Combining New and Natural in food innovation is hard

Combining New and Natural is tricky in food innovation, given consumer demands for great taste allied to natural and healthy on the one hand and unprocessed on the other ....all wrapped up in transparency and a no compromise mentality.... great challenge!

Geography/ culture and History:

This area has been a popular route these past few years with as just two examples the increased interest shown in historical products that had fallen out of favour like eg spelt flour, or products used in one country ,culture or region introduced into other such as Tofu or Quinoa.

Conversely, the introduction of more non dairy products based on plants into traditional Dairy countries and a reverse movement of Dairy products into countries like China shows that this type of axis is promising on an international scale ; witness recent pronouncements on the growth of coconut based products by the Pret a manger chain as a major growth driver in the UK.

There are going to be limits however; I'm sceptical for instance about the likelihood of bugs becoming the next big thing in protein , certainly in my household.

What has often helped this movement has been the opportunity to offer built in health benefit associations for these new around here products....


Health benefits help in both existing and new foods:

The explosion in the various categories of "free from " foods says all you need to know about the interest in lactose free ,gluten free, dairy free, sugar free vegetarian and vegan foods , with over 50% of British homes now buying into the various claimed health and wellness or ethical benefits , as opposed to this being the result of a rise in medical diagnoses . Although often not completely new , free from versions do open up pre existing categories to new or lapsed buyers rather than cannibalise a given market.

Similarly,interest generated in a very traditional product category such as oats centred around newly claimed cholesterol reducing benefits and has helped spark a raft of more contemporary developments in both the traditional oats core hot and cold cereals market and beyond into areas such as so called dairy free oat"milk".Similarly ,health claims around a claimed antibiotic effect have definitely helped the sales of Manuka Honey . Witness also ,the successful new market established by new products containing natural plant extracts which help cholesterol reduction meets the consumer criteria of new and Natural....Similarly ,significant consumer interest and market growth were seen by the launch of added health benefits with the launch of e.g. probiotic yogurts, or the introduction of smoothies.


As a word of caution there was a rush a few years ago to add Fish oil Omega 3 into a great many products , some of which sat uneasily with consumers and which failed...by what logic for example was fish oil added to liquid cows milk? It is fine to remove fat or other ingredients from an existing product ,or indeed reinforce existing ingredients , but beware tinkering.....consumers do look at ingredients lists .


Genuinely new foods however are trickier because they are often at odds with either consumer acceptance of the use of technology in food , or because they push boundaries too far for consumer acceptance.

Consider for instance the genuinely new food that is Quorn, a plant based myco protein ingredient that is similar to tofu in its infinite ability to be transformed . The Quorn business is a long term endeavour for sure , but gaining traction over time ,and successive owners. No one however talks much about the technological background and history......Compare that technically based entirely new product success with the unwillingness of the British public to embrace Ostrich meat ,which was much hyped as a healthier new meat in the late 20th Century.


Cleaning up one's act:


Pretty much a given these days simply to stay in the game , and whether it is reducing sugar or fat , embracing sustainability or fairtrade, sourcing local ,reducing carbon footprint, animal welfare , no to growth hormones in animals, reducing packaging waste ....just about everyone is actively pursuing this....making this axis generally a poor differentiator or source of innovation. Witness the advertising money spent by e.g. makers of breakfast cereals generally to change perceptions from junk food to wholesome by adding wholegrain to all their products as just one example.

This route also has risks.... if consumers dislike the taste of the reformulation this can be tricky ,Just ask the people at companies behind Lucozade or Heinz brands about this balancing act as it applies to sugar and/or salt reduction. However laudable it may be to make food choices healthier, our taste buds need reeducation over time...

Consumer willingness to accept a "technology over natural" compromise plays a big role. Sugar / calorie free drinks for example rely on consumer desire for guilt free outweighing any of the concerns that regularly make the headlines about potential health side effects of artificial sweeteners..


Food Technology , science and consumers:

Global Heavy hitters are now coming to market with hybrids that blur the boundaries of food and life science,beauty companies are selling beauty from within drinks in Asia ( collagen or Aloe Vera drinks ); food supplements are being repackaged ,retargeted and resited in store from e.g. bodybuilding in an attempt to make them more mainstream.

