How Millennials are driving movement for clean labels on our food – Chicago Tribune

Posted by on Feb 18th, 2016 and filed under Natural Products News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

How Millennials are driving movement for clean labels on our food – Chicago Tribune

Blue and green will no longer be among the bright colors tinting the milk in your morning bowl of Trix. The orange glow of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, will come from paprika, turmeric and annatto instead of synthetic colors. The waft of richness released when biting into a Nestle Crunch bar will come in part from natural vanilla flavor rather than artificial vanillin.

The food movement that gained momentum last year is barreling into 2016, with manufacturers, retailers and restaurants continuing to announce switches to more natural foods with fewer artificial ingredients. The new formulations might look or taste slightly different, or have a shorter shelf life. They almost surely have cost more to make, although store prices likely will remain the same. Those are tradeoffs that foodmakers are gambling will pay off to reverse reverse slowing growth among some established food brands.

Although what and how we eat emerged as a political and social platform decades ago, scrutiny of the U.S. food supply has intensified. Authors, chefs and even first lady Michelle Obama have combined their voices in a unified, albeit loosely organized, message about improving the American diet. Calls for “clean labels” are just one part of the campaign, which also pushes for environmental sustainability and workers’ rights.

Ingredient lists, however, sit squarely in the center of many consumers’ minds. Rising incidence of food allergies and controversies, such as the “yoga mat” chemical that Subway pulled from its bread, have them reading labels closely. The recent news about significant amounts of wood fiber in packaged grated Parmesan is yet another example. Savvy marketers have leveraged concerns about artificial additives into a competitive advantage, with help from feel-good terms such as “natural” and “simple” that lack strict legal definitions.

“The way people think about food is changing,” said Lauren Pradhan, senior marketing manager, wellness strategy and renovation, for General Mills’ cereal division. “We’re listening and want to remove obstacles that prevent people from being able to enjoy our cereals.”

Those companies are not alone. Fast-food restaurant chains and grocery stores also are committing to fewer artificial ingredients and food that is sourced in more humane, transparent ways. Some observers have even described the trend as the Chipotle effect. The Mexican fast casual chain was among the first to promote its simple recipes and “responsibly raised” meat, and had spectacular success before being linked to several recent foodborne illness outbreaks.

The real drivers of the trend, however, are those sitting down at the table. Today, they are more likely to be Millennials. And their eating habits are proving to be unlike any generation before them. “Our lifestyles make it nearly impossible to cook every day,” said Eve Turow, author of “Generation Yum: How the Millennial Generation’s Love for Organic Fare, Celebrity Chefs and Microbrews Will Make or Break the Future of Food.”

“We have two-income households, and so much of our day is intangible, spent in front of screens,” said Turow, who grew up in the North suburbs. So rather than a mundane part of life, Millennials see eating as a release. “It gives us eye-to-eye contact, it’s very satisfying.”

That satisfaction is illustrated in three main groups Turow has identified: those crazy about restaurants, those who consider cooking Zen-time, and overall food enthusiasts. The first have driven the growth of chains like Panera Bread and Chick-fil-A, whose food is a step above traditional chain fare. The second and third are those who keep cookbook publishing alive and have helped farmers markets sprout like mushrooms. Like other Millennials, they also have a general distrust of authority, having grown up with events like the contested Bush v. Gore election, the 2008 financial crisis and more recently, the water crisis in Flint, Mich. “We’re starting to question everything,” Turow said. “We are showing our power through shopping and buying.”

Marketing and public relations giant Ketchum has another name for those behind the new food landscape: food eVangelists. They share their opinions about food online and in person several times a week, and have increased by 27 percent in the past two years, to 14 million in the U.S.

“While food eVangelists have a desire to influence others, it’s important to remember that they don’t promote a specific agenda. Rather they seek information from multiple sources, listen to varying opinions, and make their own decisions,” said Linda Eatherton, partner and managing director of Ketchum’s global food and beverage practice, in a news release about the findings.

Food evangelists are more likely to want simple food, without preservatives, hormone-free and organic. They also want to buy local foods. And most important going forward, they are raising little food evangelists. A third say their children prefer local and organic foods, and 25 percent stay away from processed food.

A.J. Bueler’s eating habits are one reflection of this trend. Walking into a Whole Foods store on Chicago’s north side with her 9-year-old daughter, the vegetarian said she is unlikely to be swayed by new formulations on big brands. She is hesitant to trust major food manufacturers, especially those who produce meat. But some in her social circle have different views. “It depends. Some are very concerned about health, but others just sort of eat how their parents ate.”

These preferences were not suddenly discovered in the past year, food companies say. Grocery chain Aldi, which sells mainly proprietary store bands at bargain prices, began developing its Simply Nature line more than three years ago. In addition to many organic items, the products are free from 125 ingredients such as high-fructose corn syrup and aluminum leavening agents, and others that are difficult to pronounce. Its Never Any meats are free of antibiotics, hormones or animal by-products.

“Every time we introduce new products, they perform very, very well,” said Liz Ruggles, director of public relations for Aldi US, based in Batavia. A line of gluten-free foods was launched as a limited offer, but was quickly made permanent. In a recent press release about the chain’s new emphasis on transparency and health, including granola bars instead of candy in checkout lanes, it hinted at one reason why it has devoted so much effort. “With these updates, it’s clear that the shopping experience is no longer about ‘shopping the perimeter,’ where fresh and healthier items historically appeared in stores.”

Yet the lure of processed foods in the center aisles is one reason the food movement has been less successful than some think, said Tamar Haspel, a food journalist and columnist for the Washington Post. “People don’t like vegetables! That’s just the bottom line.”

Reformulations have their place, she said. “There’s no question that people are increasingly interested in their food. If it improves peoples’ diets, it could be a good thing.” Major companies’ switch to cage-free eggs is a positive, she said, although in some cases a decade away. But she thinks a better approach would be to make unprocessed foods themselves more appealing and affordable. “What gets me is a bunch of people got a lot of money to figure out how to make blue (cereal) blue naturally. If we look at the total picture, is this how we want to spend our resources?”

Some industry observers have questioned why Big Food companies are trying to reposition classic brands known for fun rather than growing organic and natural companies they have acquired. General Mills, for example, bought the Muir Glen and Cascade Farms brands 15 years ago and now owns organic pasta maker Annie’s. One answer is sheer size: In 2015, sales of its natural and organic lines were about $ 570 million, out of $ 17.6 billion overall.

The other, companies say, is consumer choice. Kraft’s changes to its Macaroni & Cheese have yet to extend to other products under the parent company, like salad dressings and Velveeta cheese. The Quaker Oats brand (owned by Pepsico) includes its iconic simple oatmeal, but also is promoting granola bars in Girl Scout cookie flavors. “We believe in offering consumers choices. All-natural and organic brands whether big or small have a place for consumers as do legacy brands,” said General Mills’ Pradhan.

Generation Yum author Turow thinks major brands are smart to be reaching out to health-conscious and informed eaters, but is not sure clean labels are the only way to do it. “At the moment, Big Food is not trusted, but there is an opportunity to change that perspective, with storytelling and transparency,” she said. ‘We’re not trying to reinvent these things that are a treat or an indulgence. There’s something really comforting and nostalgic about SpaghettiOs or Hershey’s Kisses.”

Jackie Dulen is a freelance writer.

Leave a Reply

    Copyright 2011-2013, www.EHealthJournal.net, Web Site Development & SEO by SecondEffort, Inc.