According to the new report, "Food Flavors and Ingredients Outlook 2010," by market research publisher Packaged Facts, frugal behaviors adopted during the recession reflect a new normal regarding consumer shopping, dining, and eating preferences.
In a press release, retailers, manufacturers and foodservice operators are expected to continue to appeal to lingering thriftiness, capitalizing on recession-induced developments, such as the surge in popularity of food trucks, which several high-end restaurants have used to introduce less expensive versions of existing menu items from their sit-down establishments -- and which increasingly feature gourmet cuisine prepared by chefs with impressive credentials.
Meanwhile, the continuing, prevailing barrage of dining deals and dollar and value menus, and a sense that everything is on sale, will likely continue at least until the economic recovery, which is expected in late 2010 or into 2011.
Packaged Facts predicts that one of the more enduring trends coming out of the recession will be simplification in all facets of life, food included. Underperforming brands, flavors, or varieties will be yanked off the shelf. More food and beverage manufacturers are also expected to jump on the product reformulation bandwagon, offering new products with a reduced number of ingredients and substitutions that look less like chemicals and more like ingredients that convey the message that the products are healthier, fresher, more natural, and better tasting.
This can clearly be seen with such new ingredients as the stevia sweetener, marketed as Truvia (Coca-Cola/Cargill), Sun Crystals (Johnson & Johnson's McNeil Nutritionals), and PureVia. It's interesting that Johnson & Johnson jumped into marketing stevia after having launched Splenda -- a sugar derivative -- only 7 years earlier.
That frugal behaviors go hand in hand with the demand for gourmet and more natural foods will be a problem big food companies will be hard-pressed to solve. They certainly have the deep pockets -- and deep marketing intelligence -- to figure it out.
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