toys, rawhide chews, bedding, grooming products, supplements, clean-up products and many other product segments. Using 2009 as the base year, it charts sales since 2005 and forecasts sales through 2014; breaks the market out by animal type and product category in both the mass-market and pet specialty channels; presents dollar sales and market share for leading marketers and brands; analyzes competitive strategies and shifts; profiles top companies and market innovators; analyzes new product trends; and provides demographic and psychographic profiles of product purchasers.

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Confections and Dessert: Culinary Trend Mapping Report

There’s a new landscape of treats that are at once sophisticated yet comforting. This report explores four overarching themes that are driving trends and new product development in confections and desserts:

1. Nostalgia - Sweets are connected to positive childhood memories, including family celebrations and holidays. Recent innovative desserts often take familiar American flavors of the past (malt, buttermilk, vanilla, caramel) and diner-classic forms (sundaes, shakes, floats, pie) and re-interpret them in new ways.

2. Indulgence - In difficult economic times, Americans seek out small pleasures they can afford - and sweets are one of them. We’re seeing interesting combinations of indulgent flavors.
3. Flavor adventure - Americans may enjoy traditional flavors, but they’re opening up to new taste combinations as well, at once driven by and propelling their increased enthusiasm for global cuisine. In the dessert arena, this trend is manifested in the popularization of savory sweets with international flavors and textures.
4. Artisan appeal - During a time when many Americans are more preoccupied than ever with eating food that is local, sustainable or organic, consumers continue to develop an appreciation of artisan producers and products. Artisan producers use higher-quality ingredients, more skill- and labor-intensive preparation methods, and traditional product formats that make finesse and freshness de rigueur. These appeal to consumer desires for authenticity - and stirs nostalgic cravings for products from a time before the mass industrialization of sweets.

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Ethnic Hair, Beauty and Cosmetics Products in the U.S., 7th Edition

No market is an island -- but why do many marketers and retailers still consider the ethnic HBC aisle as separate from the rest of the store, sleepy and low-end? In reality, ethnic haircare, makeup, and skincare products are a vibrant $2.7 billion business that reflects the upscaling of the parent HBC market.



Photo: ethnicbeautycentral.com



In 2010, African-American, Asian, Hispanic, and other folks of color already account for over a third of U.S. population; as of 2013, their spending power will have surpassed $4.2 trillion. Marketers have thus ventured beyond the usual hair relaxers, the few darker tints of makeup and heavy moisturizers, to offer premium-to-high-end beauty and grooming regimens sold through pop-prestige outlets such as Sephora, as well as through TV home shopping networks HSN, QVC, and others. Organic formulations are driving ethnic HBC sales, too -- because Americans of color actually skew more green-minded than Whites.

Yet ethnic HBC’s sell-through in the prestige, natural grocery, and TV home shopping channels, is still small in relation to its fabulous potential. As for the effect of the struggling U.S. economy, this market achieved mid-single-digit increases during the global recession of 2008-2009, and is expected to return to double-digit progress as the recovery proceeds.

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Consumer Payment Trends in the U.S.

Photo courtesy of OnlythePearl.com

Businesses routinely seek to appeal to consumers by understanding which goods or services they want to buy. But understanding how shoppers prefer to buy—that is, which forms of payments they favor, and why—is also critically important. Marketers, retailers, card associations and other product and service providers hope to make transactions easy and convenient for consumers, but they must also balance these requirements against their own needs. Meanwhile, in the post-recession U.S. marketplace the world of payments keeps evolving as consumers back away from credit cards, debit cards move toward saturation, online payment options proliferate, and contactless payments and mobile payments move closer on the horizon.

This all-new report from Packaged Facts examines consumer payment forms of all kinds, including credit cards, debit cards, gift/prepaid cards, cash, checks, online payment and emerging forms, with a focus on how consumer preferences have changed during the past five years and vis-à-vis the economic downturn and recovery. It includes:

• Analysis of how Americans’ financial outlook influences their spending and payment preferences.
• Demographic and psychographic profiling by payment form and consumer age, gender, race, geographic region, income, educational level, etc.
• Focus chapter on cash, whose straightforwardness and immediacy makes it the payment choice of more than half of U.S. adults.
• Focus chapter on checks, which despite declining usage remain popular for bill paying and are getting new legs via “digital reinvention.”
• Focus chapter on credit cards, which have reached saturation and face other challenges including more restrictive legislation and declining usage among consumers looking to reduce their debt.
• Focus chapter on debit cards, which continue to win followers but whose rise may be diverted by laws restricting overdraft fees.
• Coverage of gift cards and other prepaid debit cards, which are creating a fast-growing “second-tier” banking system for those without access to traditional banks.
• Focus chapter on new payment methods, including contactless, cell phone and Internet-based, all of which are jockeying for position in the next wave of payment forms.

