It’s a cross between walking a tightrope and throwing caution to the wind when you try to combine savings and celebrations. The supermarket dietitian is one of the many who has to make it work for the benefit of the store and the customer.
The winter holidays are always a good time to bring a health image into play since food tends to be the center of the celebration, whether they take place at home or the office and at school. While the holidays are typically a time when people allow themselves to overindulge, we in the dietitian business have to remember the season is also prime time to help people change eating habits. It’s to our benefit that there is concern for wellness, weight control and food allergies.
Again this year, too, the budget crunch is still a headliner for many, even though the holiday spirit tends to lift the mood a bit. With all of that in mind, here are some approaches that might help you on the tightrope!
• Put the emphasis on quality rather than quantity as you guide customers in celebration menu planning. When budgets are tighter steer customers to showcasing a few excellent items that are holiday favorites rather than the huge buffet that ends up with waste. In the end, the price may be the same but the effect is more dramatic. more…
The appeal of caffeinated alcoholic beverages is pretty limited. Federal officials said as much when they announced this morning that the Food and Drug Administration was cracking down on these drinks, which combines malt base in the 6%-8% by-volume range, with roughly 100 milligrams of caffeine (about the same as a cup of coffee) and guarana, taurine and other additives. The agency has sent letters to nearly 30 manufacturers asking them to prove the safety of these drinks.
In comments announcing the move, Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, the FDA’s principal deputy commissioner of food and drugs, pointed out that the products have been targeted specifically at young people attending college.
“The increasing popularity of consumption of caffeinated alcoholic beverages by college students and reports of potential health and safety issues necessitates that we look seriously at the scientific evidence as soon as possible,” he said.
No one likes a hyper-alert drunk, particularly when they’re so inebriated they become a genuine danger to themselves and others. To the average person, the addition of caffeine seems to serve no other purpose than to keep a person awake, and alert, long enough to purchase or consume another beverage.
The nation’s two largest brewers, MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch have already agreed to discontinue their popular caffeinated alcoholic beverages, Tilt and Bud Extra, and Sparks and promised the FDA they would make none down the road. The companies being questioned now are include not only beer makers, but Diageo North America, makers of Smirnoff Raw Tea Malt Beverage, Constellation Brands
Products, with its Wide Eye label, and other manufacturers who offer caffeinated malt-based drinks. more…
As part of an ongoing effort to update the nation’s aging power grid, companies have introduced “smart meters” as a new way to monitor energy levels. What makes them so “smart”? Well, aside from sparing the rhododendrons beneath your old analog meter getting trampled each month by some burly reader, smart meters conserve energy and give consumers feedback and control over their power levels. It’s a digitized, interactive version of your house’s energy system — and it’s all online.
Bear with me here.
It’s pretty clear that these smart meters are — or at least represent — the future of household energy, and manufacturers like General Electric and Whirlpool have jumped on board. GE has started distributing the first ever “smart appliance”, a water heater that links into the smart meter system. Whirlpool, meanwhile, plans to make 1 million “smart dryers” by 2011.
As our appliances get smarter, it stands to reason that food will need to follow suit. If people log on and see, for example, that they’re using way too much energy powering their microwaves, they may buy fewer frozen meals, or perhaps search out foods with shorter cooking times. The transparency, the new levels of information, could very well change the way people think about their food. We’re all concerned with nutrition facts — well, what about “energy facts”?
This is all very hypothetical right now. But it’s not too hard to imagine, especially given people’s growing concern over energy use, carbon footprints and such.
And of course, there’s always the possibility that the smart appliances could become too smart, and end up taking over the world.
(photo courtesy of pasukaru76)
As part of its food makeover, Target Corp. has boosted the nutritional profile of its bestselling, premium Archer Farms private label. The company is calling the extension “Simply Balanced.” Right now, it includes more than 70 products, such as pasta, cereal, bread pictured), crackers, granola bars and frozen pizza.
Each product meets nutrition criteria for fat (not more than 30% of calories); saturated Fat (a maximum of 10%); trans fat (none); sugar (maximum 25% of calories); and no artificial flavors, synthetic colors or artificial sweeteners.
