Change requires a decision. Which path will you take?

Understanding Implications of the Culture Shift to Healthy Lifestyle

By Bob Wheatley

Legacy categories like soft drinks have taken a hit. The supermarket footprint is in the midst of evolutionary change to push more space in fresh and prepared foods at the expense of center-store packaged products. Research shows a pervasive preference for foods and beverages with a healthier halo.  Organic produce is appearing in Walmart. Industry leading growth in foodservice is coming from upstart newcomers – from hamburgers to food trucks. Protein is the new black. Higher quality is now table stakes for any food, beverage and household products business. And incidentally if you’re not truly mattering to your core consumer, you’re a commodity.

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Welcome to a new feature at the What’s Good For You, America blog – a recurring column that will give you an inside look at the key players, opinions, views and news of what’s going on at Emergent. A Peek in the Conference Room begins with a story about change — specifically the challenges of making a meaningful transformation, and thoughts from two of Emergent’s Healthy Living Advisors team.

Frankly, there are a million reasons not to.  “The System’s too large.  Our tastes are too iconic. We’ll never get consensus internally.  And even if we did, the business pressures just won’t allow this kind of transition.  Or investment.  Or training.  Or headcount…”

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Can indulgent choices exist in a healthy diet?

By Bob Wheatley

Your running a business that at its core is indulgent. The brand story more closely aligned with pleasurable tastes experiences, or quality ingredients than with a DNA founded directly in healthier choice.

You know the consumer environment is moving increasingly towards recognition that food and beverage decisions can impact quality of life. And you wonder: can indulgent coexist with healthier? Are these paths mutually resistant to one another or is alignment possible? Is there a scenario downstream where consumers increasingly become more adamant about healthy and how do you answer this shift in preference?

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Desire for healthy lifestyle connected to healthier choices.

Where does this sit in your strategic plan and mission?

By Bob Wheatley

Yesterday 16 top food and beverage makers announced  they have met their goal to cut 1.5 trillion calories from their products, as part of their collective involvement in the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation.

In the same story a Hudson Institute report states that better-for-you products contributed $1.25 billion of sales increases for the 16 companies involved from 2007 to 2011 (just $300 million in sales growth attributed to high calorie options in their portfolios). So clearly better-for-you is better for business.

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