Mattson's Impressions from the Food Marketing Institute Trade Show of 2005


If you didn't get to walk the trade show floor, I'll do it for you.

Last year this was so easy. A 4-year old could have walked the floor of the FMI show and picked out the theme. There were so many low carb products it was like shooting high-protein fish in a low-sugar barrel. This year it wasn’t so easy.

I heard many people complain about the lack of innovation at the show and I tend to agree that, overall, the industry plays it far too safe, moves much too slowly, and doesn’t innovate the way other industries do. And what’s our excuse?! Consider how long it takes to create a prototype of a new food: not very. Contrast that with the time and effort necessary to create a prototype of a handheld multimedia electronic device. Of every consumer products industry, we should set the pace for innovation given the modest time and investment it takes to develop and test prototypes.

So, what’s holding the big food companies back from prolific new product launches? One word: slotting. These insidious fees that the mainstream retailers charge manufacturers to “buy” distribution in their stores are innovation-squashing anachronisms. It’s a form of sheltered income for retailers that, in my opinion, will be the death of the traditional retail segment.

While there were few (if any) true category innovations, I believe there were some brilliant new products at this year’s show.

Carb-Counting from Kraft
The biggest splash this year on the low carb front was the introduction of South Beach Diet products from Kraft. They’re using the licensed brand on new products in many categories in which they currently compete with branded products, such as cereals (Post), bars (Balance), pizza (DiGornio), and snacks (Nabisco). But the most interesting introduction is a line of frozen entrees, a category dominated by two other industry behemoths: Nestle (Lean Cuisine) and ConAgra (Healthy Choice) in which Kraft does not currently compete.

It will be interesting to see how South Beach Frozen Entrees fare against these brands, especially since South Beach food is, by definition, low on cheap ingredients like white rice, mashed potatoes, and pasta, and heavy on expensive ingredients such as beef, chicken, and nuts. I’m guessing they’re at a cost-disadvantage, but the brand is certainly worth some sort of premium. The question is how much.

Many people I talked to at the show thought it odd for Kraft to spend so much money, time, and effort on this major new brand launch when, arguably, the low carb train has left the station. I’m not so sure this is a bad thing. They certainly were the highest profile low carb brand at this year’s show. Perhaps the lack of competition will actually benefit them.

In reference to my rant about slotting above, I counted 29 new SKUs of South Beach Diet products from Kraft. Can you imagine the amount of slotting fees they had to pay to get these on shelf? Can you imagine how much more new product innovation and excitement Kraft could drive by spending that money elsewhere?!


Kraft’s licensing of South Beach Diet extends across categories.

Overall Theme: Multigrain & Whole Wheat
With the introduction of USDA’s new Food Pyramid (http://www.mypyramid.gov) which includes the recommendation to eat 3 or more servings of whole-grain products per day, companies that launched whole grain products are ahead of the game. The list of whole grain-containing new products was impressive:
• Kraft/Nabisco’s Multigrain Wheat Thins Chips
• Barilla Plus Multigrain High Fiber Omega-3 Fortified Pasta
• Monterey Pasta’s Whole Wheat Refrigerated, Filled Pastas
• Pepperidge Farm’s Whole Wheat Texas Toast
• Tam-X-icos Multigrain Tortillas
• Pillsbury Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls

Lundburg Family Farms has married 3 trends with the introduction of Lundberg’s Rice Express. This line of organic, ready-to-microwave whole grain brown rice side dishes is a great example of how to offer consumers healthier options in combination with the ultimate in convenience: ready-to-eat.

Overall Theme: Eat Your Fruits & Veggies
I’ve wondered for years why McCormick has watched other companies (Jennie-O, Reynolds, etc.) promote cooking bags when they were the first to integrate one into a consumer food product. Bag-N-Season has been on the market for over 30 years without a significant extension! This season (pun intended!) they introduced Veggie Steamers, a concept so on-trend I almost gave it my vote for “Best of Show.”

USDA’s recommendation to eat 2½ cups of vegetables a day has many consumers throwing their arms up in diet defeat. Products that make this task easier are going to do well. Veggie Steamers lets you toss fresh or frozen veggies with dry seasonings in a steamer bag, then cook them in the microwave. The bag means even kids can cook cheesy broccoli themselves without mess.

Birds Eye Fresh™, the produce arm of the original frozen food brand, launched Table Toppers, a line of fresh-cut vegetables that are ready to heat or use in a variety of applications. The line ranges from pre-cooked Fresh Sweet Potato Fries to a raw Squash Medley in ripple-cut rounds, to “washed and ready-to-prepare 100% usable” Asparagus. This is a great way to market vegetables to time-stressed consumers who are looking for healthy side dish options.