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NEW Proprietary Data: The U.S. Foodservice Landscape 2010: Restaurant Industry and Consumer Trends, Momentum and Migration

The U.S. Foodservice Landscape 2010: Restaurant Industry and Consumer Trend Momentum and Migration provides unique insights into consumers’ evolving relationship with the foodservice industry, helping restaurant operators position their brands—and menus—accordingly.

Highlights of the study include:
1) directional consumer behavioral and attitude analysis via Packaged Facts’ proprietary Consumer Restaurant Outlook Tracker, which identifies the consumers who will lead near-term foodservice growth;

2) Via its Consumer Restaurant Usage and Spend Tracker, unique analysis of meal usage by restaurant type, party size, and party spend, to help target consumers who can bring in higher guest check averages;

3) Share of Stomach sales analysis that trends foodservice sales by segment against its retail counterpart, and provides quarterly same-store comparable trends and guest traffic frequency trends for more than 50 restaurant brands by segment—all of which provide a thorough sense of where the industry is heading; and

4) current and future menu pricing strategies and detailed consumer brand affiliations, to provide competitive insight.

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Snack and Dessert Trends

Packaged Facts forecasts a 0.7% sales decline at limited-service restaurants in 2010, the result of extremely aggressive price discounting strategies that place guest traffic growth before guest check growth (a strategy in which snacks have played a role).

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NEW! Artisan Foods: Culinary Trend Mapping Report

Artisan foods are everywhere, from their pervasive presence at large chain grocery store bakeries featuring in-house baked “artisan” loaves to fast casual chains such as Panera Bakery that have built an entire sandwich menu around freshly baked breads.

Manufacturers and restaurant operators have recognized that “artisan” has become another term for “quality.” It evokes small producers making traditional foods by hand, treating production as a craft and putting great care into the outcome. Larger producers are able to capture the aura of artisan with rustic-looking products, distinctive ingredients, unique cooking methods and stories that connect products to consumers.
 
This report explores the possibilities available in the world of artisan foods, and tracks some of the most exciting contemporary trends associated with this popular culinary segment.
Many artisans source their ingredients from nearby farms or grow their own, making a concerted effort to only use what’s available and in season to create a high quality, fresh-tasting product. Consumers savor these regional specialties and unique flavors. Artisan foods give consumers sustenance with a story featuring products that are more authentic and less conventional. For consumers it’s as much about nostalgia as it is about security in knowing they are feeding their families quality cuisine. Modern day artisans specialize and innovate on the traditional, producing savory and exotic ice creams, unusual types of cheese or specialized spirits to enliven and entice the palate. Like modern street food vendors, artisans make process part of their product, offering consumers a window into the traditions of the past. The current wave of artisan foodmakers is making the environment a priority, employing business strategies that minimize waste and negative impact on the earth. Reusable containers, compostable packaging and other eco-friendly practices allow consumers to be socially responsible while also enjoying an excellent product.

• Local & Seasonal Eating —
• Homemade/Authentic —
• Flavor Adventure —
• Consumer Engagement —
• Going Green —

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"Green" Household Cleaning Products in the U.S.: Bathroom Cleaners, Laundry Care and Dish Detergents and Household Cleaners



Method bathroom cleaners

 The U.S. market for household and laundry cleaning products is well on its way to a major shift in marketing strategies, product innovation and ingredient stories—primarily due to the continued consumer interest and understanding of greener and more sustainable lifestyles. The sweet spot for accelerated growth and highly profitable sales looks to be in eco-friendly products that target multiple consumer desires rather than a single stand alone functional benefit. These benefits may include: efficacy, safety, ease-of-use and convenience mixed with more emotional and sensory benefits. While green cleaners accounted for just a small sliver of the overall household cleaner market in 2009, Packaged Facts expects more and more consumers to make cleaning a lifestyle choice rather than simply a sanitary chore, pushing green cleaners from the fringe into the mainstream.

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U.S. Pet Market Outlook 2010-2011: Tapping into Post-Recession Pet Parent Spending

As the U.S. economy moves out of recession and into recovery, the purse strings of many pet parents will loosen, but shoppers will continue to demand greater value in the pet products and services they purchase as well as from the channels they shop. U.S. Pet Market Outlook 2010-2011: Tapping into Post-Recession Pet Parent Spending provides essential insights into the U.S. pet market overall as well as each of its four core categories: veterinary services, pet food, non-food pet supplies, and non-medical pet services (grooming, boarding, training, etc.).

