November 30, 2007
CPG 2008
Datamonitor has taken a look ahead and published a list of 10 trends it expects will have a major impact on consumer packaged goods (CPG) in 2008:
Probiotics
Consumers have discovered the health benefits of active cultures in yogurt and yogurt-based drinks and now manufacturers are moving into others product categories. Procter & Gamble has begun selling its Align probiotic supplement in stores in a number of markets after exclusively marketing the product online for two years. Cheese and chocolate are two other likely categories for probiotics.
Organics for Kids
Organic food manufacturers are beginning to get serious about targeting the kid segment at a time when conventional grocery and foodservice brands have been criticized for marketing practices aimed at young children.
Fresh, Fresher, Freshest
From Tesco’s Fresh & Easy convenience concept to frozen foods that are fresher than fresh.
Super Fruits
Fruits such as acai, goji berries, noni and pomegranates, and the drinks made from them, are lauded for battling cancer and keeping aging consumers looking and feeling young.
Made in Africa
The undiscovered continent is finally found as food and personal care products show up on American store shelves.
Sweet Dreams
Sleep disorders are moving high on the list of health crises identified by the medical community. Products that make it easy to de-stress and get some rest are poised for growth.
Keep It Crunchy
Texture is important when it comes to the foods consumers like and those they do not. Manufacturers may be taking some of the “bad” stuff out of foods but they are putting the crunch in.
Hot, Hot, Hot
As consumers age, their sense of taste and smell diminishes. Hot spices and dishes will increasingly get both their attention and purchases.
Living in a High Test World
Caffeine is showing up in all kinds of products besides drinks. Sunflower seeds, oatmeal and potato chips are now being supercharged.
Protect Planet Earth
Virtually every product has some “green” story to tell. Those that are legitimate will find consumers are willing to spend in the name of sustainability.
Discussion Question: Which trends do you think are most important to watch for in 2008?
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This is a case where the inner professional must take over. Personally I would have nothing to do with any of these gimmicks for selling unhealthy food products or drugs. But professionally I bet whatever they sell under Protect Planet Earth will do best. Who knows, maybe they’ll push cigars as more eco-friendly than cigarettes because of lesser paper use.
Crunchy is a major axis in food perception that could use more attention. In category after category, the population splits along crunchy lines: peanut butter – smooth vs. chunk; fried chicken – original vs. extra crispy; potato chips – regular vs. kettle fried; pizza – thin vs. thick.
I mention crunchy because it is at least something CPG can do something about, and consumers care a LOT about, whether they ever say so or not.
I believe fresh foods will take center stage.
As dual income households grow, or the absence of a parent in the house preparing foods for the children increases, the issues of obesity and poor diets is moving from the lower income to middle class communities.
Fresh foods will offer an umbrella solution that will include probiotics, organic, and superfruits as its elements. Retailers offering fresh food solutions will be perceived as the delivery vehicle for a lot of the mentioned trends.
I’m personally fascinated by the recent pro-biotic trend. Apparently, bio-engineered bacteria cultures used in the new yogurt-like products are well-accepted by consumers, but bio-engineered vegetables are regarded with fear. This is a bizarre dichotomy, in my opinion.
Green is the story for 2008 and beyond. However, there will be far more talk than actual action but as manufacturers and retailers alike will scream whenever possible about what they’re doing. The actual degree to which consumers take to green is open for discussion, since it’s all a matter of perception.
I would second Mark that “Green is in” but it is definitely “marketer beware.” NPR ran a piece this morning interviewing a “leading Green Marketing Agency executive” who was claiming that his research unearthed 1018 products on big box retailer shelves that had committed one of his “Six Deadly Sins” of environmental marketing. When pressed for examples–it quickly became clear that he was not really talking about sins of COmission as much as they were pointing out sins of Omission. For example, one product touted “recycled content” but got skewered for not mentioning that other elements of the product were not from recycled materials. And worse (gasp) there was POLLUTION created in the manufacturing process of the product.
OK, I admit that I listen to NPR primarily on the advice of Sun Tsu (“…keep your enemies closer…”) but the point holds. Marketers who venture into green-land should be prepared to come under the microscope from zealous enviro-purists. Not saying it’s right or wrong–just that it is going to happen.
Price will get a lot more attention. The increasing use of corn based ethanol leads to many food price increases. Oil prices are 50% higher than last year, and both farmers and our whole supply chain use a lot of oil. Millions of shoppers survive on food stamps and WIC programs. They’re going to be increasingly shocked by food price inflation.
I think it depends on where you live. I can see the green trend expanding on the coasts that are plagued with increasingly disastrous hurricanes, wildfires and mudslides/sinkholes, but in the Midwest where incomes are growing more slowly and where we still get less than a dollar back on every dollar we send to Washington, I see price continuing to trump global warming. It’s simply too expensive to be green and frankly, I don’t mind the milder Chicago winters at all.
From Datamonitor’s trend list, I agree with the following:
• Probiotics are definitley hot.
• Natural products (whatever they are) will continue to be hot.
• Green – eco-friendly – is definitely in.
I would add to the list the following:
• Foods with health benefit (this continues to blur).
• Nutritious snacks (nuts, bars, dried fruit).
• Power drinks (not just caffeine, but other high-octane).