I always marvel at how consumers can consider apples and oranges so inconvenient that they need them pre-cut and pre-washed. What could be easier than washing and crunching into a whole apple? Well, I guess the answer is pre-cut apple slices. They’ve sure been a success at McDonalds! Sunkist has launched a wonderful product line called Fun Fruit. There are orange wedge Smiles, apple wedge Grins, and pineapple spear Pals. Single-serving bags of baby carrots helped increase overall carrot consumption, and I hope these fruit products do the same.

Cereal Toppers let you use those freeze-dried fruits that come in Kelloggs Special K Red Berries and Fruit Harvest to top just about anything. But I love that they targeted their marketing at the cereal usage occasion! As I’ve lamented before, products that try to be all things to all people end up being nothing to anyone. You’ve got to tell consumers what to do with your product.

Overall Theme: Ready-to-Eat Versions of Your Favorites
Hunt’s Manwiches are now as easy as nuke-and-serve. ConAgra has launched a refrigerated, fully-cooked version of this old-time classic in a re-sealable tub.

Steak-umm eXpress are ready-to-microwave fillings for the kinds of sandwiches you make in a skillet using the company’s original frozen steak slices. Varieties like Cheese Steak in Juices and Sliced Steak with Cheese & Onions are packaged 4 pouches per box.

First there was bottled spaghetti sauce. Then Ragu and Prego added meat to their shelf-stable sauces. Now you can enjoy Cucina Superiore, a refrigerated line of Hearty Meat Sauces. They come in convenient microwave trays. The line of Beef, Beef & Portobello, Creamy Chicken Parmesan, and Zesty Italian Sausage has complex, adult flavors and big chunks of meat and veggies. I love the rich, red wine flavor of the Beef & Portobello.

Cucina Superiore’s refrigerated Hearty Meat Sauces 
are an adult version of Ragu & Prego’s shelf-stable meat sauces.

Flavor Trend: Thai
Thai Kitchen has been importing Thai-style noodle and rice dishes from Asia for years. Their new Heat-N-Serve Noodle Bowls contain fully-cooked wheat noodles, an authentic sauce, and a crunchy topping like sesame seeds or roasted peanuts. Simply microwave and in 2-3 minutes you’ve got a dish that needs only the addition of fresh veggies or chicken strips to make it a complete meal. Thai Kitchen’s Noodle Cart serves up Thai street food using quick-hydrating rice noodles. Add hot water, wait 3 minutes, drain the water out of the unique perforated tray, then eat with the provided fork.

Kettle Chips makes a fantastic line of premium kettle-cooked potato chips. They were sampling a Spicy Thai potato chip that was delicious.

I also recommend Kettle’s Lowfat, Baked Krisps—which are sliced from fresh potatoes (not made from dehydrated flakes) and full of potato flavor. They’ve got 110 calories and only 1.5 g fat per serving. They are without doubt the best lowfat salty snack on the market.

Flavor Trend: S’mores
Pillsbury introduced a ready-to-bake Cookie Dough in S’mores flavor. Nestle introduced a Nesquick Milkshake in S’mores flavor. And Hershey’s has a S’mores Dessert Topping. I hope someone gives the Girl Scouts credit for introducing the world to this crave-able flavor combination.

Trend: Familiar Foods in New Colors
This is one of the trends I cite in a Culinary Food Trend presentation I’ve given to clients (for more information on this presentation, email Morningcup@foodcom.com). Nowhere is this better illustrated than the produce aisle.

BC Hot House’s Yellow and Orange Hydroponic Tomatoes are just exotic enough to entice without being too scary. Salyer has developed an Orange Cauliflower that adds interest to one of the most underutilized vegetables. Colorful Harvest was marketing a bag of ripple-sliced Rainbow Crunch Carrot Chips made from yellow, orange, and purple carrots.

Musco introduced a new Burgundy Olive, in a rich, red color. It’s the third leg of the olive stool: green, black, and now: red.

Soup’s On
I am a huge soup fan. When it’s just me for lunch or dinner, nothing satisfies like a big bowl of soup paired with crusty bread and cheese. Soup’s a low-calorie, convenient meal that has simply never caught on as a main course in this country—at least not with any kind of significant volume. My hypothesis is that soup in America has always meant canned. Canned soup, by virtue of its process, results in mushy textures. People aren’t satisfied by meals that don’t offer some kind of chewy, crunchy, textural component. The best way to deliver texture in soup? Frozen. This is what restaurants do, after all. So, while we’re not quite there yet, the industry is moving in the right direction…with a proliferation of refrigerated soups.