Benefiting from many current trends and “future factors,” the market will rise from $53 billion in 2009 to over $70 billion in 2014, the report forecasts, with strong demand for products and services that both enhance pet health and pamper lifting many boats as pent-up pet parent demand begins to kick in during 2010.

Continuing the market tracking and forecasting of the previous edition of Packaged Facts’ annual report (see U.S. Pet Market Outlook 2009-2010: Surviving and Thriving in Challenging Economic Times— http://www.packagedfacts.com/prod-toc/Pet-Outlook-Surviving-2154192/), the 2010-2011 edition projects sales, market growth drivers, and competitive and marketing opportunities. In a new focus discussion, it details...

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Coffee and Ready-to-Drink Coffee in the U.S.: The Market and Opportunities in Retail and Foodservice, 6th Edition

McDonald's McCafe

As the U.S. economy slid deeper into recession during 2009, coffee marketers and foodservice operators moved in the opposite direction, digging out of the trench of 2008 with a variety of strategies designed to capitalize on the fact that even upscale coffee is a relatively thrifty luxury that offers comfort during stressful times. Two success stories were the rebound of Starbucks on the foodservice side and the revitalization of the former P&G retail coffee portfolio by J M. Smucker. Although the era when the coffee market grew effortlessly through premiumization may have ended, such upscale trends as the shifts towards specialty coffee beverages, gourmet beans and ethical consumerism are still clearly in force. What’s more, there’s ample opportunity for companies to capitalize on such trends as the economy recovers—not by ignoring the tougher times or reversing strategy, but by crafting an image that’s both upscale and responsive to consumers’ stronger-than-ever demand for value.

Packaged Facts’ Coffee and Ready-to-Drink Coffee in the U.S.: The Market and Opportunities in Retail and Foodservice, 6th Edition offers a comprehensive look at this $47.5 billion market, examining both the retail and foodservice sides of the business as well as the growing overlap of the two. On the retail...

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New sandwiches meet consumer interests, values

Sandwiches aren't just an important part of the American diet; they are essential to it. And lucky for hungry consumers, sandwiches are undergoing exciting flavor and quality upgrades on every level -- carriers, fillings and condiments.

New sandwich trends are driven by artisan and sustainable ingredients, American regional and global flavor profiles, and even better nutrition, according to the "Sandwiches: Culinary Trend Mapping Report" from the Center for Culinary Development (CCD) and market research publisher Packaged Facts.
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Hispanic Food and Beverages

Hispanic Food and Beverages in the U.S.: Market and Consumer Trends in Latino Cuisine, 4th Edition : Packaged Facts
Burritos, enchiladas, quesadillas—you don’t have to go to Mexican restaurant or scour the ethnic foods aisle in your supermarket if that’s what you’re in the mood for. Hispanic foods and beverages have become so common a part of the American menu many consumers would have to think twice before characterizing them as a distinct ethnic cuisine. Are there any food courts in sports venues these days that don’t offer nachos as standard fare alongside hotdogs? Is there a supermarket or grocery anywhere in the country that doesn’t carry tortilla chips and salsa, even if there are no Hispanic consumers in their community?

With Hispanic foods and beverages achieving such prominence, it’s no wonder that sales were close to $7 billion in 2009, according to the recent report from Packaged Facts titled “Hispanic Food and Beverages in the U.S.: Market and Consumer Trends in Latino Cuisine, 4th Edition. This represented an increase of 28.7% from $5.4 billion in 2005. In addition, Packaged Facts predicts continued aggressive growth through 2014, with sales projected to top $9.5 billion in 2014.

The report details how the expanding appetite for Hispanic food and drink among non-Hispanic Americans combined with the rapid increase in the Hispanic population is driving sales of Mainstream Mexican products along with Authentic Hispanic and Nuevo Latino foods. Expanding distribution channels, the rise of the “foodie” and other key trends affecting the marketplace are described along with the changing demographics and other factors driving growth.  In addition, the report profiles major marketers, both in the manufacturing and foodservice arenas.

Food service lunch spending forecast to rise

FoodBusinessNews.net, September 8, 2010
by Keith Nunes
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Consumer spending on lunch served in restaurants is forecast to rebound 2% in 2011 and reach $114 billion following two years of recession-related declines, according to “Lunch Trends in the U.S. Foodservice Market,” a report produced by research publisher Packaged Facts. After rising to $119 billion in 2008, lunch daypart sales declined 4% in 2009, and sales are projected to fall another 3% in 2010 to $112 billion.

“This has been a very tough climate for lunch food service and its counterparts, and that won’t change overnight although change is coming," said Don Montuori, publisher of Packaged Facts. “Growth in the lunch daypart still faces a few near-term challenges, including the impact of unemployment on work-driven restaurant routines, bargain-minded consumers who weigh the cost of a bagged lunch against the indulgence of eating out, and an industry environment in which players are chasing foot traffic at the expense of guest check through the extreme push of value meal deals.”

