FOOD 2020: THE FUTURE OF FOOD, NUTRITION & WELLNESS

This issue of Perspectives is all about food. If you don’t work for or represent a food company, you may think it’s not relevant for you. Not so.

At the heart of this issue is what we see as a shift in how consumers are behaving and how they expect companies of all kinds to respond. Consider this: Three years ago, the International Labour Office (ILO), a specialized agency of the United Nations, announced that poor diet on the job is costing countries around the world up to 20 percent in lost productivity. This is due not only to problems associated with excess weight and obesity, but also to the malnutrition that plagues more than a billion people in developing countries. The study noted that businesses in the U.S. are spending some $12.7 billion annually on insurance costs, paid sick leave and other payments related to obesity among employees. In less developed nations, malnutrition takes a similar toll.

This is relevant to any company, and particularly to those with a global workforce. For communicators, it has implications for the topics that should be addressed through employee communication as well as through CSR communication, as both employees and consumers expect companies to do more to address diet-related issues.

The focal point of this Extra issue is a Ketchum study that touched on topics similar to those in the ILO research. We conducted the Food 2020 survey this summer in five countries: the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Argentina and China. We set out to discover what consumers from various locations around the world want from the food they eat and where they think food companies should place priorities. The insights that emerged paint a picture of consumers wanting more—more information, more choices, more accountability, more control. And they want companies to do more to help people in need around the world.

In October, we announced the results of the study at a San Francisco event attended by many clients and influencers from the food industry, as well as Ketchum colleagues. This issue includes coverage of that event. Linda Eatherton, a Ketchum partner and head of our agency’s Global Food & Nutrition Practice, leads off the issue with a look at how consumers can drive the changes they want to see by voting with their food purchases—creating a new global currency of sorts. Also in the “Voices of Influence” section, noted food industry consultant Phil Lempert, who frequently works with Ketchum and is known as the Supermarket Guru, talks about what shoppers want. In “Viewpoints,” experts from our Global Food & Nutrition Practice in each of the five countries surveyed share their views on the survey’s findings.

We also gathered four registered dietitians, with deep experience in nutrition communication in the U.S., for a roundtable discussion to share their thoughts on issues ranging from the long-term impact from recent food scares to how employers should address nutrition in the workplace. Cathy Kapica, vice president of global health and wellness for Ketchum, moderated the discussion through instant messaging.

Finally, we couldn’t do an issue on food without highlighting our own kitchen. So we also take a look at the Ketchum Food Center, which was launched 30 years ago, through a short interview with Ketchum’s chef, Catherine Pantsios. We wrap up the issue with highlights from a forecast on global trends in health, wellness and nutrition that we predicted would begin taking shape this year.

As always, I hope you find this issue of Perspectives useful and that you will share your thoughts with me at ray.kotcher@ketchum.com. If you are interested in learning more about the Food 2020 survey, I encourage you to contact Linda Eatherton at linda.eatherton@ketchum.com to arrange for a briefing.

Best regards,

Ray Kotcher
Senior Partner and Chief Executive Officer, Ketchum

 

Voices of Influence

Food companies spend millions of dollars on research and development to help deliver products that consumers will want and buy. It’s a given that consumers want foods that taste good, and most also want the foods they eat to have nutritional and health benefits. But what if consumers want more? And what if the things that they want can’t be built into the taste of a product?
 
In this “Voices of Influence,” two food experts—Linda Eatherton and Supermarket Guru Phil Lempert—share their views on what consumers want from the food they eat and from the companies that make it. With the Food 2020 research as a backdrop, their insights provide an important glimpse into what may lie ahead for food companies and how it will affect their marketing and communications practices.

A New Global Currency: Food Purchasing Power Will Give Consumers the Control They Seek By Linda Eatherton Partner and Director, Global Food & Nutrition Practice, Ketchum View Bio

In marketing circles, the consumer as the ultimate manager of brands is a fairly common idea. Across every industry, everyday people are using the Internet either to praise brands or pillory them. What consumers say about a product or brand can quickly be reflected in a company’s sales, stock price and reputation. That’s a lot of power.

