Archive For The “Health” Category
A global survey of consumers shows that shoppers across consider fresh foods a very important component in shopping decision.
A survey of shoppers in 58 countries across the globe revealed that fresh food continues to play an increasingly important role in the shopping decisions of most consumers.
The Nielsen Shopper Trends Survey was conducted in 58 countries around the world covering 54 markets including 87,000 respondents. The survey was conducted online or with face-to-face follow-up in home interviews.
“Fresh foods continue to maintain healthy sales contributions at retail. In fact, fresh foods can comprise between 30-60 percent of total food, grocery and personal care expenses on average, depending on country and type of fresh product,” the report states
Asian shoppers head consumption while USA. shoppers were at the bottom as fresh foods constitute about 30 percent of grocery sales in America.
Shoppers around the world generally listed “good value” as one of their top three reasons for shopping a specific store for their fresh foods. Over half (52 percent) of respondents to the 2012 survey said that rising food prices affect their purchasing of fresh foods.
Consumers listed a variety of reasons why they shop at a specific retailer, with the top 10 drivers being enjoyable shopper experience; one-stop shopping; well-stocked inventory; good value for the money; pleasant store environment; excellent customer service; wide variety of products; high-quality fresh food; wide range of fruit and vegetables; and high-quality premium brands.
Globally, fresh food is a high-traffic builder as the average shopper heads to a market 2.5 times per week to buy fresh foods. Shopping trips are most frequent for the sub-category fruits and vegetables sector at an average of 3.2 times per week.
The survey found that convenience is the number one reason for shopping at a certain place in the United States. Americans shop for fresh foods less frequently than other respondents, but fresh foods are continuing to gain greater traction.
Fresh produce represents about one-third of all fresh food sales in the United States, surpassed only by meat, but besting bakery, deli and seafood categories.
Nielsen researchers project by 2016, the traditional grocery store will have a 64 percent market share of fresh food retail sales. That will represent a 2 percent drop from 2012. During that four-year period, market share of fresh food sales for supercenters will rise 1 percent to a total of 15 percent, while warehouse and club stores will see a 2 percent increase in their market share of the category to 12 percent.
Tthe Nielsen report states that “fresh is increasingly growing in non-grocery channels as a greater availability and assortment of fresh products across retail channels respond to consumer demands. Savvy retailers understand that consumers want the option to choose fresh foods anywhere, and they are fighting for the fresh share of wallet.”
by M. H. Traka, Institute of Food Research
Field trials and genetic studies have shown that a new variety of broccoli reliably yields higher levels of a health-promoting compound.
Broccoli contains a compound called glucoraphanin, which has been shown to promote health by maintaining cardiovascular health and a reduction in the risk of cancer. A long term breeding program to increase glucoraphanin levels has resulted in the commercial release of Beneforté broccoli. Beneforté was developed by crossing standard broccoli with a wild relative derived from Sicily.
Publicly funded research to develop Beneforté broccoli was led by two of the UK’s world-leading biological research institutes: the Institute of Food Research and the John Innes Centre, on the Norwich Research Park. They both receive strategic funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).
Three years of field trials at over 50 different sites in Europe and the United States have shown that Beneforté broccoli consistently produces 2-3 times the amount of glucoraphanin than other leading varieties of broccoli, without affecting yield, quality or the levels of other nutrients.
It’s time for college bowl games! Football fans across the nation will head to their favorite grocery stores to purchase tailgating and party supplies, such as hot dogs, chips, avocados and Concord Foods Guacamole Mixes. Guacamole is one of the most popular food items for tailgating. Stores should prepare for the football bowl games and playoffs, by creating prominent displays of avocados, tomatoes and popular tie-in items, such as Concord Foods Guacamole Mixes.
“Concord Foods Guacamole Mix is great for football parties and tailgating because it is quick and simple to prepare and tastes delicious. Just add two avocados to Concord Foods’ blend of spices for guacamole dip that is ready in minutes.” said Charles Olins, VP Sales and Marketing at Concord Foods. Concord Foods Guacamole Mix is available in grocery store produce departments nationwide and comes in five great flavors: Mild, Extra Spicy, Classic Mild, Classic Extra Spicy and Authentic. In the spirit of football season, Concord Foods has an attractive football-themed shipper display available and some great tailgating recipes available online.
“We’ve developed some amazing tailgating recipes that use guacamole mix, such as Fully Loaded Nachos or the Great Guacamole Burger.” Said Samantha McCaul, Marketing Manager at Concord Foods. “These recipes are easy-to-prepare and great for tailgating. They are available on our website and Facebook page.”
Concord Foods Guacamole Mixes are available in 18 packs and 144 pack floor shippers. Distribution channels include retail grocery stores, mass merchandisers and club stores in the U.S.