While there’s not limit on sodium, “Target keeps tabs on the sodium content of the Archer Farms Simply Balanced products while still maintaining the taste quality for which the Archer Farms brand is known,” read the company’s statement.
Archer Farms was one of the first in a new generation of store brands that really built an identity separate from the store that was selling it. These so-called signature brands have become the preferred vehicle for private label growth, and almost every single supermarket offers something like this.
Expanding the name to cover wholesome ingredients and better nutrition is the next logical step for Archer Farms, which has already undergone a pretty extensive overhaul, and comes as the retailer is embarking on a major push deeper into food sales.
It’s interesting to note that Target took pains to point out the affordability of the Simply Balanced line. According to the retailer, prices range from $1.48 for a box of whole wheat pasta to $5.49 for chicken skewers. Once again, supermarkets are using private label to bring home the idea that eating well doesn’t have to be expensive.
Gift card sales were down 6% last holiday season, according to the National Retail Federation. Part of that is the recession, but it’s also a sign that the category could use some spicing up — a bit more rum in grandma’s eggnog, if you will.
Philanthropic gift cards, which are all about lending a hand, could be just the ticket. The concept is simple yet different: Organizations offer cards that donate to charity in the recipients name, or that come in preset amounts and the recipient chooses which charity receives the money. The largest organization offering these cards, Network for Good, has processed more than $300 million worth of online gift donations since 2001, and the number of donations they’ve put through for this year has doubled over last year, though — with times being tighter — the dollar amounts are smaller.
So cards like this have been around for a while, but this year could be the year they really take off. Tough economic times means everyone’s a bit more inclined to help others. And the cards seem to tap into the same altruistic vein that has consumers demanding organic, natural and sustainable products.
“I believe there is too much focus on gifts of ‘stuff’ and that a donation gift is often the most appreciated and satisfying gift of all,” wrote Erik Marks, founder of TisBest — which offers online and 100% recycled plastic cards — on the company’s website. more…
For the first 20 plus years of my career, I sat on the “buy side” of the desk. This was where I was able to take the skills I had honed over the years to create or simply approve items that I believed would sell. Some of the proposals were slightly risky due to a unique aspect, like the product name or packaging — or perhaps an ingredient or two. But for the most part these were potential mainstream items that I believed had legs.
Products came to my attention in several ways. Perhaps I already had seen it under its brand name at the competition or at a food show; or maybe I knew the manufacturer and worked with him to create something unique and different… but often these items were presented to me by someone not that different from me, especially the “now” me — the person who cold-called to tell me about some wonderful new item that my customers simply could not live without!
Who knew that I was going to either make or break this person’s day? I should have had a Harry Truman-esque, “Don’t call my boss, the buck stops here” sign on my desk because that is the power that a buyer wields.
These days, I’m sitting on the other side of the desk. I hock my wares to all sorts of retailers. I still am not 100% comfortable with the cold call and am having to train myself to realize that the word “No” doesn’t always mean no, but can be a simple dialogue starter (talk about creative ways of psyching myself up!). Other times, you have to simply take the abuse or aggression to make the sale, which is never easy. more…
There’s been a lot of talk lately about a new set of footprints being tracked through the house of Mankind. We can’t see them, but they leave just as big an impression as anything related to carbon.
Meet the water footprint, and large companies — from Anheuser-Busch to Wal-Mart — have taken steps to reduce the amount of H2O they use in production processes, transportation and administration.
“People are beginning to realize it’s all related, and that’s why I think water is coming up now, whenever people talk about things like carbon footprints,” said Kai Olson-Sawyer, program manager of H2O Conserve, one of several organizations working to publicize water conservation. I interviewed him for a story we’re working on for the next issue of SN Whole Health, and several links that retailers and other food industry pillars might find useful.
Overall, the news is good. consumptions is actually dropping. According to The Freedonia Group, companies consumed about 13 gallons of water per dollar of GDP in 2007, down from more than 16 gallons in 1997.
The flip side, naturally, is that there are more companies out there, and the growth is focused on geographical areas where water shortages tend to be an issue: the West, Mountain West, Southwest and Southeast. more…
It’s been a tough year for natural and organic products. Not as tough as it could be — but still tough. To offer just a snapshot: Earlier this year, The Nielsen Company reported that sales growth for organic was 24% in March of 2008, versus just 1% in March of 2009.
