Food Firms Cook Up Ways to Combat Rare Sales Slump

Fast moving consumer goods? Now not moving so fast:

In the last quarter of 2008, consumer spending on food fell by an inflation-adjusted 3.7% from the previous quarter -- its steepest drop in 62 years, the Commerce Department said. So, food giants are racing to adapt to what they believe is a lasting shift in eating and shopping habits.

Kraft Foods Inc. recently launched an application for Apple's iPhone. Called the iFood Assistant, it allows people to search for recipes and manage their shopping lists. Nestle SA is pushing hard its popular Lean Cuisine frozen entrees, offering five for $10 in some stores. Campbell Soup Co. is creating more sophisticated recipes that mimic restaurant offerings, such as Braised Beef with Shallots made with the company's Swanson beef stock.

Wall Street Journal

The Sweet Payoff

From Rob Walker's always-insightful Consumed column:

Mintel surveyed chocolate buyers last year, and 12 percent actually admitted to the motive “I was sad or stressed.” But the most popular answers were “I had a chocolate craving” and the unenlightening “No particular reason.” Maybe there’s a factor we don’t even recognize prodding us to buy premium chocolate, and it arises not despite the drumbeat of threatening financial news but because of it. Derek Rucker and Adam Galinsky of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University have lately been exploring the relationship between feelings of powerlessness and what they term “compensatory consumption.”

New York Times Magazine

Figuring Out Gen Y's Eclectic Eating Preferences

Other salient F&B drivers include their penchant for customizing foods through adds-ons or mix-ins (the reason they love fajitas and other "build-it-yourself" foods); their dedication to local, organic, fair trade and vegetarian/vegan foods (reflecting their belief that food choices can make a positive difference in the world at large); and their firm belief in the value of health/wellness and functional (including anti-aging) foods and beverages. (Although males under 20, in particular, are also hooked on energy-blast drinks.)

MediaPost

Elusive Foodies Can Be Reached, PF Finds

The foodie culture is "an essentially American phenomenon" that has emerged in reaction to this country's "uniquely malleable and marketer-driven" food culture, say the PF analysts. While other nations or regions have distinct cultures surrounding food and its consumption, the U.S. generally lacks such a culture, and foodies are on a mission to fill this void, they explain.

MediaPost

Brands Lose Relevance in Food-Buying Decisions

...brand marketers who think that conveying taste, quality and price is pretty much still enough -- "and oh yes, we should probably let [consumers' know that we're sustainable and have some health benefits"--will indeed find that their brands become less and less relevant, she warns.

Media Post