Chain restaurants such as KFC, Uno and Starbucks are finding that calories count

Readers of this blog may be surprised to learn that some chains are cutting back on calories:

If enacted, the health-care reform law would mandate that chains with more than 20 outlets must post calories on the menu in a "clear and conspicuous" manner and provide complete nutritional information upon request. Public-health advocates hope the rules go into effect within two years.

Whether disclosing calories on a menu will change consumer behavior remains the subject of contentious debate, but a new study supports the idea that it can: An analysis of 100 million transactions over 14 months at Starbucks by researchers at Stanford University showed that when calories were posted prominently, the average number of calories per transaction fell by 6 percent.

Washington Post

Pitching a Product, Without Showing It

Reminiscent of the Dove “Campaign for Real Beauty” introduced in 2004 that featured curvy women, the new Special K ads also star women who are “not an idealized and unattainable image of perfection,” as marketing materials from Kellogg put it.

“In the past, we had cast women more in terms of their success at the end, but the object of these spots is just to get women to declare their vision,” said Mylene Pollock, a senior vice president and creative director at Leo Burnett who worked on the campaign.

New York Times

PepsiCo Searches for Potato Chip of the Future

What will the potato chip of the future look and taste like? PepsiCo aims to find out. The food and beverage giant announced this week that it is opening a new long-term research laboratory next to the Yale campus in New Haven, Conn.

The facility will employ eight to 10 scientists with backgrounds ranging from sensory to biochemistry. Their goal: To create healthier foods and beverages.

BrandWeek

General Mills shelves SmartChoice program

Golden Valley-based food maker General Mills Inc. announced they would no longer participate in the Smart Choices labeling program after the program was criticized for misleading consumers about the nutritional value of some foods.

General Mills joined Kraft, PepsiCo, ConAgra Foods, Kellogg, Riviana Foods, Sun-Maid and Unilever in phasing out the program from their packaging.

Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal

Calorie counts on menus force hard choices

"Once they put up the calorie counts, then suddenly I was like, `I can't eat this, this is a whole day's worth of calories,'" said Ramos, 26, of her Chipotle burrito. At Starbucks, the culinary writer said, "I have ended up ordering a hot tea, which is nothing, or a bottle of water."

Blame New York City officials for her misery. The city requires chain restaurants to post calories alongside menu items, which means she has to face the music: That blueberry muffin has 510 calories.

Associated Press

More organics in store for Whole Foods

Whole Foods Market Inc. will put a renewed focus on its core customers, with expanded offerings of organic food and a campaign next year focused on healthy eating.

"We believe continuing to raise the bar in areas that matter to our customers will reinforce our leadership position in natural and organic foods, resulting in greater customer loyalty for many years to come," CEO John Mackey said Tuesday.

Austin American Statesman

Study: Thriftier, Healthier Consumers Dining In More

A new study reports that two out of three consumers (67%) "strongly agree" that they try to prepare healthy meals, reports Supermarketguru.com, which conducted the benchmarking research on behalf of ConAgra Foods. And only 23% say that eating healthfully costs more, down from 30% in January.

MediaPost

Kellogg banking on fiber as next consumer craze

Kellogg's brings us FIBER MADNESS:

The launch begins next month when fiber-enhanced Fruit Loops and Apple Jacks, two of the company's most popular children's cereals, replace the old versions on supermarket shelves.

The cereals were chosen to kick off the initiative because they are widely available and among the market's bestsellers, said Celeste Clark, Kellogg's senior vice president of global nutrition and corporate affairs.

"It's tough to get kids to get fiber and add it without compromising taste," Clark said.

The Detroit News

Tropicana Promotes OJ As Daily Fruit Serving

Somewhere Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliot and Nelly Furtado sigh a deep sigh:

The "Get Your Fruit On!" campaign, launching this month to tie in with National Fruit and Vegetable Month, looks to get the word out that 7 in 10 adults, as well as most children, are not consuming the USDA-recommended four fruit servings -- and that an eight-ounce glass of OJ delivers two of those servings. "Surprisingly, we've learned a majority of orange juice drinkers are unaware that 100% orange juice contributes to their daily fruit intake," commented Tropicana CMO Andy Horrow in the PepsiCo brand's announcement of the campaign.

