Enlightened Indulgence the New Food Status
Pleasure, Well-Being, and Flavor merge in Food Innovation
Consumers are looking for healthy indulgent products that provide a sense of well-being, satisfy cravings, experiment with food culture, and follow organic, artisan food movements.

Food makers confronted by today’s challenging economic times within an individualistic society allowing people to think “it’s all about me” culminating in rising expectations about food, must continue to invest hard in innovation to beat the downturn. Today, there is a new focus on amp-ing up foods with nutrients and flavor.

Indulgent products with premium attributes are in high demand.
Consumers are persuaded by health and indulgence. Food and beverage appeal is heavily influenced by the intensity of sensory attributes in taste and flavor. With high-nutrient ingredients such as those labeled all natural or organic. Or with enhanced flavors appealing to a “variety of senses” such as new ethnic cuisine with food companies now hiring chefs to create products with unique spices and seasonings that provide a complete culinary experience.

As a sensory experience, taste operates in multiple modalities—not only by way of the mouth and nose, but also the eye, ear, and skin. Aesthetics is realigned from “a science of sensory knowledge” to a philosophy of beauty in relation to sensory experience and tactility of taste. Even a feast for the eyes only will engage the other senses imaginatively.

-Extending the whole food experience, Patricia Urquiola, one of the most exciting designers working today has created a sensual compendium. Her tabletop designs combine smooth and textured surfaces, solidity and translucency as well as Western and Ethnic influences resulting in a truly inspiring collection.
 
-The Gloji ingredient showing up in a lot of gourmet and health foods. The unusual light bulb shaped bottle is a nice reference to the energy-giving properties of the drink.

-The Aroma of You, music CD by Mel Rosaenberg Trio

Emerging trends:
According to Datamonitor’s Products Online database, top trends for packaged foods in  2009 include bolder flavor and texture, organic food ingredients in more demographic segments, fresh foods, superfruits, exotic and ethnic tastes, and green food production.

-Energy transitions to motivation and focus. The term ‘energy’ becomes more specific  s a method of creating motivation or enhancing focus.

-Linking natural to functional. Increased linkage in the health benefits of natural, non-processed, and raw diets.  Direct importance to outer beauty benefits and immunity.

-More emphasis now on what people should be eating rather than what they should not be eating.

-Lal’Food has been carrying various trials in order to promote the application of probiotics into new food applications: ice cream, chocolate, dry snacks with fillings, breakfast cereals, chilled fruit juices.

-Watch for Cupuacu, known as the new “Superfruit 2.0″ a little tree found in the Amazon rainforest that belongs to the Cocoa family, and bears fruits the size of melons.

This year’s SIALfood exhibition in Paris. was a showcase of new ideas that could help to boost margins and weather the economic storm. Innovations in pleasure and sophistication gained pace in new products. In the area of confectionery, the selection displayed a heavy presence of organic dark chocolate, certainly linked to pleasure and sophistication but now segueing from an indulgence to a health food.

-Chocolate plus innovation, in pasta, body rubs, beer. New ingredients will be added to an old-time favorite – fortification with omega 3s, plant sterols, and probiotics will grow as chocolate continues to be the easiest functional good-for-you flavor choice.

-Chocolate is one the few foods thought to be both stimulating and soothing at the same time. There are theme parks and museums devoted entirely to chocolate, and spas where you can be soaked, scrubbed and massaged with chocolate.

Belgian brand NewTree, wholly embracing the powerful well-being phenomenon is staying ahead of the curve merging the growing trend for sophistication and ‘medical’ into a new value-added product, a chocolate bar with a pleasure promise through the originality of flavors and positioning: Crave, Renew, Sexy, Blush… and a unique combination of pure dark chocolate, spicy chili, roasted flax seeds, and Omega 3, known for its beneficial effects on the heart, mind and overall mood. A good balance between taste, emotion, flavor and texture. A healthy twist to drain away any residual guilt.

BUT WAIT….What Will the 21st Century REALLY Taste Like?
A preview of what you’ll be eating for the rest of the century from Momofuku chef David Chang. Hope you like veggies.