I’m reluctant to trust any indication that the clouds are lifting, no matter how hard Bernanke and the stock market try to reassure me. It’s like having a clown show up to a funeral — hey, as long as there are still hiring freezes and closings, I’ll keep my head in the sand, thankyouverymuch.
But I’d be lying down on the job if I didn’t report this, a sign that things might be looking up — for the natural and organic industry. According to a report from RBC Capital Markets, “growth rates in the natural/organic food category appear to have stabilized and might be showing some early signs of re-acceleration.” Re-acceleration would certainly be the right word, since the industry never really went into the red. Any growth from this point would be a revving of the engine.
The report noted that distributors like United Natural Foods, Hain Celestial and SunOpta had been showing promising signs. It also singled out Whole Foods, which has taken a battering lately, particularly in the ledger of public opinion after CEO John Mackey’s health care opus absurdum in the Wall Street Journal. Analyst Edward Aaron wrote that the natural and organic retailer could be back in fighting form in the near future, in part because competitors’ commitment to organics “appears to be wavering in some cases.” Inside sources at Wal-Mart, for one, say that the company isn’t happy with how its organic products have been performing. more…
From our “What Are They Thinking?” file: Kellogg’s is currently under fire for splashing a huge “Immunity” banner across its best-selling Rice Krispies brand just as parental concern over the H1N1 virus is reaching a feverish pitch.
“Now helps support your child’s immunity,” is the exact phrasing, along with a graphic touting that the cereal’s increased fortification with 25% of the daily values of antioxidants and nutrients like Vitamins A, B, C and E.
This is a cereal that still lists sugar as the second ingredient. Even more of an eyebrow-raiser is Rice Krispies’ companion Cocoa Krispies, which sports the same claim on its box. Cocoa Krispies also contains sugar, high fructose corn syrup and trans-fat, according to the ingredients panel. But ignore that. It’s fortified with vitamins to help ward off the child-killer swine flu.
For its part, Kellogg’s claims the fortification decision was made a year ago, well before the current flu scare. Knowing that recipe tinkering can be an involved process, I can’t quibble with that. However I do recall visiting Unilever’s corporate test kitchen right after the low-carb craze engulfed the country some years ago, when I got to taste low-carb versions of their best-selling salad dressings, mayonnaise and the like.
The executives I met with proudly announced that reformulating the products took the company a matter of weeks. I can’t imagine what’s so complicated about boosting vitamin percentages that it took the food scientists at Kellogg’s a year. more…
Organic is a regulated term and watchdog groups are actively watching to make sure producers and retailers alike don’t abuse this label. Recently, The Cornucopia Institute filed a formal complaint with the USDA’s organic program alleging that Target misled consumers into thinking some conventional food items it sells are organic.
In one example provided by the organization, Target nationally advertised Silk brand soymilk in newspapers with the term organic pictured on the carton’s label. But Silk manufacturer Dean Foods has shifted their products away from organics.
This is not the first time The Cornucopia Institute has targeted retailers. In 2006, the group filed complaints with federal and state regulators against Wal-Mart, also alleging misrepresentation of conventional food as organic with improper signage in their stores.
Surveys show the public is unclear about the difference between natural and organic, as well as related labels used in the wellness industry. That’s bad enough, but think about this: If the general public is unclear, your staff may be too. And where there’s confusion, there are often mistakes. For retailers, it’s especially important to remain vigilant.
Be sure employees understand the difference between organic products and those with natural claims, and emphasize the importance of accurate promotion — not only from the consumer perspective, but from a legal one, too.
USDA-approved organic labels first appeared on store shelves in October 2002. Use of the word organic became regulated, and producers that met certain standards were allowed to display the USDA Organic seal. more…
The winter holidays are always a good time to bring a health image into play since food tends to be the center of the celebration, whether they take place at home or the office and at school. While the holidays are typically a time when people allow themselves to overindulge, we in the dietitian business have to remember the season is also prime time to help people change eating habits. It’s to our benefit that there is concern for wellness, weight control and food allergies. 
