A gluten-free diet is mandatory for people with celiac disease but it also has increasingly become integrated into the daily diet of many health-conscious shoppers. For supermarkets, this means participating in the expansion and incorporation of gluten-free products throughout the store. As a result, retailers everywhere are asking the question, “Should gluten-free products become integrated or segregated?” Continue reading
healthy diet
2015 Culinary Trends: What’s Hot
The National Restaurant Association’s annual “What’s Hot” culinary forecast predicts the food and menu trends for the coming year. For 2015, the NRA surveyed nearly 1,300 professional chefs to find out what the hottest menu trends will be. The link below will take you to a page on restaurant.org’s website where you can select from a menu of trend articles.
Although this forecast is geared to the restaurant industry, there is no doubt that there are many crossover trends that also could play equally important roles within the grocery and specialty food retail segments. It will come as no surprise that concepts like local sourcing, sustainability and nutrition are three key themes that are highlighted throughout the 2015 forecast.
Link: 2015 Culinary Forecast
And Now… Craft Popcorn
By now we all know about the craft beer movement that has swept across the country and my last post was on craft whiskey, but you probably are not familiar with a similar heirloom (craft) popcorn revival in this country. As with craft beer, people are searching out artisanal and more flavorful (as well as healthy) snack options, Continue reading
Kids Zone for Healthy Snacks
Snacks get a bad rap, especially when related to our kids. But not all snacks are bad. In fact, children need extra calories during the day to help with their growth and energy level. The key is to offer kids (and their parents) smart choices.
Nutritionists have always recommended snacking on fresh and dried fruits, but how do you get kids to embrace this themselves? The good news is that the answer is not complicated. Studies show that kids Continue reading
Proposed Food Label Revisions
This past month the FDA proposed several significant changes to the standard food nutrition label which appears on roughly 700,000 packaged foods.
One of the more noticeable changes would be an emphasis on calorie counts, with bigger/bolder calorie numbers. Related to this, serving sizes will be altered to represent what most people actually eat. As an example, Continue reading
Gluten-Free Here to Stay
By now, we probably all know someone who has some form of gluten sensitivity or perhaps even has celiac disease, the autoimmune disorder caused when gluten is ingested. But who would have guessed a few short years ago how far-reaching the trend of gluten-free foods would go.
According to Nielsen, the portion of households reporting purchases of gluten-free food products hit 11 percent last year, rising from Continue reading
US Organic Food Market Growth
Growth in the US organic food market is expected to continue through 2018 with a new report predicting a compound annual growth rate of 14%. Equally important is the forecast that organic food sales will continue to increase at a much higher level than the non-organic food market. Continue reading
Specialty Teas are Healthy for Grocers
Tea and coffee segments continue to deliver outsized sales results for grocers and mass merchandisers. That’s a key lead-in stat to a new article on Progressive Grocers’ website.
Coffee and teas accounts for 15 percent of total overall new beverage dollar sales and the pace of new tea introductions is accelerating. Specialty tea has evolved into a constant innovation cycle Continue reading
New Apples On the Horizon
Two new apples are coming this fall to select farm stands: SnapDragon and RubyFrost. These apples have been in development for more than a decade by Cornell University and are under an exclusive licensing agreement with New York Apple Growers. According to the growers’ group, a limited crop will be available this year, with full grocery store sales expected to begin in 2015. Continue reading
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