• Anything on a strip or patch will continue to be hot.
‘Green’ is definitely still far out in front for many years to come.
Probiotics appear to finally be catching on in America. Their primary carrier, yogurt, is dramatically under-developed in North America based on consumption per person. CPG companies like Danone will continue to find new ways for us to enjoy their product, and probiotics is just one reason.
Moms are really going over the edge about what to feed their kids. I’ve been in some knock down drag out arguments with moms over chocolate milk. How can we expose kids to high-fructose corn syrup over calcium is the argument, and it’s just the tip of the iceberg with these moms. I think organics and kids and marketing health to genX parents who were raised on Cap’n Crunch themselves is going to be huge in the coming years. These moms are rebelling about everything from how they were raised from being formula fed to being latch-key while their mothers worked. And for the working moms out there right now, guilt over working has morphed into the notion of at least doing this one good thing for their children, which is feeding them organic products, hormone free milk, and kicking high-fructose corn syrup to the curb.
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This is a case where the inner professional must take over. Personally I would have nothing to do with any of these gimmicks for selling unhealthy food products or drugs. But professionally I bet whatever they sell under Protect Planet Earth will do best. Who knows, maybe they’ll push cigars as more eco-friendly than cigarettes because of lesser paper use.
Crunchy is a major axis in food perception that could use more attention. In category after category, the population splits along crunchy lines: peanut butter – smooth vs. chunk; fried chicken – original vs. extra crispy; potato chips – regular vs. kettle fried; pizza – thin vs. thick.
I mention crunchy because it is at least something CPG can do something about, and consumers care a LOT about, whether they ever say so or not.
I believe fresh foods will take center stage.
As dual income households grow, or the absence of a parent in the house preparing foods for the children increases, the issues of obesity and poor diets is moving from the lower income to middle class communities.
Fresh foods will offer an umbrella solution that will include probiotics, organic, and superfruits as its elements. Retailers offering fresh food solutions will be perceived as the delivery vehicle for a lot of the mentioned trends.
I’m personally fascinated by the recent pro-biotic trend. Apparently, bio-engineered bacteria cultures used in the new yogurt-like products are well-accepted by consumers, but bio-engineered vegetables are regarded with fear. This is a bizarre dichotomy, in my opinion.
Green is the story for 2008 and beyond. However, there will be far more talk than actual action but as manufacturers and retailers alike will scream whenever possible about what they’re doing. The actual degree to which consumers take to green is open for discussion, since it’s all a matter of perception.
I would second Mark that “Green is in” but it is definitely “marketer beware.” NPR ran a piece this morning interviewing a “leading Green Marketing Agency executive” who was claiming that his research unearthed 1018 products on big box retailer shelves that had committed one of his “Six Deadly Sins” of environmental marketing. When pressed for examples–it quickly became clear that he was not really talking about sins of COmission as much as they were pointing out sins of Omission. For example, one product touted “recycled content” but got skewered for not mentioning that other elements of the product were not from recycled materials. And worse (gasp) there was POLLUTION created in the manufacturing process of the product.
OK, I admit that I listen to NPR primarily on the advice of Sun Tsu (“…keep your enemies closer…”) but the point holds. Marketers who venture into green-land should be prepared to come under the microscope from zealous enviro-purists. Not saying it’s right or wrong–just that it is going to happen.
Price will get a lot more attention. The increasing use of corn based ethanol leads to many food price increases. Oil prices are 50% higher than last year, and both farmers and our whole supply chain use a lot of oil. Millions of shoppers survive on food stamps and WIC programs. They’re going to be increasingly shocked by food price inflation.
I think it depends on where you live. I can see the green trend expanding on the coasts that are plagued with increasingly disastrous hurricanes, wildfires and mudslides/sinkholes, but in the Midwest where incomes are growing more slowly and where we still get less than a dollar back on every dollar we send to Washington, I see price continuing to trump global warming. It’s simply too expensive to be green and frankly, I don’t mind the milder Chicago winters at all.
From Datamonitor’s trend list, I agree with the following:
• Probiotics are definitley hot.
• Natural products (whatever they are) will continue to be hot.
• Green – eco-friendly – is definitely in.
I would add to the list the following:
• Foods with health benefit (this continues to blur).
• Nutritious snacks (nuts, bars, dried fruit).
• Power drinks (not just caffeine, but other high-octane).
• Anything on a strip or patch will continue to be hot.
‘Green’ is definitely still far out in front for many years to come.
Probiotics appear to finally be catching on in America. Their primary carrier, yogurt, is dramatically under-developed in North America based on consumption per person. CPG companies like Danone will continue to find new ways for us to enjoy their product, and probiotics is just one reason.
Moms are really going over the edge about what to feed their kids. I’ve been in some knock down drag out arguments with moms over chocolate milk. How can we expose kids to high-fructose corn syrup over calcium is the argument, and it’s just the tip of the iceberg with these moms. I think organics and kids and marketing health to genX parents who were raised on Cap’n Crunch themselves is going to be huge in the coming years. These moms are rebelling about everything from how they were raised from being formula fed to being latch-key while their mothers worked. And for the working moms out there right now, guilt over working has morphed into the notion of at least doing this one good thing for their children, which is feeding them organic products, hormone free milk, and kicking high-fructose corn syrup to the curb.