ABOUT CONCORD FOODS
Concord Foods Incorporated is a leading supplier of retail food products and custom ingredients to nationally recognized supermarkets, food service operators and leading food manufacturers. Concord Foods retail division offers a wide variety of produce friendly items from Candy Apple Kits to produce seasoning mixes. Consumers count on our quality products to glaze pies, create guacamole and batter onion rings. For more information, please visit www.concordfoods.com.
Source: Concord Foods Incorporated
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Each Christmas Eve, tradition holds that children leave out a plate of milk and cookies for Santa. During the night Santa Claus might visit in excess of 125 million homes. (Estimates vary.) Should he eat merely a single cookie in each visit, at an average of 100 calories per cookie, Bolthouse Farms analysts estimate that Santa may consume as many as 12.5 billion empty calories in a single night. This season, Bolthouse Farms is encouraging Santa Claus to make a smarter food choice.
Children who learn to make smart food choices at an early age tend to thrive. Childhood obesity rates have tripled over the past three decades[1] and research shows that kids are consuming 5-15% more sugar per day than dietary guidelines allow.[2] To combat the sugar craze, experts recommend making smart food choices, like limiting desserts, sweets and sugary cereals and checking nutrition labels to ensure that sugar isn’t a main ingredient.[3] As sugar is undoubtedly the primary ingredient in the 125 million cookies Santa may consume on Christmas Eve, this gives American parents an ideal moment to discuss food choices.
Bolthouse Farms’ Cut and Peeled Baby Carrots will be repackaged this December as the “Official Snack of Santa.” The holiday carrots will be available exclusively at Wal-Mart stores nationwide. At 35 calories per serving and full of Vitamin A and beta carotene, baby carrots give Santa and his reindeer the nutritious edge needed to navigate their global journey. With a satisfying crunch that pairs well with favorite holiday dips and dressings, baby carrots are an ideal snack for “all the good boys and girls,” young and old.
“We are sympathetic to Santa and we love cookies, too. But we’re sure Mrs. Claus would welcome it if Santa cut down on the empty calories,” said Jeff Dunn, chief executive officer, Bolthouse Farms. “Even small food choices, made the right way day after day, can have a positive, lasting impact.”
To complement its holiday campaign, Bolthouse Farms is helping to raise funds for Action Against Hunger, a global humanitarian organization committed to ending hunger and developing sustainable nutritionsolutions. Beginning on November 26 and running for one month, Bolthouse Farms asks consumers to help Santa fight hunger by pledging their support on www.facebook.com/bolthousefarms. For every pledge, Bolthouse Farms will donate $1 to Action Against Hunger, up to $25,000.
“The people at Action Against Hunger are putting every resource at their disposal towards the fight against hunger, and we’re proud to support them,” said Bolthouse Farms’ Jeff Dunn. “For some communities, of course, food choices are not a choice at all – access to food and clean water are limited. For other communities, more options exist, and children can learn at an early age to make choices that keep them healthy and engaged.”
Bolthouse Farms is a health-and-wellness focused company. Headquartered in California’s San Joaquin Valley, Bolthouse has grown to become America’s premier producer of carrots, as well as a category leader in super-premium juices, smoothies, protein shakes, cafe beverages and premium refrigerated dressings.
- Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Kit BK, Flegal KM. Prevalence of obesity and trends in body mass index among US children and adolescents, 1999-2010. JAMA. 2012;307:483-90.
- Dietary Guidelines for Americans, health.gov
- Mayo Clinic, http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/kids-and-sugar/MY02029
About Bolthouse Farms
Bolthouse Farms is a farm located in California’s fertile San Joaquin Valley, known for high-quality consumer brands and innovative products. Bolthouse Farms is a market share leader in growing and distributing carrots. In addition, Bolthouse Farms produces and sells super-premium juices, smoothies, protein shakes and cafe beverages under the Bolthouse Farms brand name. In recent years, Bolthouse Farms diversified its offerings by launching a line of premium refrigerated yogurt dressings and extra virgin olive oil vinaigrettes. The Bolthouse Farms mission is to Inspire the Fresh Revolution™ and change the way people consume healthy foods and beverages. The company was acquired by Campbell Soup Company on Aug. 6, 2012. To learn more about the company’s mission and see the entire line of current products, visit www.bolthouse.com.
About Action Against Hunger
Action Against Hunger is a global humanitarian organization that works to save the lives of acutely malnourished children and ensure that communities have long-term access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene. By providing immediate assistance during times of emergency while integrating our programs into local and national systems for sustainability, we aim to restore health, self-sufficiency, and independence to vulnerable populations around the world.
Source: Bolthouse Farms
LOS ALAMITOS, CALIFORNIA –Traditional recipes from Hanukkah’s potato Latkes to Christmas morning pancakes, have been given a fresh twist with Stokes Purple ® Sweet Potatoes, distributed by Frieda’s.