With this power seeming to grow stronger every day, those of us in Ketchum’s Global Food & Nutrition Practice started to wonder just how much power consumers might wield over food brands in the future. So we commissioned the Food 2020 research to answer some key questions: What role do consumers want to play in manufacturing foods? What information do they want from food companies? And what priorities would arise if “the consumer” were literally CEO of a multinational food company?

We focused on five countries: the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Argentina and China. We found some interesting differences in what survey respondents wanted from one country to the next. But perhaps more interestingly, we found some important similarities. The most critical of these is that, across the globe, consumers want and expect more control.

By the year 2020, consumers want to have a greater role in determining product ingredients, safety and quality, and they expect food companies to do more to address food shortages, food safety and rising food prices. And if they could be CEO, 65 percent of consumers would make “improving human nutrition” a top priority.

In short, consumers expect their food purchases to buy them more than just something to eat.

What consumers spend on food adds up to a lot. In 2007, U.S. consumers alone spent $953.3 billion on food (at home and away from home), according to the United States Department of Agriculture. Among all the nations in our survey, annual per capita expenditures on food range from $308 in mainland China, $789 in Argentina, $2,223 in the U.S., $2,351 in the U.K, and $2,497 in Germany. This purchasing power is more than just dollars. It is, in fact, a new global currency. And our survey indicates that consumers will use it to “buy” the changes they want to see.

Food companies around the world—especially global ones—should take note. In more developed countries especially, if one product or brand doesn’t allow consumers to have the input they want, another certainly will. Within the next decade even, it is not outside the realm of possibility that consumers will have a direct say in how companies spend their dollars and use their resources to effect change around the world.

That poses a challenge. Every food company knows that consumers are investigating food labels; yet, the things they are most likely to seek consumer input on are taste and convenience. They have not gone out in a major way to engage consumers at large in the R&D process by asking them “What do you want to see in products?” or “What do you want this product to do?” Our research indicates that seeking this kind of input early and routinely will be the hallmark of successful food marketing companies in the future.

While this poses significant logistical challenges, there are premium profits to be made by companies that position themselves now to meet increased expectations. More than 40 percent of consumers in the survey said they would be likely to pay more for their food if it brought healthier and more affordable foods to those in need, and nearly 50 percent would likely pay more if the food brought clean, drinkable water to those in need.

By and large, consumers around the globe would gladly exchange the global currency of their food purchases for greater global good. Companies who meet this demand—and communicate it effectively—can make this a profitable transaction.

What Food Shoppers Want By Phil Lempert Consumer Analyst, SupermarketGuru.com View Bio

Last year, the average size of a U.S. supermarket shrank to 47,500 square feet from 48,750 square feet a year earlier—the first decline since 2001. After years of building bigger and bigger stores, retailers from Wal-Mart to Whole Foods are testing smaller formats.

What does this mean for food companies? Less shelf space.

So smart companies and their marketers should be scrambling to find the answer to one question: What do food shoppers want?

One answer that came out of the Food 2020 survey was that consumers want to know more. That one answer can open the door to many others. It also mirrors what the consumer panel on SupermarketGuru.com is telling us, too. Consumers want to know where their food comes from, what’s in it, and what the health benefits (and risks) are.

The fact is, while consumers are now the commanders of the new shopping experience, they’re confused. Through the Web, they have access to more information than ever before, but they don’t know what’s right or wrong. And they don’t always have enough information to link the dots from one set of facts to another. For instance, our panel of more than 80,000 U.S. consumers tells us that they are concerned about mad cow disease; yet, they don’t relate it to buying grass-fed beef as a possible solution. The fact is that consumers today do not understand where our food comes from, let alone the complexity of a disease such as mad cow. Brands, retailers and the government need to understand how to communicate to consumers if we are ever going to reverse the trend of confusion.

