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Editor’s Stuff: A whole new take on food preservation!
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THE selection of news and stories this week is as eclectic as ever – but that’s the joy of covering the diverse and dynamic worlds of food and drink!
Amidst the information overload, I came across this fascinating development that again illustrates the amazing levels of research and scientific ingenuity that are underway in securing a better, safer, more sustainable food supply.
 Food preservation is as old as mankind. One of the latest techniques reaching commercialisation in the US involves bioengineered films for fruit, fresh produce and flowers. Scientists at start-up, Apeel Sciences, have figured out a secret to doubling their lifespans. And they do it naturally.
Amarula has turned 25 and is throwing a R25-million party! We’re proud to be part of the celebrations, and have set up a great give-away with Distell; on offer for readers are 12 Amarula Cream gift packs! Click on the link above to enter.
Hope you enjoy this week’s read…. your clicks are much appreciated!
FOODStuff SA is a hub for food-bev industry recruitment!
Advertise your openings now! Click here
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| This week’s news on FOODStuff SA! |
 Middle-class South Africans are getting fatter and lazier, despite having access to discounted gyms and knowing the dangers of being overweight. This is according to the 2014 Discovery Vitality ObeCity Index, which measures eating habits, weight, time spent exercising and the mental wellbeing of about 170000 Vitality members.
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 Restaurants are doing it, and it was only a matter of time before retailers joined the low-carb/high-fat, Banting craze in South Africa. Needless to say, Woolworths, always on top of latest fads and trends, is first to market with a new range of low-carb ready meals.
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Understanding the ever growing needs of South Africans consumer who are concerned with their well-being and nutrition, SASKO, in the Pioneer Foods group, has launched a range of speciality dumpy loaves, SASKO Plus+.
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There’s the retortable can, the glass jar, the tube and the stand-up pouch… but now available in South Africa is the retortable tub, introduced by Polyoak Packaging’s Dairypack Tubs at this week’s Propak Cape expo at the CTICC.
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An international FMCG firm in South Africa is on the hunt for a radically new form or complete alternative to crystal sugar as raw ingredient in industrial food production, and anything that might be labelled “non-nutritive sweetener” will not cut it. It has presented this public challenge to potential supplier-partners via The Open Innovation Hub in Pretoria. [Surely such an ingredient is a global holy grail! Ed]
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SIAL 2014 wowed the crowds in Paris again this week, the 50th anniversary of the famous food trade fair. A highlight of the expo are those products that won SIAL Innovation Awards. Here are the top three of the Grand Prix winners this year – while in another SIAL 2014 event, an SA company has shone!
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Use the word “technology” in a discussion about cellphones, motor cars, manufacturing, education – every subject you can think of – and you get universal appreciation. Use the word in reference to food and beverages, and half the population will turn on you.
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Each day about 1.3 billion consumers in 200 countries eat or drink a product manufactured by PepsiCo, the second-largest food and beverage company in the world. Figuring out what those diverse consumers want today and tomorrow plus the means to get it to them is the job of Dr Mehmood Khan, PepsiCo’s executive vice president and chief scientific officer.
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McDonald’s is struggling to get back on top. The fast food giant reported this week that global same-store sales dropped 3.3% in the third quarter. The company has lost market share to fast-casual brands like Chipotle and better-burger restaurants like Five Guys.
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Today, many efforts to “market to Mom” appear to address an imaginary central household anchor who calmly monitors all social, nutritional and domestic needs of her children, and shops routinely and leisurely every week with her handy list. The truth is this Rockwellian portrayal of Mom no longer exists – if it ever really did.
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Welcome to the new age of eating. Our love of food is exploding in proportion to its shrinking interest in cooking from scratch – or apparently, eating food someone else cooked from scratch.
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Many factors can cause a product category to fall out of favour and lose popularity with consumers; demographic shifts, health trends, changes in consumer taste. When this happens marketers are faced with tough questions: Which product innovations and messaging can win consumers back? What current trends can be leveraged?
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Earlier this month, a Dutch project, Salt Farm Texel, beat 560 competitors from 90 countries to win the prestigious USAid grand challenge award for its salt-tolerant potato. “It’s a game changer,” said Dr Arjen de Vos of the Free University in Amsterdam. “We don’t see salination as a problem, we see it as an opportunity.”
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Nestlé reports that it has opened its most water efficient factory in the world, sited in Mexico, in a move that the company plans to replicate in other Nestlé factories globally.
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| ICYMI: Last week on FOODStuff SA! |
South Africa’s two new challengers for the lucrative pizza market – Domino’s Pizza and Pizza Hut – had better hold on to their mozzarella, because established operators will not take the competition lying down.
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A report released by Oxfam calls epic food insecurity and hunger in South Africa a “national scandal”.
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Tiger Brands has issued a recall of some of its cooking sauces and rice products after tests found traces of banned colourants.
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Polyoak Packaging, a leading supplier of rigid plastic containers to SA’s food-beverage sectors, has announced that all of its main manufacturing are now FSSC 22000-certified.
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A leading California fresh vegetable company is touting a new product, BroccoLeaf, as the next kale.