The line of new recipes was created for Frieda’s Inc., by Los Angeles bloggers Erika Penzer Kerekes of the cooking site, InErikasKitchen.com and vegan blogger Carolyn Scott Hamilton of The Healthy Voyager. The recipes highlight the versatility of the sweet and savory Stokes Purple®Sweet Potato.
“Frieda’s encourages produce retailers to include Purple Sweet Potatoes in their potato displays. Not only are they a nice color break, but they will create more impulse sales for the entire potato category. Their bold purple color is a wonderful addition to the holiday table,” says Karen Caplan, President and CEO of Frieda’s, Inc.
Frieda’s new line of Stokes Purple® Sweet Potato recipes includes Sweet Potato Latkes, Sweet Potato Pancakes with Bacon, Sweet Potato Muffins, Sweet Potato Vegan Bisque and Vegan Mashed Potatoes.
In addition to the recipes, Frieda’s also recently created a YouTube video featuring the Stokes Purple® at www.youtube.com/friedasproduce
About Frieda’s Inc.
Frieda’s Inc. celebrates 50 years of innovation in fresh produce. Founded in 1962 by Frieda Caplan, Frieda’s was the first wholesale produce company in the U.S. to be founded, owned and operated by a woman, and is still a family- and women-owned business today. With the mission of changing the way America eats fruits and vegetables, Frieda’s has introduced more than 200 specialty items to U.S. produce departments, including Kiwifruit, Spaghetti Squash, Habanero Peppers, Black Garlic and many more. Learn more at www.friedas.com
CONNECT WITH FRIEDA’S:
Twitter: @FriedasProduce
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/FriedasSpecialtyProduce
Blog: http://whatsonkarensplate.blogspot.com
YouTube : www.youtube.com/friedasproduce
Source: Frieda’s Inc.
In case you haven’t noticed strawberries in retail supermarket are costing about 30 percent more, or about a dollar more per 16 ounce claimshell package, than only a few weeks ago. After a summer of plentiful supplies, this is the time of year when strawberry production is in a transition from the bountiful fields at Watsonville, CA to areas further south, such as Ventura and Orange counties, as well as in Mexico. It will be the first of the year before supplies increase, and perhaps some break in what you are paying in the stores.
Long gone are days of 99-cent-per-pound apples. Yet, this fruit is one of the better buys in produce departments. Despite a freeze wiping out the vast majority of apples in Michigan last spring, plus cold weather hitting New York apples hard, the nation should have nine percent more apples than a year ago – thanks to a humongous crop in Washington state. Still it depends on the variety, what you will pay. For example, two of my favorites, the Gala and the fuji apples are selling at my store for $1.77 per pound. However, another favorite of mine, the Ambrosia apples, costs about 50 percent more.
Table grapes have been another wonderful eating experience this year. California’s crop has been so sweet and cruncy I sure hate to see the season end. I’m noticing the late season grapes from California are not quit as good as the super tasting product that has been available for month. Grapes also have been one of the best buys in the produce department. The California product will soon be replaced by grapes from Chile. We can only hope Chile has as good a crop.
Other good buys in the produce department continue to be bananas and kiwifruit.
Fresh fruit and vegetable retail prices in 2012 were generally lower, according to a recently released government report.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service reports lower fruit and vegetable prices resulting in overall retail prices for food being kept in line through October this year.
From January through October , average food-at-home prices have been flat because deflation in the fresh fruit and vegetable arena and lower prices for milk and pork, the USDA ERS said in a food price outlook report issued in late November. By contrast, beef, veal, poultry, fat and oil prices have been higher.
The inflation forecast for both all food and food-at-home prices in 2012 is 2.5 to 3.5 percent. Lower prices were particularly pronounced for vegetables in 2012, according to the USDA ERS.
The fresh vegetable consumer price index increased 0.6 percent, however it has dropped about every month in 2012. Compared with 2011 year ago, fresh vegetable prices are down 3.2 percent on average, due primarily by a 10.9 percent drop in potato prices, a 4.1 oercent decline in lettuce and a 1.7 percent slide in tomato prices. Other fresh vegetable prices were down 0.7 percent.
Warmer weather and favorable growing conditions in 2012 combined to increase yield and lower prices compared with year-ago levels.
An expected seasonal increase in prices during the second half of 2012 has been less than predicted, and because of that the USDA now expects fresh vegetable prices to fall 4 percent to 5 percent in 2012. The fresh fruit price index is up 2.1 percent from October 2011, and the USDA projected fresh fruit prices for 2012 are now projected to fall between 1 percent and 2 percent.
Compared with October 2011, the USDA said retail apple prices are up 6.4 percent, with banana prices 1.4 percent lower, citrus prices 0.1 percent higher and other fresh fruit commodities up 1.3 percent in retail price.