Today, with more communications options than ever before, companies are struggling to engage consumers. Many food industry executives and communicators still look to handle communication with customers the way they always did. They expect that unhappy customers will call to complain and that the company will be able to smooth things over by sending coupons. But what happens instead is that the complaint against the brand winds up on YouTube.

Other than having their profiles on LinkedIn, many food marketing executives simply aren’t engaged with the social media that are defining the way today’s consumers communicate. This must change long before we reach the year 2020.

Who knows whether the trend toward smaller stores will last, but to make it in this environment and the next, it’s safe to say that a food brand has to really connect with consumers. One clear way to do this is for a company to become a first point of information on the foods it sells—from farm to fork. And food marketers should play a key role in answering important questions and addressing concerns before a consumer is moved to post a video online.

In short, they have to be a resource for giving consumers what they ultimately want: knowledge.

 

Food 2020 Coverage

Ketchum Releases Results of Global Food Study on World Food Day

Consumers Want More Knowledge, More Control

On Oct. 16, more than 150 Ketchum professionals, clients and friends gathered in San Francisco to hear the results of a global survey of consumers’ thoughts about food and discussions by industry experts on trends affecting the food industry.

One of the key findings of the survey, called Food 2020, was that consumers want food companies to do more to address the issues of food and clean-water shortages. The announcement coincided with World Food Day, a day set aside to increase awareness of hunger around the world.

“It is only fitting that this be the day that we share our research conducted in five countries to get some indication of what consumers would do or want if they were named CEO of the world’s food supply and marketplace,” Rob Flaherty, senior partner and president of Ketchum, told the group as he welcomed them to the event. Following the announcement of the research results, a panel of food industry experts discussed the implications of some of the findings.

Survey Results
The survey findings also highlighted key considerations by consumers when choosing food. Linda Eatherton, Ketchum partner and head of the agency’s Global Food & Nutrition Practice, and Phil Lempert, the food industry analyst known as the Supermarket Guru, hosted the event and revealed the survey results.

The key findings:

• Taste, quality and price are the top considerations in choosing foods—except in China, where health benefits are most important.
• Knowledge, taste and availability are key barriers to healthier eating.
• Consumers want good taste, but they also want to know more about their food.
• Consumers are more interested in having a say about ingredients, safety and quality than about making foods easier to prepare and shop for.
• Brands are losing their relevance—except in Argentina and China.
• Consumers want local food, but they’re not willing to pay for it—in terms of either cost or taste.
• Consumers want food companies to help solve societal issues related to food and nutrition, and they are willing to pay for that—within reason.
• Consumers want food companies to take away the temptations that lead to obesity . . . but they don’t want to eat less.
• Consumers expect how they choose and shop for food to be different by 2020 . . . but they still expect food companies to be responsible for their health and well-being.

As the results were revealed, Stacy DeBroff, founder of the blog Mom Central, began twittering about some of the findings. “This is exactly what we discuss as moms all the time—wanting to know more about the foods we eat and give to our children—so I couldn’t wait to share it,” she said after the event. (DeBroff’s Twitter name is “momcentral.”)

After sharing the results, Eatherton noted that food companies appear to have some catching up to do. “In some instances, what consumers see as priorities and where food CEOs are placing their priorities are mismatched,” she said. For instance, while 55 percent of consumers tend to blame food companies for safety or other issues with food, CEOs point back to agricultural sources. Only 3 percent of consumers surveyed blamed farmers, Eatherton said.

Panel Discussion
Following a topline overview of the survey results, Ketchum professionals from Argentina, Germany and the U.K. joined a panel that included invited guests Tom Stenzel, president and CEO of the United Fresh Produce Association, and Jennifer Biringer, manager of client services for SustainAbility, which helps companies develop strategies to report on progress in sustainability initiatives.