A survey of consumers conducted by Packaged Facts showed that interest in lunchtime meals priced under $5 and under $10 is stable across household income brackets, suggesting price sensitivity among a large segment of diners regardless of their personal wages. Respondents aged 18 to 24 are 60% more likely than average to choose a restaurant because it offers meals for under $3.

Limited time offers and menu options that allow consumers to bundle their meal components for a set price are two menu strategies that have proven attractive to consumers, according to Packaged Facts. Examples cited in the report include Taco Bell’s $2 Meal Deal and Jack in the Box’s Pick 3 for $3 customizable limited time offer value meal.
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Novel fibers to grow 750% as consumers seek fiber-rich foods

By Stephen Daniells, 10-Sep-2010, Nutra Ingredients

The use of novel fibers in food products is set to sky-rocket over the next few years, with growth of 750 percent predicted, according to a new report from Packaged Facts.

Consumer interest in dietary fiber has been growing with scientific studies linking increased intake to reduced risks of cancers such as colorectal and cardiovascular disease, digestive health benefits and weight management.

A 2008 International Food Information Council survey found 77 percent of people are proactively trying to consume additional fiber.

Despite such good intentions, however, many Americans only achieve about 50 percent of their recommended amount of 25 to 30 grams of fiber daily.

And such stats are driving the introduction of new fiber-fortified food and beverage products, according to a new report Fiber Food Ingredients in the U.S.: Soluble-, Insoluble- and Digestive-Resistant Types by market research publisher Packaged Facts.

While interest in all types of fibers – insoluble and soluble – is expected to increase, the biggest growth is expected for so-called novel fibers. Packaged Facts defined novel fiber as “one that has not historically been viewed as a fiber food ingredient. This includes, but is not limited to inulin, FOS, GOS, resistant maltodextrin and soluble corn fiber.”

“Packaged Facts determined that sales of all fiber food ingredients (i.e., conventional, insoluble-type fibers; conventional, soluble-type fibers; and novel fiber food ingredients) will continue to increase indefinitely, as the market for fiber-enhanced foods is still in its infancy,” said Don Montuori, publisher of Packaged Facts.

“There is a great deal of room for growth across almost all food categories, which presents an opportunity for the many different fiber ingredients that are among the most popular with today’s food formulators,” added Montouri.

Novel growth

The market researcher is predicting a significant growth for these novel fibers, with the category predicted to increase its share of the market by more than 750 percent, jumping 35 percentage points from an almost 5 percent share in 2004 to a 39 percent share in 2014.

Packaged Facts estimates that in 2004, 91 percent of all fiber food ingredient sales were of conventional, insoluble-type fibers, which contains cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin and cannot be dissolved in water.

The remaining 9 percent share was split evenly between conventional, soluble-type fibers and emerging, novel fibers. The market researcher projects that insoluble fibers will decrease to 53.3 percent by 2014, while the share for the mostly new or newly refined conventional, soluble-type fibers will decrease slightly to 7.4 percent.

Soluble versus insoluble

Studies have also reported that insoluble fiber may reduce the risk of obesity and diabetes, but the biological mechanism underlying the benefits has only been assumed.

The assumption was that the fiber reduced the glycemic response (a rise in blood glucose), thereby increasing satiety and decreasing energy intake. A lower glycemic response decreases the demand for insulin, therefore reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes.

In Europe and Japan, soluble fiber has the greater market share than insoluble. In the US, where the entire fiber market was worth $192.8m (€151.0m) in 2004, insoluble fiber dominates the market with $176.2m (€138.0m), and $16.6m (€13.0m) soluble.

But while Frost and Sullivan predicts overall growth in the US to $470m (€369m) by 2011, the soluble fiber sector is expected to increase by almost twice the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) compared to insoluble fiber - 26.3 percent compared to 13.1 percent.

The arrival of multinationals

Data from Datamonitor in 2009 indicated that food manufacturers are increasingly adding fiber to their products, in a move described as going “back to basics”.

The market researcher said fiber has become an ingredient of choice for products targeting health conscious consumers and products designed to help combat obesity.

Based on data from its Product Launch Analytics, which tracks new products entering the global marketplace, Datamonitor said the percentage of new food products launched in the US that claim to be high in fiber hit 6.3 percent in 2008, up from 5.2 percent in 2006.

“Consumers have long known that fiber is ‘good for you.’ Now food makers are redoubling their efforts to increase the fiber content of many popular food products,” said Datamonitor.

Companies that have launched products touting their fiber content include the multinationals PepsiCo, Kraft, Campbell Soup, Kellogg and Dannon.


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