David Chang shared his thoughts on the future of food in a recent interview in Esquire says: Prepare yourself for a vegetarian world. The infrastructure which has supported the world’s meat-heavy diet for so long, is now breaking down due to epic gas and feed price increases. This situation, Chang  believes, will lead us back to a primarily vegetarian, grains and greens focused diet.
http://www.esquire.com/features/21st-century-taste-like-1008

Guess what? The machinery that’s pumped so much meat into our lives over the last half century was never built to last, and now it’s breaking down big-time. Feed is more expensive. Gasoline is more expensive. Milk, rice, butter, corn–it’s all going through the roof. And for the foreseeable future, it’s not coming back down. At the table, this means our plates will be heavier on grains and greens, and meat will shift from the center of the dish to a supporting role–the role it’s played throughout history in most of the world’s cuisines.

The next trend is fresh foods.
Citing Tesco’s Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market format, which opened earlier this month and stocks many varieties of fresh foods and prepared meals, “fresh” is hot. Frozen food products to look for include those cooked with steam in special microwave packages — such as Rosetto Steam’n Eat Ravioli.

The proliferation of high-nutrient foods – is another very much evolving trend. New superfruits will emerge, such as the Chinese yumberry, and is used in a new line of drinks from Frutzzo Natural Juice.  Expect large mainstream manufacturers to be getting into superfruits.

As a market becomes more difficult, so innovation is increasingly necessary. The global whole grain and high fiber foods market is projected to reach about US$21 billion by 2010. Innovation that embraces today’s, and tomorrow’s trends, will be key to success.
 

Clients always ask me how I find ideas and concepts, and where I look to, look for, and what could be next for them…Well, the business that thrives is the organization that peaks around the corner. Graham Green said: “There is always one unexpected moment when the door opens and let’s the future in.”

For most marketers, The Big Idea is the creative concept that becomes the foundation for all advertising platforms. It’s the engagement vehicle that takes an offer, a concept, a product, and allows for the mobilization to the masses. I think it’s about creating the future now, anticipating the next step, staying light, not entrenched, always being willing to give up what you have now, and going for the great. We are living and working in a time of unprecedented change. A report from GE warned, “A company must be willing to change faster than the world around it.”

That’s what I look for. The indicators of upcoming change. Finding what is next is a vibrant mix of observing, gathering and analyzing information. Being on the lookout for new business ideas, trend hunting and tuning into consumer nuances. I look at the world around me, the world around brands and products always looking for connections and for possibilities of something else. Mainly I have fun, take lots of trips everywhere and scan everything. Max de Pree said, “We can’t become what we need to be by remaining where we are.”

Collective Influences-Color 2009/10

Connections, Culture, Urban, Energy…

…and blue is the new green.
Advertising firm JWT predicts that one of the top trends of 2008/09 will see blue replacing green as the symbolic color of environmentalism, social conscience, and all-round niceness.

Blue is the color of the sea and the sky, making it easier for people to identify it with the current hot-button issue of climate change.

Growing influence of Asian countries, traditions, and culture. A Mosaic. Gentle mingling of cultures. Strict global identities are loosening their hold.

Open to making new choices. Strong saturated hues.

Rapid spread of communication technologies and personal networking. A Duality. Greater sense of who we are, a state of being our own double (dentist by day, internet warrior avenger by night.)

These colors express both harmony and contrast, the dream or the surreal.

Filled with urban energy. Bright, chromatic, vibrant color. A Kaleidoscope. Community from individualism. Chaos and Order.

Personal power finds expression through graffiti in urban landscapes.

Digital Media-A wide open field.
Our current recession may affect ad business in 2009, but outlook for new media is still good. Ad Age interviewed leading industry execs about what they think a recession means for their business in 2008. Martin Sorell, WPP Group’s CEO summed it up as follows: “Looking at 2008, there’s the presidential election, there’s the Beijing Olympics, which will probably be the most spectacular Olympics we’ve seen … and there’s the European football championships. So ‘08 is not the issue; ‘09 is.” But the fears of recession are mainly expressed in relation to traditional media. Most of the new media, however, spearheaded by online advertising and digital out-of-home media (digital signage) shows no sign of a slowdown so far.

Digital billboards and digital signage networks in retail are driving the rapid expansion of outdoor/out-of-home advertising, rivaling the Internet as the fastest-growing advertising medium. What’s fueling this growth? The ability to reach elusive consumers while they are out of home — and especially while they are shopping. The ability to customize each message to audiences at any location and even at any area within a location is another unique value for marketers.