Among the topics discussed was a survey finding that consumers around the world would like to see more of their food produced locally by the year 2020. “One of the things at the root of ‘local’ is the desire to connect back with the origin of the products,” Stenzel said, noting that this is creating a different kind of value at grocery stores. People are willing to buy foods, not only for taste and nutritional value, but also for a clearer understanding of where it comes from and how it is produced.

That raises the bar for what consumers want to see from brands, and brands will need to respond by sharing more information. Some panelists note that some companies already are taking steps to meet such expectations. “We see companies becoming more savvy about transparency of their products—including how they impact people and the environment from source to consumption,” Biringer said, noting that brands essentially are becoming a venue for conveying information about sustainability.

“As consumers become more aware of sustainability issues, we will continue to see the evolution of branding as the new form of corporate reporting,” she said.


For more information on the Food 2020 study and event, visit the Food 2020 Web page at www.ketchum.com/food2020. The page includes an executive summary of the study’s key findings and implications, a videocast by Phil Lempert on the survey, the news release announcing the results, photos from the event, bios of the speakers, and the Ketchum leaders to contact for more information.

 

Viewpoints

As a pure matter of survival, food is essential to life. Yet people around the world see it as being even more than that. Of the five countries in the Food 2020 study, consumers everywhere except China ranked “enjoyment” as being at the top of their minds when they think of food. And in China, consumers see it first as “a key to good health,” rather than simple survival. In most cases, “necessity of life” ranked second, but in Germany and Argentina, “nourishment” and “family” surveyed higher.
 
To market their products successfully, food companies—especially global ones—need to be aware of these associations with food and how they differ around the world. Here, five experts from Ketchum’s Global Food & Nutrition Practice discuss some key survey findings for their countries and the resulting implications for food marketers.

Argentina: The Power of Love By Gustavo Averbuj CEO, Ketchum Argentina View Bio

One of our assumptions at the beginning of the study was that “food is power.” For Argentineans, it’s the “power of love.”

We are the country that shares more meals with our families. We spend more time eating. As shown in the Food 2020 findings, Argentineans relate food to enjoyment. But sharing a meal with your family also allows you to feed values, attitudes and healthy habits.

We also are willing to pay a bit more to help the needy. Our strong Spanish and Italian heritage and the many crises we have been through led us to believe in the strong power of food—a power we rarely exercise at a global level. Back in the early days of Juan Perón’s government (right after World War II), Argentina was dubbed the granary of the world. We are a leading exporter of maize, wheat, soy, meat and much more. Yet most Argentineans think that much of their food comes from abroad (maybe because of global branding). 

Argentina has so much food and, yet, a lot of hunger, with half the population living below the poverty line. At the same time, Argentineans seem to love calorie counting. We are experts in label reading (according to ourselves) and have one of the highest consumptions of diet or light foods in the world.
 
From calorie or nutrient details, there are a lot of insights in the Food 2020 study that may soon become trends. For instance, we may soon see branded names for Argentinean beef cuts or dulce de leches (a local delicacy).

Lots of the findings will have immediate practical applications for food companies. Case in point: Restaurants may add not only nutrients and calories to their menus, but also additional information on the origin of the salad or the fish. Confectionary companies may try to develop a simpler method to communicate their calorie and nutrient content. Food companies may be better communicators of their CSR projects.

There will certainly be interesting times as companies adjust their marketing and communications practices to consumer preferences over the next few years.

United States: Remember Enjoyment By Ilene Smith Senior Vice President and Associate Director, Global Food & Nutrition Practice, Ketchum New York View Bio

In the U.S., we focus so much on fat, cholesterol and other things in our food that it was enlightening to see how important “enjoyment” was to the survey respondents. As in every country except China, U.S. consumers ranked “enjoyment” as top of mind when they think of food.

Enjoyment isn’t just about enjoying taste; it’s the whole pleasure of eating food. U.S. consumers also were the only ones to rank “culinary adventure” among the top five considerations—suggesting a thrill in trying new dishes or experiencing food in new surroundings. 