Monterey’s Casual Gourmet is a line of 14 chilled soups in varieties like Sweet Potato Bisque and White Bean Chicken Chili – sold in microwave bowls. Moosewood’s Organic Soups are packed in a pouch that’s tucked inside an attractive “sqround” ice cream container. I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that their Tibetan Curried Lentil Soup was the only product at the entire show offered in a Tibetan flavor variety.

My award for Best Public Relations Campaign goes to The Soup Man. You know the guy I’m talking about. He’s the Seinfeld Soup Nazi of “No soup for you!” fame. He’s a busy guy these days. He’s licensing his soup café concept to franchisees and has launched a line of ready-to-heat soups in stand-up gusseted bags. I like their strategy: the soups ship frozen, but it’s the retailer’s choice whether to merchandise them refrigerated or frozen. I tasted 2 of their soups and yes, they are good. But with the buzz in the booth, you’d have thought they were laced with gold flakes and delivered immortality upon the first sip. Who is this guy’s PR agency?! Whoever they are, hire them to create a buzz in YOUR booth next year. They’re better than the soups!

Will grocery consumers line up for The Soup Man soups?

The 800 Pound Soup Gorilla, Campbell’s, isn’t yet playing in refrigerated or frozen soups with their mother brand (Hello?!), but they did introduce a delicious line of smooth, aseptically-packed soups called Select Gold Label. The Red Pepper Black Bean was an unlikely combination that I enjoyed more than I thought I would.

Water or Not?
Coke and Pepsi are once again battling it out in the “near water” category. Boy, do I hate that term. For years, I’ve cringed every time I see Vitamin Water or Propel using the term “water” as part of their description. Almost every single beverage on the market contains water!! I hesitate to call these products waters or even water beverages (Coke’s term) because they’re not! Even if the drink is clear, once you add sweetener and flavor, the product is no longer water! It’s a soft drink. I can’t believe the Center for Science in the Public Interest hasn’t jumped all over the use of the word “water” in the marketing of these products.

Coke’s Lemon and Raspberry Dasani Flavored Water Beverages are non-carbonated drinks sweetened with Sucralose. Pepsi launched Aquafina FlavorSplash, a similar still beverage with Sucralose. Both are calorie-free.

Pepsi’s Aquafina Sparkling, on the other hand, is simply carbonated water and natural flavor. No calories. But more importantly, no sweetener.

Pepsi’s Gatorade stuck close to home with a simple line extension called Gatorade Endurance Formula with twice the sodium and three times the potassium of the original isotonic. I’d imagine the market for this as a functional beverage is small. I’m a regular consumer of Gatorade, and I immediately tasted the additional sodium. I’m not quite sure why consumers would buy a saltier version of Gatorade if they’re not running a marathon, which of course, most of us don’t do on a regular basis!

The Growing Crisps Format
Oberto’s Beef Jerky Crisps arguably represent one of the only “new category” creations. Oberto has created a hybrid category of snacks: thin, crispy beef jerky chips. These potato chip-thin slices of real beef are much less messy to eat than real jerky. They eat like chips, but taste like jerky. They are high in protein, low in fat, and problematic only for those on a low sodium diet. If you’ve got room in your diet for a (very) salty snack, these Beef Jerky Crisps will fit the bill.

While I think the Beef Jerky Crisps are a bit more unique, I love the flavor, texture, and appearance of The Snack Factory’s Pretzel Crisps. Each looks like a tiny pretzel that had a run-in with a steamroller. These flat crisps are perfect for dipping into chunky salsa or scooping up gooey spinach dip.

Last year I wrote with enthusiasm about Kraft’s 100 Calorie Packs. And this year, they launched Honey Maid Cinnamon Thin Crisps, another sweet option in the line. I guess the concept of calorie-controlled packaging has been a hit with consumers.


Unique Umami Potentiator
I am a big fan of the “5th Flavor”: umami. It’s the savory, meaty flavor that comes from glutamates. This meatiness can be enhanced by adding monosodium glutamate. But glutamates also occur naturally in foods such as soy sauce, meats, tomatoes, parmesan cheese, and mushrooms. Schroom Powder is made from dried, powdered mushrooms and nothing else. It adds a depth of flavor to other foods in the same way that salt does. I love this idea and hope it’s successful.

New Spice Format
McCormick’s Skillet Paste is a thick, squeezable paste for making skillet meals. The form is a sort of midpoint between dry seasonings and liquid sauces. Thai curry pastes have been used for years in Asia. I hope this new format succeeds here because I think there’s a world of uses for pastes beyond the skillet…

Tamales are Picante!
There is a new restaurant in San Francisco called Tamal, specializing in tamales. And I’m beginning to see tamales show up on white tablecloth menus. I think tamales are ready for mainstream success. Goya, the leader in many Hispanic foods categories, has introduced a delicious, frozen, ready-to-microwave Tamale. Could this be the next burrito?