Digital ambiance is a way to use media to complete an in-store customer experience. Programming can be appropriate for the target lifestyle with content advertising in different locations at specific times…. scrolling message boards, LCD or plasma Display panels, electronic billboards, projection screens, or other emerging display types that can be controlled electronically using a computer or other devices, allowing individuals or groups to remotely change and control their content.

A Growing Integration Option.
People like digital, consumers have become inured to static displays. Eye-catching movement and integration of entertainment and information translate into solid benefits. When waiting in a space with digital displays, for example, people perceive that their wait time is reduced. Arbitron just released a report saying digital billboards are noticed by most drivers and appreciated as attractive and useful, particularly with younger and harder to reach audiences. (Highlights at www.digitalooh.org/digital)

-The Motor City Casino in Detroit is building a new facility, and digital signage is an integral part. Monitors can inform patrons of anything from two-for-one lunch specials to the $1,500 ackpot that just hit on slot machine 8 in row 12.

Businesses are just starting to get digital signage power. For example, a restaurant that has a jukebox touch screen control at every table and directories at office complexes that also provide afternoon traffic updates. And businesses even sell advertising space as an additional revenue source. In car dealerships, digital ambiance is using media to complete an in-store customer experience. Programming can be appropriate for the target lifestyle, type of driving experience, or even analysis of data.

-uWink, a digital entertainment company based in Los Angeles, which develops interactive entertainment software and platforms for restaurants, bars, and mobile devices.

-Smart Auto Management SAM taps into a vehicle’s On Board Diagnostic system and prints an easy-to-understand report that reveals existing or pending problems. Motorists save time and money by connecting their vehicle to a SAM self-service kiosk that provides vital information about their vehicle instantly.

At the recent Digital Signage Expo, there were a vast number of digital tools that will be a large part of our retail landscape in the foreseeable future. The technology and equipment being offered is extraordinary, visually catching your attention and then offering an interactive function that makes the experience memorable.

Putting cameras in billboards to measure how many people look at them isn’t a new idea, but it’s starting to get a little more high-tech. Several advertisers now using facial-recognition software to McDonald’s in Singapore and Ikea in Europe, and it’s now bringing the tech to the States, where it’s been deployed in New York in ads for A&E’s The Andromeda Strain mini-series.

At a large local liquor store in Westminster, the Virtual Bartender. This interactive kiosk features party tips, recipes and food pairings for beer, liquor and wine. Users interact with a “virtual” bartender and can print out selections and information (sales receipt size) to then go shop and purchase. The information can also be e-mailed to the consumer. The concept can also be experienced online at www.thebar.com.

Mini Cooper marketers get savvy with billboards that talk to cars. RFID technology in Mini Cooper keyfobs get picked up by billboards which then reflect that information in little messages like “Hey Bill” and “Nice convertible.”

Originally a maverick and a generator of controversy — in 1968, his suggestion that women wear pants as an everyday uniform was considered revolutionary. Yves Saint Laurent, who exploded on the fashion scene in 1958 as the boy-wonder successor to Christian Dior and endured as one of the best-known and most influential designers of the second half of the 20th century, died on Sunday in Paris. He was 71.

Quotes:
-We must never confuse elegance with snobbery.
-To be beautiful, all a woman needs is a black pullover and a black skirt and to be arm in arm with a man she loves.
-Fashion isn’t just to decorate women, but to reassure them, give them confidence.
-Is elegance not totally forgetting what one is wearing?

But his manager and partner, Pierre Berg, said he was a “man of exceptional intelligence practising the trade of an imbecile”. NICE!

Yves was responsible for changing the way modern women dress, putting them into pants both day and night, into peacoats and safari jackets, into “le smoking” (as the French call a man’s tuxedo jacket), and into leopard prints, and trench coats.

Saint Laurent often sought inspiration on the streets, bringing the Parisian beatnik style to couture runways and adapting the sailors’ peacoats he found in Army-Navy stores in New York into jackets that found their way into women’s wardrobes around the world. Among the famous; Catherine Deneuve, Paloma Picasso, Nan Kempner, and Lauren Bacall.