Perhaps even more interesting was that while health claims on foods are more common in the U.S. than some of the other countries surveyed, “key to good health” was only fourth among consumers’ top five considerations. For food marketers and communicators, this indicates that messages about enjoyment may trump those about health.

As a dietitian, I certainly believe consumers need to choose more healthful foods. But I also realize that if people don’t enjoy the foods they eat, they won’t make a lasting change for healthier options. Some things marketers might do to connect their messages to a feeling of enjoyment include portraying people in enjoyable settings, avoiding language that makes people feel guilty, and conveying and sharing an experience through food.

But playing up these things should in no way lead to leaving other important messages out. In fact, the survey findings indicate that consumers want to know much more about their foods than they currently do. One other survey finding was that 67 percent of U.S. consumers want to be able to recognize all of the ingredients on a food label. Behind that finding, I believe, is the fact that the Nutrition Facts panel on foods in the U.S. was introduced 15 years ago but people still don’t understand it.

Food companies really need to focus on cleaning up their labels, and a No. 1 priority should be making them simpler. Once consumers completely understand what they’re eating, they just might enjoy it more.

United Kingdom: Results in Sync with Search for Wholesome Foods By Daisy Pack Associate Director, Ketchum London View Bio

Of the five countries surveyed, the U.K. and the U.S. were the only ones where consumers named ingredients as a major consideration when shopping for foods. This was striking. And it buttressed some recent research from Ketchum London that found that 62 percent of mums want reassurance that “quick options”—especially sauces and other foods in jars—are wholesome and good for them.

At the same time, it was surprising that convenience wasn’t on the list of considerations for purchase in the U.K. In Britain, in particular, busy mums always are looking for shortcuts for meals, and some parents are even cooking two meals a night to accommodate differing schedules in the household—making quick preparation ever more important. Perhaps the relative availability of “quick options” makes it easier for consumers to focus more on nutritional value.

As in every country, taste was cited as a primary factor in food purchases. This shows that in all food campaigns you do, you should always flag taste first and foremost. After all, even consumers who are focused on healthful eating won’t stick to a healthy routine if what they’re eating doesn’t taste good.

Based on earlier research, Ketchum London already has been working with Uncle Ben’s on a campaign that marries these two messages. A goal of the campaign is to help mums create an interesting range of tasty and wholesome meals with minimal fuss. We’re stressing the fact that Uncle Ben’s packaged rice products contain only wholesome ingredients, no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives.

Besides the issue of ingredients, the survey showed that people in the U.K., more than in any other country, feel they should have a say in how animals are treated. This has been fueled by recent campaigns featuring celebrity chefs touting free-range chicken and concerns about animal welfare. While I believe the concern for animals is genuine, I also think we’ll start to see that turn back because some families simply can’t afford to feed their families free-range chickens. That’s not realistic given current economic conditions.

Similarly, while more people in the U.K. thought companies should play a role in addressing crop shortages, it is questionable whether that concern will fade at least in the short term. In an economic downturn people become rather inward-looking. And growing concerns about food prices already are evident. Private-label, long popular in the U.K., is soaring at the moment.

But brands should be careful not to focus solely on price. One way to strengthen a brand, while also addressing non-price issues, is to highlight what consumers are getting for their money. We’re already counseling clients to provide information such as cost per serving on packages and in recipes.

Germany: Consumers Want Price, Taste—and Knowledge By Petra Völkl Vice President and Account Supervisor, Ketchum Munich View Bio

Despite a new agricultural focus within Germany, it continues to be the largest importer of food in the world. Germans are keenly aware of this, with 81 percent of those in the Food 2020 study saying that they believe the foods they eat come from another country. And while Germans were more likely than consumers from the other four countries to want to see more food produced locally by 2020, about half said they expect that food will still be produced outside the country.