(Coco)Nuts About a New Beverage
Zico is a Brazilian sports drink that’s truly new and different. It’s 100% natural coconut water: the stuff inside the coconut when you crack it open. Most people think that’s coconut milk, but it’s not. Coconut milk is the high-fat pressing of the coconut flesh. Zico Coconut Water has only 60 calories per 11 oz serving. It’s fat-free and has more potassium than a banana. I wish the product had a little bit more acid bite, but I’ll sacrifice that knowing it tastes the way Mother Nature made it without adulteration.

Not only is Zico the first ready-to-drink coconut water I’ve ever tasted, it’s packaged in a Tetra Prisma, a ballsy move by this company. The Prisma has yet to catch on in North America. Some think the “juice box” material is simply unappealing to drink from. I think it’s because no one has ever marketed a product that people want to drink from it!

Sweet Things
General Mills introduced a line of shelf-stable single-serve desserts under the Betty Crocker brand, called Warm Delights. I took one home and mixed it up with the required ¼ cup of water. After 75 seconds in the microwave, and 5 interminable minutes in which the product has to stand and cool, I dug in. I am not a chocoholic, but the Molten Chocolate Cake was pretty darn good. It’s hot and smells divine, two things that go a long way toward satisfying a chocolate craving. I think it’s a pretty good alternative to a scoop of ice cream or Snickers bar. I give this product creativity points for application of technology in combination with lots of trends (single-serving sizes, little indulgences, convenience).

Blue Bunny introduced a soft-serve cup dessert called Blendz. The product is soft and spoonable straight from the freezer. I love the combination of textures that comes from blending inclusions like peanut butter cups and toffee into the soft-serve.

Nestle’s venerable Toll House brand is the leader in chocolate chips for baking. Their new Swirled Morsels are beautiful and taste so good, I’d be afraid to buy a bag to make cookies. I’m not sure there would be enough left to complete the recipe by the time I got home from the store-- especially the peanut butter and chocolate variety, which tastes like a peanut butter cup. Yum.

Cookies
Hershey’s introduced a line of Milk Chocolate-dipped Cookies in flavors like Reese’s, Almond Joy, and York Peppermint Patty. What? You thought Hershey’s already sold cookies? Me, too. And whenever I have this reaction to a new product introduction, I know it’s going to succeed. Some brands and categories just fit. Hershey’s + cookies = Yum.

Poore Brothers has licensed the Cinnabon brand for a new line of Cinnabon Cookies. I wasn’t crazy about the packaging or the product. Cinnabon is a great brand, with high consumer expectations, and I just don’t think these deliver on that promise.

Pepperidge Farm’s Whims are crispy cookie clusters and crisps. I love this idea. The Chocolate Chip cluster was so light, crispy, and snackable I didn’t feel like I was eating cookies. And isn’t that just the sort of guilt relief we’re all looking for these days?

If you like Fudge-Covered Oreos, don’t even attempt to eat just one Pure Milk Chocolate Covered Oreos, a limited edition cookie offered by Nabisco. Don’t. Even. Try.

Most Obvious Flavor Award
Marzetti gets my award for creating 2 new, obvious flavors for salad dressings and dips: Buffalo Ranch and Buffalo Blue Cheese. Now, why didn’t I think of that?

Worth Cheating For
For a 2005 Institute of Food Technologists conference, we conducted a study with 4500 consumers regarding diet preferences (for more information on this study, email morningcup@foodcom.com). One of our findings is that 85% of the consumers who say they are on a diet cheat on that diet. Even more surprisingly, when asked what their favorite cheating food is, many of them said bread. When did bread become a cheating food? During last year’s low carb bonanza, of course. So, Alexia’s line of frozen Artisan Breads is positioned well, in my mind. If consumers are going to indulge in bread, it had better be worth it. And Alexia’s bread is that good. Their squares of Ciabbata or 3-Cheese Focaccia are almost as good as what you get in some restaurants, and better than what you get in many.


Organics
This year, there was a separate hall for the organic food trade. I wish I had more to report, but for the most part, organic food producers are simply introducing organic versions of the mainstream products you see on the shelves of Safeway, Albertson’s, Kroger, and Wal-Mart.






































In the interest of maintaining journalistic integrity, I’d like to disclose that the following companies mentioned in this report are current Mattson clients. This does not in any way indicate that we have or have not worked on the products mentioned here:
Coca-Cola, Unilever, Kelloggs, Nestle, Pepperidge Farm, 
Pepsi, Superior Farms, Lundberg Family Farms, Kraft

Posted: Sat - August 13, 2005 at 03:47 PM        

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