Seven in 10 consumers said they’d be willing to pay up to 20% more for
environmentally friendly products, and only one in 10 said they were unwilling
to pay anything extra, according to a survey by Mambo Sprouts Marketing.
Consumer desires and supply chain requirements drive meat and poultry package development.
Consumers expect a lot from meat and poultry packaging. Their wish list includes a diverse set of attributes, including sustainability, convenience, freshness indicators and on-label nutritional data.
We’re living in a consumer economy. Yet we recognize that a one-way product life cycle is not sustainable. You can reuse a bottle as a flower vase but, at the rate people consume our product (and I have no interest in telling them to consume less), there are only so many flower vases that you need.
Packagers strive to make food healthier—and let
people know
The food industry is
taking consumers’ desires for healthier food to heart, working hard
on new formulations and trying to find the best way to communicate their
benefits.
The meat industry is facing widespread challenges. People are being
advised to eat less of it for health reasons. Plus safety questions
about antibiotics, hormones, e-coli and now cloning have consumers a
bit on edge.
Last month we discussed the problems that U.S. companies faced during
2007 with respect to products imported from China that posed serious
health and safety concerns and subsequently had to be recalled.
A combination of trends rooted in commercial, lifestyle and demographic changes
is keeping life interesting in the food industry.
Consumers’ desire for convenient, healthy foods is an ongoing
motivator for new product development.
