Tradeshows are always a great time to network to see old friends, make new acquaintances and of course, see what’s new and trending. And despite its small size, United Fresh did not disappoint delivering on some big ideas.
Here’s some of the things we thought were worth taking note.
PROTEIN PROVES IT’S HERE TO PLAY
For the past several years protein has proven to be a top trend with Data Monitor reporting that over 25% of consumers are regularly reading labels and looking for more protein based snacks. Many produce suppliers including Crunch Pak, FiveStar Gourmet Foods, Good Foods and Reichel Foods prove that they are listening to the trends.
MINI MEALS & SNACKS
Speaking of trends; mini meals and snacks are showing no sign of decline. We wrote more about the trend of mini meals snacking here: Consumers Eating Alone and Snack Happy. And this year, produce suppliers had lots of great ideas for the snack category. Good Foods is certainly killing it with all their great ideas in the snack and mini meal category, even including on trend ingredients like quinoa. And speaking of great ideas, newcomer Kitchen 22 has some great concepts for ready to serve soups (both cold and warm), as well as fruit purees. Other products we loved were Buddy Fruits tube snacks, the new freeze dried Crunchies (the grapes taste like Jolly Ranchers and have no added ingredients), and the portion controlled blueberries from North Bay Produce.
BOWLS BABY
Those in the health know are also helping drive the trend known as power bowls. Slowly gaining in popularity over the last few years, salads, proteins and ancient grains are making their way off the plate and into the bowl on blogs, in cookbooks and at restaurants. It’s clear that Ready Pac and Mann Packing are ready for their Instagram moments with these palate pleasers.
LICENSED & COBRANDED
Licensing and cobranding has been popular in food for years. Everything from favorite characters including Mickey Mouse and top celebrities like Jamie Oliver have found a place in food. But sometimes unique partnerships create natural cross-over synergy. The concept of floral featuring NFL team bouquets perfect for homegating and its genius taps into the rabid sports fans that spend up to $150 per season on tailgate type parties. Additionally, the floral industry is tapping into proven consumer brands like HGTV and Hallmark which provide natural connections to fresh plants and gift giving. And of course Crayola and kid friendly Buddy Fruits are a no-brainer for back to school.
LOCAL LOVE
Local food is no longer a consumer trend, it’s the norm and we’ve written about how urban agriculture is reshaping the local movement. Some of our favorites in local were at United Fresh showing off their wares including Gotham Greens, Mighty Vine and Farmed Here. Besides fresh greens, Farmed Here also offers value added products like dried herbs and dressings to take advantage of all of the produce they grow allowing them to avoid food waste.
CLEAN FRESH DESIGN
Design style is ever evolving and packaging design is no different. From colors and font styles to messaging and overall aesthetics we are seeing trends for cleaner, fresher looking design styles. A couple things we noticed were packages meant to look like traditional packages including a basket design from Triple H or a jar design from Oppenheimer. And of course, other tomato companies like Double Diamond and Mucci have their own takes on fresh design with the use of white coloring and clear space.
INTERESTING BOOTH DESIGNS
It’s not just packaging that provided inspired design, some tradeshow displays showed some unique looks as well. In the floral show a black and white display caught my eye, as did an interactive walk through maze made of cardboard tubes. And in the produce show Good Foods, Farmed Here and Hollandia showed off living walls that highlighted that fresh is what they do.
JUST GREAT IDEAS
And finally we saw some generally great ideas we didn’t want to forget that deserve a shout out.
This mixed romaine and radicchio pack from Royal Rose was a great combo with perfect consumer cues.
Coast Produce debuted their new brand and packaging Coast Authentic. They were able to succinctly capture the essence of a very diverse product line for an even more diverse demographic.
New exhibitor Simply Beyond showcased a spray-on herb made of essential oils that had rich deep flavor perfect for cooking.
And finally these new oven ready vegetable and sauce trays from Pearson Foods are perfect for the time crunched consumer.
Congratulations to the fresh produce industry for proving that you can rise to the occasion and continue to create great products for consumers.
Written by Melinda Goodman
Managing Partner
Melinda@FullTiltMarketing.net
