Supermarket Guru Forecasts a Back-to-Basics Approach For U.S. Food Brands in 2010
December 08 2009 - 10:48AM
PR Newswire (US)
ConAgra Foods Reveals Phil Lempert's Top Food Trends for the New
Year OMAHA, Neb., Dec. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- There is a new reality
when it comes to grocery shopping in the U.S. - consumers want
simple foods they can prepare at home and that don't compromise on
quality. This shift comes at a time when many people hope that the
pains of the recession are fading away and that they will have more
money to spend on food in 2010. Americans now expect their favorite
brands to deliver simple and straightforward foods that taste great
to the entire family. Food brands understand that without
consumers' trust, their future is bleak. Phil Lempert, the
Supermarket Guru®, works closely with ConAgra Foods and its
retailers to analyze trends in the industry. Lately, he has seen
many brands go back to their roots for inspiration or slim down
their ingredient labels to provide the utmost quality to customers.
"Americans are taking a hard look at every aspect of their food,
from where it comes from to what's on the ingredient label," said
Lempert. "Major brands are responding in positive ways to ensure
they meet these consumer demands in 2010." Lempert has compiled his
observations into seven trends that Americans can expect to see in
2010: -- Less is More - Food brands will continue to use "real
foods" on ingredient labels while also shortening the label's
length - less is more in the eye of the shopper. ConAgra Foods, for
example, announced plans to reduce the use of salt by 20 percent
across its entire portfolio of food products by 2015. It's already
reduced the sodium levels in Orville Redenbacher's SmartPop! line
of microwave popcorn 30 percent. And, with 25 percent of the U.S.
population reaching 55 and older by 2010, this will be a welcome
change for health-conscious boomers. -- The Changing Face of
Private Label - In the wake of the recession, many Americans
switched to private label or store brands because they offer better
prices. In 2010, major food brands will develop co-branded private
label foods with retailers that will feature brands' key
ingredients. This will fuel industry innovation while putting major
food companies back in grocery carts. -- Getting Back to Basics -
In 2009, the economy sent millions of Americans back into the
kitchen to prepare meals for their families. Couple that with the
successful film Julie and Julia and we know that Americans have
definitively returned to home cooking. Americans have shifted away
from the art and glamour of meal preparation and are now focused on
preparing easy, great-tasting meals to nourish their families. The
purer the ingredients and the less complex the ingredient label,
the better. Brands that are setting the trend include Healthy
Choice® All Natural Entrées, Peter Pan® peanut butter and
Haagen-Dazs. -- The Butcher's Back - Now more than ever, people
want to know where their food is coming from, especially in the
meat case where the labels can often list multiple countries of
origin. Expect a renewed interest in local butchers, long viewed as
a figment of the past, who almost always sell American-raised meat.
Not only that, but at the butcher's counter, shoppers can select
the cuts of meat they prefer and have them ground or sliced on
demand. -- Power of the Collective - The 2009 Women and Social
Media Study by BlogHer.com, iVilliage.com and Compass Partners
reports that 75 percent of women visit social networks such as
Facebook and MySpace, a world that is expanding to include husbands
and grandparents. Expect that more shoppers will depend less on
advertising and more on social networking and word-of-mouth to help
them make decisions on what foods to buy. -- Relaxation Foods -
More brands will focus on positioning their products as
"relaxation" foods rather than "comfort," with the message of
helping people relax and unwind. Look for this trend to quickly
move to other categories, including "anti-energy" bars and snack
foods, and it may even spawn a resurgence of calming after-dinner
beverages. 2010 will bring continued innovation from the food
industry as brands continue to work hard to meeting shoppers needs.
The good news for American consumers is that brands are listening
and are working to answer the collective call for healthful,
quality foods at low costs. For more information about Phil
Lempert's predictions, visit supermarketguru.com. ABOUT CONAGRA
FOODS ConAgra Foods, Inc., (NYSE:CAG) is one of North America's
leading food companies, with brands in 97 percent of America's
households. Consumers find Banquet, Chef Boyardee, Egg Beaters,
Healthy Choice, Hebrew National, Hunt's, Marie Callender's, Orville
Redenbacher's, PAM, Peter Pan, Reddi-wip and many ConAgra Foods
brands in grocery, convenience, mass merchandise and club stores.
ConAgra Foods also has a strong business-to-business presence,
supplying potato, other vegetable, spice and grain products to a
variety of well-known restaurants, foodservice operators and
commercial customers. For more information, please visit us at
http://www.conagrafoods.com/. ABOUT PHIL LEMPERT Phil Lempert, also
known as The Supermarket Guru ®, is an expert analyst on consumer
behavior, marketing trends, new products and the changing retail
landscape. Mr. Lempert is the editor of The Lempert Report and
SupermarketGuru.com, and reports on the latest food trends at media
outlets such as NBC's "Today" show, and ABC's "The View". He also
serves as a spokesperson for ConAgra Foods. For more information,
please visit http://www.supermarketguru.com/. DATASOURCE: ConAgra
Foods CONTACT: Ginny Brocker of Ketchum, +1-312-228-6823, , for
ConAgra Foods; or Sue Burke of ConAgra Foods, +1-630-857-1347, Web
Site: http://www.conagrafoods.com/ http://www.supermarketguru.com/
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