When Yves Saint Laurent created a new accessory, the fashion contingent flocked to place an order while the high street worked on how best to imitate the look.

Whatever he did, women of all ages, from all over the world, followed.

Focus on Community and Niche
The major factor, which separates digital media from traditional, is the users growing ability to control the media.

Successful consumer media enterprises almost always shared two characteristics: they were horizontal in their content coverage and format-specific. Companies like Random House, CBS, and The New York Times all embraced a very wide span of subject interest, but very seldom strayed from books, broadcast, or newspapers.

The net is flipping this, self-organizing us by subject niche, and because web interaction is about file exchanges, format specificity is meaningless. The file can hold text, art or photographs or other graphics, animation, moving images, sound, games, or code that helps us combine, sort, or tag. Today’s publishers will have to focus on extreme niches if they want to be tomorrow’s publishers. But they will also be driven to seek out and discover the niches because the horizontal outlets for promotion and sale are getting weaker and less numerous.
The key to niche market research is finding the needs of your target market. I’m diving in:

-New breed of DJs who author popular blogs and regularly share downloadable mixes with their readers.
-Celebrating the revival of old-fashioned pastimes, the art of knit-craft is given a new lease of life, partly due to the emergence of some innovative haberdasheries tucked away behind London’s high streets.
-Tay Kian Khuan 720 Skates. With an added feature, the skater gains the ability to spin 360º in place and skate sideways.
- New sensibilities, a different point of view and an appreciation of other ways to enhance life.
-Gay Chic, anyone?

-Cali ROCK’n'SOUL…How surf saved Rock’n'Roll.
-Biodynamic (BD) agriculture, using the astronomical calendar to guide all aspects of cultivation and harvesting.
-Motorsport Drift: the emerging drifting scene that is taking the West Coast by storm.
-Hipster/Insider travel guides on the rise, connected on landing.
-Elegance is back. Sophisticated connoisseur consumers creating New Tradition.

This paradigm is playing out in many places. Nike announced that it would no longer organize around the product (shoes, sporting equipment, clothing) but around the sport. This is not only an example of going from horizontal to vertical, it also obviously makes Nike a much more coherent customer for content.

-Nike Total 90 Laser, Innovative S.P.P. technology, ball control and shooting accuracy.

What will digital technology mean to the overall world of communication over the next decade or two? What connections, implications, parallels, can we make between the ways global culture is evolving and the modalities of the computer?

(Wiki: Modalities, plural for Modal, is a relational term of media pertaining to its’ presentation, form, or mode. Basically, modalities are modes; a manner, way, or method of doing.)

Modalities, one of the fundamental principles of new media, however vague they can sometimes be, are always constructed from a particular person’s point of view. Two people could paint or draw the same thing. Differences in background, ethnicity, childhood experiences, sociological, religious, or other differences in the individuals could allow for the works to appear and function in completely different ways, or in other words, their modes would differ.

So now, it’s all about The Author. The era of mass media is giving way to one of personal and participatory media, and will profoundly change both the media industry and society as a whole. Publishers are starting to put in place the building blocks for more substantial change; acquiring specialized Web sites to get content for their books/mags and to target niche audiences. Over time, personal bias will rule the day. Some examples:

Niche Digital: Digital magazines are changing the face of publishing, and could soon revolutionize the industry. A recent sports e-magazine OnBoard highlights this trend for high-niche exciting podcasts and online video services.

-Onboard Digital is a multimedia mix of everything snowboarding; out-of-the-ordinary news and gossip, event info, interviews and most-wanted gear though an assortment of Flash animations, videos and fully interactive pages.

Niche Community/Partnerships: Social media, hybrid news and blogs in particular, are becoming a more important part of global media consumption for Internet users than traditional media channels.

-Tandem Project, developed by a team of students this past year as part
of the Innovation Incubator Project, partnering with The Detroit News.
This project hits at the very heart of community journalism. The idea is to have news stories percolate from local communities. Community members on a wiki-style site start discussing issues they are facing within their neighborhoods. It may be street lights that are not working, gang issues, or turning local vacant lots into farm gardens. Community members begin filing their comments on the web site, maybe taking photos, detailing local governments response to request–whatever. When the story matures, a reporter gets involved with already identified sources, maybe photos and video clips.