Whether or not that happens, food companies and marketers should understand what Germans want from food. While price and taste were key considerations for consumers in all countries, Germans ranked these factors highest, with 81 percent citing price and 80 percent citing taste as deciding factors when shopping for food. That compares to 70 percent for price and 74 percent for taste among all countries combined. Germans also rank sourcing higher than those in other countries.

Interestingly, only 34 percent of Germans consider health aspects when buying groceries. Yet, German consumers would like to see companies create an easy way to quickly identify nutrition information and healthy foods. When asked what prevented them from buying foods that were healthy, German consumers, along with those from Argentina and China, cited knowledge. For food companies, this implies that there is a need for an easy system that informs consumers which groceries have the most nutritional value.

To increase the value of their brands, some companies already have started. For example, Campina, Friesland Foods and Unilever all have introduced the Choices program with a simple and positive front-of-pack stamp that helps consumers make the right choices. Food products with the Choices stamp have to maintain a set of qualifying criteria based on international dietary guidelines.

The most noticeable food consideration, or lack thereof, concerning the German consumer is that most do not consider brand names when buying groceries. German consumers greatly differ from their counterparts in this area of the study. Only 16 percent said that brand names play a role for them—the lowest percentage of any country surveyed. For Germans, the main food-consideration factors include nutritional value, price, recipes, taste, and source. Ultimately, brands that pay attention to these will win favor with consumers.

China: Melamine Crisis Hastened Consumers’ 2020 Demands By Hannah Carter Director, Client Services, Ketchum Shanghai View Bio

Since the Food 2020 survey was completed in China, the country has been struck by the most impactful food-safety crisis in recent history: the melamine contamination across the dairy and then the broader food industry.

The survey findings still remain relevant but we can assume that, were the questions to be asked again, the results would differ in some ways today.

As the survey found, the Chinese people closely associate food with health. This is based upon a deep cultural understanding of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) philosophies. TCM is still the preferred form of medicine for most Chinese people. Chinese people also believe more so than in other countries that food is essential to survival, mainly due to a more recent history of widespread extreme poverty and hunger. This view has diminished since the late 1970s, but it is still a subconscious consideration even for the more affluent, urban-living Chinese consumer.

These cultural beliefs and habits around food mean that illegal practices and deliberate contamination (such as in the melamine crisis and many more before) during manufacturing are particularly painful for the Chinese consumer. So while our survey respondents expressed higher expectations of best practices and transparency from food companies and called for more consumer control over food ingredients and manufacturing practices by the year 2020, the melamine crisis has led to many of these demands being met ahead of time.

The government has shown unprecedented transparency in its reaction to the first stages of the crisis and, as it unfolded, publicly admitted that the melamine issue undoubtedly ran deep through the domestic food industry. Key government department leaders have resigned and harsh punishments have been promised to those responsible. The government inspection department has tripled its work force and is completing additional checks across all stages of the food manufacturing process from animal feed to packaging, so the industry will be feeling the pressure to prevent another “melamine” at all costs.

Local and international food companies in China have different challenges in this climate. First, Chinese companies communicating with Chinese consumers need to eliminate unsafe manufacturing practices throughout their supply chains. Successful local food brands will communicate their safety credentials (with the proactive offering of information and data), nutritional value and simple ingredients.

International brands need to be "clean," too. The government inspection of foreign food imports has always been stringent, and it is even more so now. To take the heat away from local companies after the melamine contamination, any instance of a shipment being turned away from China for any reason makes headlines. And while imported food from the U.S. and Europe is understood to be of a high quality, to really compete against local brands, foreign food companies will need to bring down prices to chip away at the assumption that imported food is expensive.