MediaPost

Green tea Coca-Cola to debut in Japan

Green tea-flavored Coca-Cola will hit Japanese stores June 8, Coca Cola (Japan) Co. spokesman Katsuya Sato said Thursday. It contains tea antioxidants called catechins, leaves a slight green tea aftertaste and is mainly targeted at health-conscious women in their 20s and 30s, Sato said.

“We wanted to cater to people who are looking for something that tastes good but is also good for health and beauty,” he said.

MSNBC

Study: Organic Products Selling Strong Despite Economy

U.S. sales of organic products, both food and non-food, reached $24.6 billion by the end of 2008, growing 17.1% over 2007 sales, according to the OTA, which released final results from its 2009 Organic Industry Survey on Monday. However, the industry's growth rate last year was its slowest since 2004, when the year-to-year increase was 14.6%. Organic food sales grew 20.9% in 2006 and 18.5% in 2007, according to OTA.

"Organic products represent value to consumers, who have shown continued resilience in seeking out these products," said Christine Bushway, executive director of the Greenfield, Mass.-based OTA, in a statement. "This marks another milestone for the organic food market."

Media Post

Simplicity Becomes a Selling Point

Advocates for healthful eating have long tried to steer Americans away from highly processed foods that contain dozens of unnatural and unpronounceable ingredients. Now, driven by a drumbeat of food recalls -- ground beef, peanuts and, most recently, pistachios -- consumers may be more inclined to heed the call.

Last week, Snapple Beverage unveiled a reformulated line of drinks and an eight-figure marketing campaign emphasizing that its iced teas are made from green and black tea and "real" sugar. Frito-Lay is boasting that its potato chips, tortilla chips and even Fritos are each made with just three ingredients. The hope: that consumers will equate fewer ingredients with healthfulness, even when it comes to ice cream and chips.

Washington Post

Le Whif Chocolate Inhaler

Finally, the zero-calorie, guilt-free choco-inhaler you have been waiting for.

Cool Hunting

Five Guys gets fresh with burgers

Five Guys is one of the chains that has helped spawn the national trend toward fresh, higher-quality ingredients cooked to order and served in a fast-food setting. The concept is being widely copied all over the country, but this chain has honed it to a science. Its food is, indeed, vastly better than its fast-food setting suggests.

freep.com

Nestle places confidence in probiotics for kids

Food giant Nestle is today launching a probiotics drink for children in the US, which the company claims is the only drink on the market to deliver immune benefits coupled with balanced nutrition.

nutraingredients-usa.com

Special K Launches Crackers, Blueberry Cereal

Just last month, Kellogg rolled out three new, protein-fortified Special K products--K20 Protein Waters, Protein Snack Bars and Protein Meal Bars--that extended the brand's retail territory into the diet/nutrition sections of grocery and drug stores. The products were also the first to emerge from Kellogg's new Health & Wellness Division.

Like all Special K products--which also include cereal bars, Snack Bites, Bliss Bars and waffles, Special K Crackers are being positioned as convenient, nutritious, tasty solutions to help consumers (women in particular) "address their weight management goals."

MediaPost

Foodmakers come up with 'Smart Choice' label to denote healthier fare

The label, dubbed "Smart Choices," will be featured on products made by General Mills, Unilever, Coca-Cola, Pepsico, Kellogg and Con-Agra, as well as Kraft. Wal-Mart, the nation's leading grocery retailer, also played a role in developing the program, though the label will be carried on products sold at all grocery stores.

Chicago Tribune

Missing Behavioral Link Leads to Health, Wellness Misfires

"The ground is littered with high-profile efforts that have, to be kind, underperformed--McDonald's salads, Aquafina Essentials and Atkins Bars, to name a few," points out Jayne Eastman, managing director for strategic brand growth consultancy Henry Rak Consulting Partners.

What's going wrong? Many companies make the core error of taking a "generic" approach to launches and marketing that's based on broadly expressed consumer attitudes about health and wellness, rather than on providing a specific solution based on actual behaviors, according to Eastman.

Marketing Daily