You’ve seen the obesity statistics, right? It’s staggering — like I just drank a whole bottle of vodka for breakfast, staggering. Based on that, you’d think my entire notion of people being afraid of food would be, poppycock. But according to her article, which used the advent of sugar-free diets to make a larger point, The Conversation’s Tara Leong insists we are indeed afraid of food, mainly because diets are, “…restrictive, with lists of ‘allowed’ foods (such as whole grains, blueberries and grapefruits) and ‘not allowed’ foods (such as white bread, bananas and raisins). This inadvertently promotes a diet [...]

Yes, the number one rule of marketing any food brand should be: Get it in people’s mouths. But with so many new brands, with new claims and new miracle ingredients, I’d argue, when you get someone to taste your product, you’re only taking the first bite out of the overall problem. And that problem is, people are more confused than ever about what to eat. So let’s look at some ways to make the lowly demo demonstrate a greater ROI. Why? The demo is the near-perfect time to make a personal impression on a potential consumer It’s also a [...]

“I know enough to be dangerous.” When it comes to today’s food consumers, truer words were never spoken. Here are a few things they “know.” Organic is automatically good, even if it’s from a country with questionable organic standards Any new ingredient (i.e. adaptogens) called out on the front of a package is good — got to have that Some ingredients, buried on the back panel — specifically for this story — guar, locust bean and other “gums” are weird and bad, causing certain brands to get extra credit by saying, we don’t use those nasty gums All of [...]

Yeah, I know, you have to go on sale from time to time — retailers like to show value to their customers and guess who pays that freight? Yes, your brand. But this story isn’t about how not to go on deal, it’s about how to keep velocities high when your competition’s price gets slashed. Here are my six tips for getting what you’re worth, even when the other guy is on deal, working backwards from the shelf: One — Dissect the competition’s packaging: Find the gaps where those other brands are blowing it by consumers — then go [...]

According to IRI, these ten products fared best in 2017 (there’s a separate list for convenience, but I’m sticking with MULO (moo-low), or Multi Outlet sales. First let’s look at the winners: 2017 New Product Pacesetters: Top 10 new food and beverage launches (MULO) Halo Top: $324.2m GOOD THiNS: $87.0m Dunkin' Donuts Iced Coffee: $67.1m Nestlé Splash: $55.2m LIFEWTR: $50.4m SMARTMADE by Smart Ones: $49.3m HERSHEY'S Cookie Layer Crunch: $47.7m Hillshire Snacking: $47.5m Well Yes!: $47.3m Cracker Barrel Macaroni & Cheese: $46.6m What do all these hot brands have in common? There’s nothing weird — no bone broth, collagen [...]

There’s a lot of “blow it by them” happening in food marketing these days. For instance, at Expo West, I saw so many brands touting a single ingredient as if that was enough to get people to buy: Now with Adaptogens Now with Collagen protein Now with Turmeric Now with, “Huh?” I mean, we all know consumers get hooked by the latest buzz-ingredient — and it’s easy to just slap that magic whatever on the label and call it a day. But according to this article by FoodNavigator-USA Editor, Elaine Watson​​, there’s a better way to connect with consumers. [...]

Every new brand, and every brand that decides it’s time for a rebrand starts with a case of writer’s block — staring at a nearly blank page, with only three unhelpful words at the top: Who are we? But why deal with the frustrating struggle to find originality when you can ask a different question: Who else is like us? It’s true; it’s incredibly valuable to compare yourself to brands that have already done the hard work and heavy lifting of becoming great at what they are. Why? •You’ll instantly gain insights as to what your tone could be [...]

Anaheim, California. Natural Products Expo West, the site of the Earth’s largest concentration of innovative food brands — and confounding buzz words. Sorry, but on this site, I position myself as a helper — a teacher if I’m being bold. And sometimes teacher has to scold the class. So, Expo West Class of 2018, you need to back up those buzz words with some actual knowledge surrounding how these miracle ingredients work. Here are snippets of a few of my conversations Her: “Our new cereal is packed with antioxidants and anti-inflammatories!” Me: “What’s an anti-inflammatory?” Her: “You know, like [...]