 

Roundtable

An IM Discussion with Registered Dietitians

IM Roundtable Participants:

Keith Ayoob, EdD, RD, FADA, Associate Professor, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York View Bio

Hope Bilyk, MS, RD, LDN, Assistant Professor, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, Ill. View Bio

David W. Grotto, RD, LDN, President and Founder, Nutrition Housecall LLC, Chicago View Bio

Diane Quagliani, MBA, RD, LDN, Quagliani Communications Inc., Western Springs, Ill. View Bio

Cathy Kapica, PhD, RD, FACN, CFCS, Vice President, Global Health and Wellness, Ketchum, and Adjunct Professor of Nutrition, Tufts University, Chicago View Bio

Food is a basic necessity of life, but it’s also a key to a high quality of life. Eating the right things promotes health and wellness. That makes consumers’ thoughts and behaviors around food an issue not only for food companies, but also for any company that desires to have productive employees. Eating healthful foods is associated with better energy levels, as well as staving off certain diseases that can affect a person’s ability to work and an employer’s healthcare costs.

 

Ketchum’s Kitchen

A Snapshot of Our Food Center and Chef

The Ketchum Food Center had its official opening party 30 years ago this month (December). In 1978, the large, homey kitchen was a first for a major PR agency, and it quickly became a hotspot for serving the needs of food industry clients as well as entertaining notable foodies such as Julia Child, James Beard and Chuck Williams (Williams-Sonoma). Located in Ketchum’s San Francisco office, the well-equipped Food Center has been used for recipe development, product tastings and culinary ideation sessions for both consumer and foodservice usage.

Today, virtually unchanged, it still is a hub of activity for Ketchum’s food industry clients. Its current chef, Catherine Pantsios, spends her days there judging submissions for recipe contests, creating and writing recipes, and hosting visiting chefs. Perspectives recently sat down with Catherine to talk about some of the ways clients have used the Food Center.

Perspectives: First, not many PR agencies have a chef on staff. How did you become Ketchum’s Food Center chef and what’s your background?

Catherine Pantsios: I worked for restaurants for 20 years, including owning my own restaurant, called Zolas, in San Francisco for a while. After that, I also taught culinary classes, training students to become chefs. I joined Ketchum seven years ago after hearing about an opening. Fortunately, during all my years working in restaurants, I learned not only to create new dishes but also to write the recipes so they could be re-created by others. That’s vital in this job. I’m also attentive to what recipes will work at the consumer level and what will work at foodservice and at all types of establishments, both upscale and more casual, chain-oriented venues.

Perspectives: What is a typical day like in the Food Center?

Catherine Pantsios: It varies from week to week. I spend a lot of time coming up with new recipes for clients; I can brainstorm as many as 20 concepts a week. Lately we’ve had a lot of product tastings, which can range from trying out new flavor combinations for ice cream to trying new recipes that we’ve sourced from other chefs. I also spend time judging recipe contests for clients. That involves reading the submissions and test-cooking the ones that could be winners. Also, a lot of the work we do with food here is for Ketchum’s B2B business, so we do a lot of culinary ideation for restaurants and for the manufacturing world. A lot of what we develop ends up in trade ads and ultimately on menus or within food products sold at retail.

Whatever we do in the Food Center, my work is always a collaboration with the account teams, from the initial PR program through developing guidelines for, say, a recipe contest to tasting the recipes.

Perspectives: What are some examples of recipes you have created and how they were useful to clients?

Pantsios: One of the most memorable recipes that I’ve been involved with creating was for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association a few years ago. We were asked to come up with ideas for children’s items for restaurants. After a bit of brainstorming, I came up with this idea for a beef sundae—a regular meal designed to look like a dessert. We used mashed potatoes in a sundae dish and topped it with bits of beef. We took pictures of it for food industry publications, and the next thing we knew beef sundaes were showing up at state fairs and then restaurants around the country. Food vendors even did their own versions of it, with some using ground beef or beef strips. That new idea for presenting some common meal ingredients drove increased interest in beef and ultimately pleased our client.

Perspectives: As someone who regularly deals with preparing food, what recent trends have you seen that could influence the way the Food Center serves clients?

Pantsios: One thing I’ve noticed is that there is more awareness of cooking and of food among consumers. They’re watching cooking shows, they’re entertaining at home more, and they’re trying to re-create or even adapt meals that they’ve enjoyed in restaurants. And because people are more likely nowadays to have tried cuisines from different parts of the world, they have wide-ranging taste buds.

