Apparently, not enough. According to a study just out from Ipsos Marketing, nearly 90% of shoppers want to try a new food or beverage item, yet only 26% believe the category is very innovative.
I don't know about you but I find that second statistic strikingly low. So I thought I'd take a quick poll of my own, and asked some of my family who I am visiting with this week what food/beverage innovations they could think of. WIthout missing a beat we made quite a list. We included such items as salad spritzers, portion-controlled snack packs, ready-to-eat veggies and fruits in single serve packs, lower calorie sports drinks, flavored mixes for water, new grip plastic cups, smaller size soda cans, scoop-shaped chips and combination fruit/vegetable drinks, to name a few.
One thing we noticed was that many had to do with packaging innovations which while adding convenience, also added cost and in some cases chemical preservatives. We also noticed that several of the ones we mentioned involved portion control. Of course we were all women answering the question, and half of us are over age 40 so we are concerned about maintaining our weight/health and taking care of our kids. My younger niece commented that she was trying to get back to basics and shopping the outer rim of the grocery store where the healthier, fresher items existed. She wondered aloud why there weren't more innovations in this area? Was portion control really necessary? Couldn't we all portion out the proper amounts in our own reusable serving items? Ah, the wisdom of youth.
What do you find innovative in your pantry these days? Do you think the industry is doing enough to make healthy eating easier and more affordable for everyone? Should that be their focus?
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