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The natural foods industry is deep into the anti-aging business, and it’s all based on two lies—one about pesticides and toxins, the other about anti-oxidants.
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Now on DRINKStuff SA!
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Namibia Breweries has launched VIGO, a premium malt based cooler described as “an invigorating, lightly sparkling soft drink”, and claimed as the first blonde malt soft drink made in Southern Africa.
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Stellenbosch-based Red Dawn IP Holdings has announced that it has patented “a game changing way” of producing alcoholic beverages using fynbos plants ie, rooibos and honeybush.
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Appletiser has added to its range of premium beverages with the launch of two new flavours in the Appletiser Colours range: Appletiser Colours Pink (Apple & Strawberry) and Appletiser Colours Amber (Apple & Peach).
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In the “craft cocktail” era, drinks with hefty price tags are the norm. And now, to complement fancy craft drinks, American entrepreneurs have come up with artisanal ice – a large, crystal-clear cube or rectangle that melts unhurriedly in your glass.
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Bowler Metcalf has pulled off a R274m deal to create SoftBev that will become the largest locally owned soft-drink company in SA.
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As part of its coffee growth strategy, AVI’s Entyce Beverages and Ciro divisions have secured the exclusive distribution rights to Lavazza, one of the world’s largest single espresso brands.
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Ambition made Jim Koch, the head of Sam Adams, the US’s biggest craft beer, has made a very successful business out of satisfying a demand people didn’t know they had.
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Off a small base, the ready-to-drink (RTD) or iced coffee has been seeing a period of strong product and market activity in recent years, reports Innova Market Insights.
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Alcoholic drinks come in many different forms and each has a different physiological impact on the body that’s far more complex than simply counting the calories on the bottle.
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| News from around the web… |
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Everything is possible in energy drinks: There’s no fear!’ WILD Flavors
Helene Möller, product manager for ingredients at WILD Flavors, says energy is the drinks category with the most possibilities for innovation.
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More than five million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s. A recent study found dementia care costs are roughly twice what’s expended for heart disease and almost triple that spent on treating cancer. Can Alzheimer’s be prevented altogether by changing diets. What’s making Americans overweight, tired and sick? “Your key to weight loss is to eat more fat. Eat fat, get thin!” says Dr David Perlmutter, neurologist and author of “Grain Brain“.
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Everything but the squeal: How the pork industry cuts food waste
Large-scale pig operations get a bad environmental rap. But when it comes to processing the animals, the industry is a model of efficiency, making use of every last bit in sometimes surprising ways. |
Symrise launches subsidiary in Nigeria
Symrise has launched a subsidiary in Lagos, Nigeria, strengthening its presence in Africa. The location will include sales and marketing offices as well as application laboratories. |
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Insight: how the 100 trillion bacteria in your gut help to keep you alive
Annick Mercenier, Nestlé Research Center scientist, writes about why studying the vast number of microbes present in the human gut may help us to understand the onset of certain diseases.
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Head of Waitrose says supermarkets out of date; reveals new trends
Waitrose’s MD Mark Price says that the major grocery multiples are operating supermarkets that are 20 years out of date given the fundamental changes in shopping habits. |
Dripping making a timely comeback
There was a time when a jar of beef dripping sat on every stove top… but it fell out of favour, along with many other fatty treats. But now that science is starting to point the finger at sugar and carbs as the culprits behind the surge in obesity and heart disease, saturated fat is getting a bit of a reprieve – and dripping is creeping back on to the menu. |
How cosmetic companies get away with pseudoscience
Anti-aging creams make absurd claims that they repair DNA damage or use stem-cell treatments. When cosmetics companies and dermatologists partner to maximise profits, who is responsible for protecting the consumer? |
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The story of Oreo: How an old cookie became a modern marketing personality In 2013, Oreo changed its image, and maybe changed advertising, with a real-time marketing coup. Its success has been the result of an overhaul of a large FMCG company’s marketing philosophy and processes. CMO, Dana Anderson, and the marketing team behind the Oreo phenomenon discuss how they made the transition from self-involved advertiser to nimble content creator.
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| Food Bites: They said it… |
MSG is bad for you is ‘old wives tale’
“THE biggest old wives tale is that MSG is bad for you. That is complete and utter nonsense! There is not one (scientific) paper to prove that. These beliefs come from the 1970s when some journalist wrote about Chinese restaurant syndrome.”
Heston Blumenthal, British celebrity chef, read more
What do consumers want…
“CONSUMERS want more protein from plant and animal sources. They want products that promote health and wellness, they want greater use of natural ingredients, more convenience foods, more localisation of flavours and more choice. There is a significant market today for specialist ingredients that deliver these attributes, which is expected to grow.”
ADM CEO Patricia Woertz, on the purchase of Wild Flavors
The past is another country…
“UP until about 2005 or 2006, our industry grew very successfully with a tried formula. Have great brands, do a lot of refresh research, create a new flavour, new colour, go around the world, launch the same product, and make it aspirational, and you grew. [Then] things started changing over the last decade. Consumers became more aware, had more knowledge, started asking more questions, and culturally relevant products started to become even more important.”
Mehmood Khan, PepsiCo Chief Scientific Officer
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| See all our 2014 food trend reports here! And beverage here! |
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