Foodnavigator-usa Podcast

Ever since The Coca-Cola Co. offered the first coupon in 1887 for a free glass of Coke at “any dispenser of genuine Coca-Cola,” coupons have helped manufacturers drive sales, stores generated foot traffic and both build loyalty -- but pandemic-related shifts in where and how consumers shop and the economic fallout of lockdowns has changed how brands, stores and shoppers engage with coupons.

More than 450 exhibitors and 8,000 attendees traveled to the Sweets & Snacks Expo in Indianapolis last week for one of the first in-person food and beverage tradeshows since the coronavirus outbreak in early 2020 to showcase two years of product innovations and inspiration that had been delayed by the pandemic.

While the pandemic shined a light on the role of diet and nutrition in health and wellness, it also revealed that most consumers don’t have a firm – or even loose – idea of what constitutes healthy – underscoring a need for more research and better education on the topic.

After years of slow but steady declines, juice sales in the US are rebounding in a trend that may have originated with consumers seeking wellness-enhancing products and moments of intentional indulgence during the pandemic, but which industry insiders, including PepsiCo, predict will have a long-lasting positive impact on the category.

Consumers are awakening to the idea that their dietary choices impact climate change, and while some already consider environmental sustainability when selecting products many more say they would if they had more information – creating a unique marketing opportunity for brands, according to research released last week by the International Food Information Council.

The long-awaited end of the pandemic may be nearing in the US as vaccine distribution expands and new government guidance rolls back some mask and social distancing requirements, but for the CPG industry, some of the challenges that arose and accelerated in the past 15 months will linger long after the threat of COVID-19 unless stakeholders work together

While the pandemic has helped fuel a business boom for much of packaged food and beverage industry, not everyone in the sector has benefited – with women and female-run small businesses in particular taking a hard hit that could have devastating long-term consequences for the industry unless stakeholders act now to recruit, maintain and support a diverse workplace and category.

After a surge of consumer trust in the food and beverage industry during the early days of the pandemic when stakeholders risked their health to keep store shelves stocked and supply chains moving, consumer trust in the industry globally fell a staggering 12 points over the remainder of 2020, according to the 2021 Global Edelman Trust Barometer for Food and Beverage released last week.

Taste and smell are fundamental to how consumers experience food and beverages, but most tools for understanding and measuring these senses – including a highly trained human nose – are subjective, imprecise, and expensive making it difficult to cost-effectively create products that deliver an appealing experience consistently to a broad consumer base.

After being demonized for decades and hitting a 30-year low in 2019, per capita flour consumption is on the rise again thanks in part to consumers’ increasingly sophisticated understanding of diet and health and their duel desire to fill their plates during the pandemic with food that is both nutritious and comforting.

Years before the coronavirus pandemic shined a harsh light on the fragility of long, global supply chains dominated by a handful of multinational companies, Kim Bryden founded Cureate to connect local food and beverage manufactures with large institutional purchasers to meet growing consumer demand for local products, empower entrepreneurs, and “shift the dollar back” to communities.

The coronavirus outbreak fundamentally changed how food and beverage brands are connecting with consumers – from abruptly halting live sampling and in-store promotions to altering the types of messaging consumers want to hear.

Even as more Americans are vaccinated and some local economies begin to reopen, recent consumer research suggests many of the shopping changes consumers adopted during the pandemic are here to stay, including a heightened focus on safety, financial health and social justice.

Since the pandemic began, food insecurity in America has increased exponentially, and stakeholders across the value chain are stepping up to provide relief, including Simply Organic, which is giving $150,000 to five organizations that not only help put food on the tables of those in need but which do so with an eye towards environmental sustainability and reducing the risk of food insecurity going forward.

To mark International Women’s Day today, March 8, organizers are asking participants to “choose to challenge” and call out gender bias and inequality with the hope that from challenge will come change – something that women entrepreneurs desperately need when it comes to funding their businesses.

Before the pandemic, few Americans prepared lamb and those who did tended to reserve it for special occasions, but shortages of traditional proteins last spring pushed more people to try it for the first time, and now, nearly a year later sales of lamb continue to climb as shoppers overcome negative perceptions and incorporate it into their diets more regularly.

Upcycled foods and beverages made from ingredients traditionally not consumed by people are gaining popularity with consumers seeking more sustainable diets – creating a fast-growing market opportunity estimated to be worth more than $46 billion, which startups and emerging brands are seizing quickly.

Whether or not you believe in climate change or the food industry’s contribution to the greenhouse gasses wrapping the earth and changing weather patterns, plenty of consumers do, and they increasingly are buying products based on their environmental impact – elevating sustainability and carbon labeling from political talking points to business priorities.

Even though the coronavirus vaccine is slowly, albeit a bit unsteadily, rolling out, a recently published survey of dietitians predicts Americans in 2021 will continue to seek protection from COVID-19 and its rapidly spreading variants from food and beverages that promise to support their health – physically and emotionally.

In the next 12 to 18 months, cultivated meat could become available to the masses, according to some industry players raising funds to scale production of technological and scientific advances that will allow for lower production costs and a lower consumer price point.