Peaking into 2009 Food Trends in the US

US Trends

• Consumers will notice more of reduced portion size as the manufacturers way of cutting production cost. This will affect more in their decision making.
  
• Sweeteners such as Stevia and Agave are getting more acceptable, more consumers considers it as "natural".
• Increase trends for Fair Trade products. It is moving beyond cocoa, tea and coffee.
• Still important areas for food manufacturers: satiety, reduced-calorie, removal of artificial colours and flavours.
• Food price hikes, retailers are doing more push-back.
• South American flavoured snacks are forecast to be much popular in the years ahead. American eat more meat per capita than anyone else in the world (124 Kg each year, FAO stats). Flavours from Argentina and Brazil with cactus and chimichurri – a chili-based sauce for grilled meats will be trendy. In order to tap into the trends, flavours suggested new twists on salsa, and spicy steak flavors, as well as Latin-inspired flavorings for snacking seeds, such as chili and lime.
• Interesting enough....children will continue to be attracted with bright colors and cartoon characters, young adults aged 14-32 will be attracted to extreme flavors, above 40 are more health conscious with nostalgic flavors preferences.
  
• NPD predicted children under nine, adult 30-39 and 50-59 years will continue to be the major snacks consumers until 2017. I was amazed by the prediction (2017 is a long way to go).
  
• People are going for high quality food products with fewer and higher quality ingredients, less mass-produced, with narratives that includes craft values and traditions. Despite recession, consumers are still hunting for fresh, local, quality products. People are more interested in celebrational eating, eating for better immunity and digestive health compare to detoxifying and supplemented food.
• People are dining out less thus are more interested in prepared foods. Consumers are substituting more expensive to less expensive retailers.