26 May 2011 Foodcorp shares its trends insights
The 7th Floor, Foodcorp’s hugely stylish and impressive culinary innovation centre in Observatory, Cape Town, is already the stuff of legend in the food industry. Established in 2008, its aim is to uncover and interpret new trends and to cultivate and speed innovation within Foodcorp; to position it as a dynamic and creative food marketing company as opposed to just another food manufacture. This week a large crowd of food industrialists and media gathered there to hear an inspired presentation on current food trends by its manager, Simone Falconer.
YOU KNOW YOU’RE always going to get something good when you set foot in The 7th Floor, and the day did not disappoint, with Simone’s (left) astute, professional and very interesting presentation accompanied by delicious eats – based on one of the hottest culinary trends in the US and Europe, street food – that had been carefully researched and created by the centre’s accomplished kitchen crew.
“My trends presentation is a culmination of travel, reading, internet searching, reading of hundreds of blogs to see what people at home are doing and what professional foodie blogs are saying, Mintel/Datamonitor insights and analysing what is happening in our business and a review of all the trend documents I can get my hands on,” she explained.
“I then collate the information and focus on what I feel is relevant to South Africa and the Foodcorp business. It’s a three to five year view. I also like to look at marketing campaigns as it gives insight into ‘product and brand DNA’ and how they link the two into a consumer pitch.”
Simone chooses a country or two to go to each year and her presentation was base on a trip to New York and Paris for the SIAL expo. She also spent some time in between in the UK.
“Our Food Trends Day, with sensory interpretation, is a first and I hope to develop this into something bigger and better every year. These are trends that are out there already and this is simply my interpretation of them and a practical view of how it they been applied, both by mainstream food producers and in the culinary world,” she said.
“Foodcorp is committed to an innovation journey and at The 7th Floor we spend our time getting to grips with what may be the driving trends in five years time. I have over the last few years been committed to future thinking and am hoping to develop my skills more into the future analysis of food trends. The Food Trends Day is a also a way to showcase Foodcorp’s commitment to innovation and to enter into debates with our suppliers and customers.”
Invitees included a large contingent of Woolworths’ people (as an important and innovative client of Foodcorp’s – Gull Foods is a major supplier to the retailer), as well as ingredient suppliers, flavour and fragrance houses, independent food consultants, media and other partners of Foodcorp’s.
Simone’s big trends in brief:
- Professionalising the amateur
- More than just a meal
- Less is more and the search for value
- Artisanal, heritage, retro, nostalgia
- Multi benefits and multi-functional
- Simplicity
- Ultra fresh, local and DIY
- The Caveman and Paleolithic Diet
- Indulgence and health
- The return of fat
- Restaurant trends: Korean fare especially BBQ, meatballs, street food, popsicles, fast food menu items getting bigger and grosser, breakfast all the time, pop-up restaurants and guerrilla dining, sandwiches (as we have never seen them), upscale food courts
Some key watchwords:
Coconut, buckthorn, bourbon, cucumber, lavender, hibiscus, umami and miso, sangria with new twists, macarons, whoopee pies, Korean spices (the new Thai), fresh mozzarella, Greek yoghurt.