Prices increases overall of 3 to 4 percent for fresh produce is projected in 2013 by the USDA. The agency sees an increase of 3 to to 4 percent for fresh fruit and 4 to 5 percent for fresh vegetables.
Overall food price inflation for 2013 is projected between 3 and 4 percent. Prices for food served away from home are projected to increase 2.5 to 3.5 percent in 2013, while prices for food served at home are expected to increase 3 to 4 percent.
Apple marketers from around the world have joined forces to bring red-flesh apples to market within five years.
In October, 12 marketers from five continents created IFORED, a consortium whose goal is to produce and market several varieties of red-flesh apples.
The new company is an offshoot of Angers, France-based International Fruit Obtention (IFO), a company dedicated to the development of new fruit varieties.
Representing North America in IFORED is Next Big Thing, a grower cooperative formed by Lake City, Minn.-based Pepin Heights Orchards in 2006 to grow and market the SweeTango apple variety. Next Big Thing is made up of about 45 U.S. and Canadian growers.
Next Best Thing’s president, Tim Byrne, attended the October meeting in France where IFORED was formed. He estimated that 85-90 percent of his growers will grow red-fleshed varieties, and said they should be on North American retail shelves in four or five years.
“There’s some real strong commercial promise” in several of the 22 red-flesh varieties Byrne and four other Next Big Thing representatives tried in France in October, he said.
In addition to the distinctive flesh color, several varieties feature unique flavors, including notes of strawberries, mangoes and citrus, Byrne said.
The first North American test plots of red-flesh apples will be planted by Next Big Thing growers next spring, Byrne said.
IFO has worked for 20 years on its red-flesh varieties. Varieties expected to go into production were chosen for their low astringency, large size, increased sugar content, more uniform appearance and improved internal quality, storage and shelf-life.
Varieties have different levels of sweetness and tanginess, and different colored flesh and skin. Flesh colors range from 30 percent pink to full red. Skin colors include red, orange, yellow and bi-colored.
Strawberries continue to be a favorite of consumers, as well as other berries ranging from raspberries to blueberries and blackberries. The popularity of each continues to increase. The fruit not only is tasty, but healthy.
The agricultural lending company Rabobank sees retail berry sales continuing to incrase by seven percent annually for the next three years.
Rabobank’s Food and Agribusiness Research and Advisory group recently released a report, titled “The U.S. Fresh Berry Boom — Who Will Profit from the Growth?”
No surprising is the report notes California will continue to be the leading producer of fresh berries for strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. Sharpest gains in recent years have been with strawberries and blueberries.
California produces 88 percent of the country’s fresh strawberries and significant portions of fresh blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. Florida is also a significant producer of fresh berries.
During the fall and winter months strawberry and blueberry importes from Mexico and Chile compete directly with Florida’s season. Chile now accounts for over 50 percent of imported blueberries.
Consumers are now purchasing more berries that been grown south from British Columbia and continuing all the way south along the coast to Chile. This shift will continue following seasonal patterns, but also seeing increased volume in the more southern regions.
Over the past five years, California has shown tremendous growth in strawberry production the past five years. In 2008, the state produced 114 million cartons of strawberries, which grew to 181 million cartons in 2010. In 2011, volume actually slipped to 178 million cartons but this year, but in 2013, the total volume should be in the 190 million carton range.
The majority of those gains come from increased yields. California’s strawberry acreage totalled 36,519 acres in 2008, but was down to 37,732 acres this year.
It is a different story for blueberries. Worldwide statistics show total world acreage of blueberries has grown significantly over the years. It has quadrupled in the past 15 years and now sits near 200,000 acres with most of that being in North and South America. The Americas represent close to 80 percent of the world’s blueberry acreage and production.
More consumers are realizing the healthy benefits of eating nuts.
A record crop of around 550 million pounds of pistachios is projected as the 2012 harvest nearing completion. Pistachio growers in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada are expecting huge demand from consumers.
There are currently about 250,000 acres of pistachios planted in the four states (98 percent of that is in California), and currently only 145,000 acres are producing crops. Based on industry data, the current plantings are expected to boost the crop size to 800 million pounds by 2016, double what it was in 2009.
About 60 percent of the total USA pistachio volume is exported mostly to China and to the European Union.
In the USA there are sponsorships of the American men’s and women’s water polo teams. The women’s team won the gold medal at the recent London Olympics.
There also continues to be sponsorship of the Miss California Pageant, with the idea of tying in with Miss California on the beauty and fitness side of eating pistachios.
The pistachio industry also is involved in sponsoring various nutrition and health studies. Previous studies have focused on benefits to cardiovascular health and on lowering of cholesterol by eating pistachios.
Pistachios are not alone in the nut category in terms of experiencing growing global demand. All tree nuts, whether it be almonds or walnuts or pistachios, seem to be doing well.