All of this opens the door for clients to engage consumers more through food. Some clients already use the Food Center as an entry point for recipe contest promotions, but there is probably an opportunity to do more, such as challenging consumers to use client products in ingredient combinations that reflect our more global taste buds. Clients also may choose to share their own cooking videos with consumers, and our kitchen could be a great location for taping demonstrations in a setting that looks like the kitchen in someone’s home.

 

Health is the New Wealth:
A Look Back at Our Forecasts

In October 2007, Ketchum’s Global Food Practice published Health is the New Wealth, a forecast of global food trends for 2008 and beyond. Over the past year, we’ve watched some of those trends begin to take shape. Through our Food 2020 study in particular, we noticed four trends that were evident among the consumers we surveyed. Here are excerpts about those four trends from the original forecast.

Consumers want real food, clean labels, issue-free. The desire for natural vs. processed foods and ingredients is rising around the world. Consumers are demanding short ingredient statements with familiar and natural names—clean labels. Stabilizers, gums, additives, substitutes and chemicals are causing consumers to put the product back on the shelf . . . no matter how convenient it might be. The U.K. is leading the way towards additive-free (called E numbers) ingredients. There is also an increasing desire for foods that are “free” from perceived negative components, such as gluten-free, lactose-free and animal-free (vegetarian/vegan). This is least prevalent in Asia, however. Interestingly, genetic modification is being seen as an acceptable route to “breed out” the allergens from the food supply.

Standardized global labeling guidelines emerge. Global food safety and health concerns are driving standardized labeling guidelines. Expect Country of Origin Labels (COOL) on all foods and for each ingredient in processed food. Company-developed labeling symbols and signposts are gaining momentum. Controversy will continue over the best format for communicating nutrition information on packaging, especially throughout the European Union and North America. Legislation is not far behind. As organic interests and demands rise, expect international certifications to emerge that, in some countries, will be more rigid than current guidelines.

Health claim changes may lead to healthy confusion. In Europe, there is reassessment of food additives (E numbers), which will lead to communication challenges, especially about natural ingredients. New health claim regulations may make the approval of new claims challenging. And functional foods are being defined. While some Asian countries, such as Japan, have well-defined rules for functional foods, other Asian countries are in the very early stages of regulatory oversight for food and beverages in this category. Effectiveness of U.S. health claim regulations is being questioned.

Consumers track carbon footprint and food miles. As concerns of global warming rise and commitments to reverse the tide take hold, expect several countries to call for declarations of a product’s carbon footprint on the label. A carbon footprint is the total number of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases emitted over the full life cycle of a product or service. Heightened desires to reduce carbon fuel emissions are driving consumers to demand the “food miles” a product and all its ingredients have traveled. Food miles is a term that refers to the distance food travels from the time of its production until it reaches the consumer. The less local, the less desirable—a serious implication for foods produced out of country or out of region. Many retailers are leaping ahead of regulation and requiring these declarations now.

 

Resources

Ketchum’s Global Food & Nutrition Practice periodically produces publications that highlight trends and thought leadership in food marketing. Some of our recent publications include these:

• Comida y Cultura is a quarterly publication newsletter that highlights trends, cultural dynamics and values of U.S. Latinos as it pertains to food. The publication is a collaboration between Ketchum’s Global Food & Nutrition Practice and the agency’s Ketchum Latino group.
• Food Bytes is Ketchum’s “monthly dish on top food and wine blogs” and provides a snapshot of what food and wine bloggers are talking about. The publication is compiled by Ketchum’s Global Food & Nutrition Practice and the agency’s Global Research Network.
• Health, Wellness and Nutrition Global Trends is an annual forecast of trends in health, wellness and nutrition. The publication incorporates insights from Ketchum’s Brand Marketing, Food & Nutrition, Healthcare and Corporate Communications Practices.