Then there are pure technologically based attempts to innovate ,and this is where things get tricky....most consumers don't really want to know , generally it is felt the less technology and additives used in our food the better...no GM crops, no pesticides, no meat grown in a lab.... but being fickle we don't want compromises on year round availability, shorter shelf life, uglier looking fruit and vegetables, and so on.

Some other technologies like eg the use of cold pressing of juice or raw instead of cooked chocolate make intuitive sense and may indeed being taste and health benefits.


It is worth pointing out that one of the arguably good things that the EU authorities have done is to outlaw health claims that are not deemed to be scientifically proven , by which I mean it protects consumers .


So where's the point in this ramble, and where's the branding angle?

In the teeth of a major decline in the belief in and value added of brands generally in many countries , it is now a given that not only must food brands be transparent and honest like never before, but that they must innovate like never before to try and help sustain relevant value added versus private label as well as other competing brands.

I would suggest this has more to do with taste than technology per se. So , greater focus on and respect for our consumers whatever their idiosyncrasies and apparent contradictions..and small incremental steps if you want us to embrace new foods and new technology...but no bugs for me thanks..

Promise and delivery,can they ever be friends?

This is a personal perspective on a very tricky topic, sparked by a great post on linkedin by Dr Travis Bradberry recently about things which get you fired......

" underdelivering versus promises made" is one topic covered in his article , but it is such a major topic and the cause of many a painful journey , that it merits a sizeable space of its own.

What you read next may not be you or the place you work , but I know this kind of stuff still happens on both client and agency side...and it unfolds like a slow motion car crash ,leaving a trail of human and business debris. Reading this piece to the end may therefore help you sense if something is not right before it all turns ugly.....

The delivery versus promise issue is a recurring life challenge ,not just in our working lives ,because it covers communication both explicit and implicit, relationships , and the balance of power ; what is said vs what is inferred but not said ; what is actually understood , what is agreed happily or under pressure ; negotiation vs imposition, process , and a kind of alternate reality with double speak and double standards enshrined in an opaque, coded language ......

Most of us have at some point been obliged to call on others for something of a leap of faith ,to trust our ability to step up into new responsibilities we have little or an imperfect experience and expertise in, bullshit our way through the selection process and the subsequent newly hired in post learning curve. "Fake it till you make it " is just one new phrase I have learned on Linkedin....

The bad news is in getting that job you just "agreed" to the unrealistic top down targets the Board / your Boss are imposing on you.....which they hopefully also deep down know are totally unrealistic, but are obliged to accept themselves in order to protect their own position in the food chain...

The sad truth is that unfortunately people are sometimes mistakenly hired or go for roles or corporate cultures they turn out to be simply unsuited for, never mind about whether promised ressources have been provided or cut. Sometimes this situation can be compounded if the "underperforming " party can't or won't accept there is an unfixable problem..even if it is entirely a fiction of the employer's making...either way it spells trouble, and it takes guts and a good personal internal warning system to recognize the problem early and tackle it head on.

This conflict situation can lead to all kinds of bad consequences, from seemingly constant or personal criticism , to dysfunctional and demotivated teams , to losing the brightest team members , or sky high personal stress levels which can and do often leave nasty physical and psychological scarring , even before the end game , the sudden reorganisation and assisted rapid exit for "underdelivery versus expectation....."

To be clear ,this blog is neither in any way an apology for underperformance, which must always be addressed transparently honestly and promptly....nor does it seek to ignore the fact that we are all free to walk away if we don't like what is being asked of us, which as a concept works better in some countries, cultures and situations than others of course....

It is rather a call for greater integrity and transparency in how we set up and communicate goals and expectations be they numeric , competency or judgement (yes, .. subjective ..nightmare) based , the spoken as well as the unspoken; and how we deal with the fallout when things don't work out in a way that maintains everyone's dignity.

As to the Brandbuilding angle , if we aren't personally aligned with the work culture we find ourselves in then both parties brands will be harmed.