Smart Food Insights

Some of our team had the chance to spend the past three days at the SmartFood Expo™ in Chicago. Food industry leaders and innovators converged for education sessions, networking and a product showcase where the future of fresh, healthy and better-for-you options were on display.

Here are some of our favorite insights from the conference:

Flavor Trends:

• Look at food trends from restaurants. Good trends always start on the food service side and then move into CPG and retail. Find a way to make that food service trend relevant for your audience.
• There’s been a rise in probiotics in confectionery and snacks.
• Coffee and tea flavors are popping up in snacks.
• Filipino food is having a moment. Specifically street food flavors.
• Seeing blurring lines of food service. It’s meeting retail with in-shop concepts (ex: Urban Outfitters now has cafe)
• Allergen-friendly, protein rich snacks for children are showing immense growth
• Fox nuts are new superfood. They are lotus flower seeds.

Packaging Trends:

• Private label products continue to show massive growth. Millennials are a big driver for this.
• WHERE a product is made and WHO makes it matters to consumers.
• For packaging, people valued seeing the product over seeing the company or product brand logos. They also want bigger product descriptions.
• Real ingredients are important to consumers and they want to see this highlighted on packaging.
• The term “thin” on packaging is a growing trend
• Vegan is showing the biggest growth for claims.

Industry Stats:

• 88% of scientists are now in defense of GMOs. This is up from 30% a few years ago.
• 80% of 18-34 year olds spend 25% of their disposable income on health products and services.
• 62% of Gen Y believe that you have to have a health component to your brand.
• US average daily protein consumption is 61g. Meat is 25g of that.
• Savory snacks will be up 2.5% for protein sources.
• Flexitarians are a huge trend right now
• There’s a big retail dilemma now: consumers want to eat better, BUT better for you items items do not turn well (poor velocity).