Niche DYI Digital: You publish. Recently launched Issuu is a place for online publications: magazines, catalogs, documents, and stuff you’d normally find on print. It’s the place where YOU become the publisher creating sleek online mags from your own pdfs.

-Members upload files, they’re transformed into expandable digital magazines, readable via Issuu’s viewer. These mags can also be shared, printed, and embedded on other blogs, social networking profiles, and websites.

What can we expect to see more of in 2009? More snacks to appear, but different ones! It’s about: The Perfect Snack. The “holy grail” definition: healthy, tastes sinful, and is convenient in all aspects.

Unhealthy snacks will become healthier, while wholesome ones, such as fruits and vegetables, will sacrifice some healthiness to become more attractive and fun.

-Funky Monkey-Fruit that crunches, banana cinnamon chips
-Grab an O-grab and go olive pouch
-Eat your Heart-fun to eat: salsa green soybeans, or sweet and sour peach wedges
Taste is still more important than healthiness in influencing snack and beverage choices. Consumers want the flavor and tastiness of healthy products enhanced. Think: a twist in dried fruits, bbq-flavored onion ring chips…and the next wasabi peas? Emerging growth flavor: black sesame.

-Black Sesame-slow roasted bars from Mrs. Mays
-Black sesame and mustard popcorn

-Zotes, anyone can make a sunflower seed taste like salt, Zotes make a seed taste like hot wings, or a dill pickle, or even beer
-Walkers (UK)-Lamb and Mint, not a flavor you see everyday!
-Ass Kickin” Nuts-a whole NEW kick in your snack habit
-Blairs-Habanero xxx Censored Crisps

When time is becoming increasing valuable, snacks will become more well
suited to our modern way of living. On-the-go lifestyles are fuelling
healthy snacking behavior and choice. We need: easy to access, easy to
prepare, easy to eat, and easy to clean.

-Guru: geared towards WELLNESS, HEALTH, PERFORMANCE, food and beverages that combine nutrition values with pharmaceutical properties. Looking for fresh alternatives that are more innovative, and with tangible product benefits

Societal shifts such as irregular working hours, longer time in transit, and fragmented mealtimes are driving consumers to feel more time pressured. As a result, increasingly consuming food and drinks on-the-go. People want their food fast, but don’t want to compromise on quality.
Tapping into the trend towards “nomadism” and eating on the move, a new generation of vending machines offers wide range of good-quality meals, while some even have a screens showing advertising or documentary films.

-To-Go Sandwiches-convenient packaging for EAT’s new seasonal spring sandwiches
-The Green Machine-provides the vending solution for those seeking organic and healthier snacks/drinks option.
-Fries Pty Ltd-hi-tech and hygienically clean vending machines that cook and serve fresh hot fries in two minutes

And for those frequent-on-the-run fast food eaters who just can’t give up their fries…designers are still thinking of them…

Color and Texture Inspiration for Package Design
This organic and luminous color trend takes an upscale turn with a glowing spectrum inspired by the forest, the sky, liquid and the light from the obscure and the in-betweens. This is about blurring lines of perception and reality, and using technology to highlight color in dual functions, sheen and shade.




Deep Dark Luxury
The purples, chocolate browns, deep blues and khaki greens of 2009 are colors that you do not have to be afraid to commit. Darker hues feel luxurious. In fact, most of the luxury market favors the darker tones right now.

Curved store merchandising displays convey fluidity, continuity, and grace. Casual, relaxed, comfort built in. Visual merchandisers and architects are collaborating more than ever and influencing retail store design in the making of a good display. A good display has to be desirable and inviting, that’s the ultimate. If you get a customer to stand in a store, feel comfortable, and want the product or idea you’ve displayed, that’s a successful display. Curved display fixtures allow for a smoother flow of energy throughout the store, making the space more restful and easier to walk around in, is more kid-friendly, and facilitates consumer interaction. Like most design trends, curved and ergonomic has been popular before, conveying fluidity, continuity, and grace. We are seeing a resurgence in retail as a solution to the stressful work place. Consumers work in a linear, digital, computerized world all day, entering into a flowing store environment and shopping to rounded lines can offer stress relief. Think how customers and staff are going to interact with store equipment; design should always be ergonomically sound.