Salad Bowl Branding

American Tastes Tipping to Specialty Foods

The recent MediaPost article titled, "Look for Ethnic Comestibles to Find Way into American Hands," cites some very interesting developments for specialty foods. As the article explains, "Americans my be the kings and queens of hand-held foods--burgers, sandwiches, pizza--but their tastes will be increasingly fed by more international cuisines.

According to the CCD's most-recent "Culinary Trend Mapping" report (published jointly with Packaged Facts), Americans are likely to move toward seeking out and eating hand-held foods that have more of an ethnic flair, in part as a reflection of a diversifying culture. The trends, which include fare such as Indian dosas, Chinese baos and Latin American empanadas, are starting to emerge in urban areas and university cafeterias, says CCD trendologist Kara Nielsen.

"[University] food service centers cater to ethnically diverse people who cross-pollinate," Nielsen tells Marketing Daily. "As these young people get out of college, they'll be looking for [these foods] in regular life."

The more ethnic foods, such as dosas and baos, are still considered an emerging trend that could take some time to develop, perhaps as long as five years, Nielsen says. But she notes that food trends are moving from the ethnic fringe to the mainstream at an ever-increasing pace. 'The general American's knowledge of food has increased exponentially,' she says. 'Immigrants are landing everywhere. Things are moving faster than they were 10 or 15 years ago.'"

The article also speaks to the exciting implications for grocery stores, positing, "As a treat, the report predicts Mexican paletas, which are frozen pops made from fresh fruit or vegetables, mixed with spices, water or milk and maybe some sugar, to be a growing category. Early adopters, such as foodies, bloggers and reporters are keen on their freshness and unusual flavors, Nielsen says. While the trend is still considered very nascent, Nielsen notes that paleta chains and distributors are already branching out beyond their traditional Latin areas. 'You're starting to get options in grocery stores,' Nielsen says."

• Full MediaPost article located here.
• Article detailing Salad Bowl Branding located here.
• FAQs on Salad Bowl Branding located here.

Unprecedented Market Shifts Set Specialty Foods Ablaze

Looking back at history we now realize that America's various ethnic groups have not evolved into the great "melting pot" that we learned of as early as our grade school years. Instead of one unified culture, America is a rich mix of many cultural groups.

These market segments share a common bond through their set of values -- like freedom, equality and prosperity -- but remain separated by their diverse heritages.

Just as they have not assimilated, neither have their brand preferences, with food representing a key way to honor their history and maintain their cultural identities.

Watch our short video and see how the nation more aptly resembles a "salad bowl" of diverse cultural influences (or distinct "ingredients") that complement one another without losing their core flavors.

In fact, our different heritages not only make this country unique -- they make America the lively, diverse and passionate nation that it is, with citizens forever open to new ideas, ways, styles and products. And we're a nation open to new trends and new tastes -- as proven by the many cultural markets that not only influence the trends and tastes of their own cultural groups, but of many other groups, as well as mainstream audiences.

Moreover, between skyrocketing population forecasts, surges in purchasing power and soaring demand for specialty foods, marketers are poised for the most dramatic period of growth the industry has ever witnessed. An in order to innovate in today's fiercely competitive food and beverage industry, marketers must target cultural segments, not mass market audiences.

With a new set of influential "tastemakers" to serve, marketers must do their homework so as to reap the potential rewards. This is the foundation of what we call "Salad Bowl Branding." In this age it's the savviest, not necessarily the strongest, of specialty foods companies that will win... and in this age, daring to be different signals far less risk than remaining the same.

Covering these dynamic markets -- and the unprecedented opportunities for today's marketers of specialty foods and beverages -- is why we've launched this "Salad Bowl Branding" blog.

We look forward to sharing our opinions, getting your feedback, engaging in dialog and bringing you the most recent statistics, forecasts and developments in this ever-changing and always exciting industry.

Got a thought or interesting stat to share, drop us a note.

Learn more in this article (PDF format) by clicking here.

For FAQs on Salad Bowl branding please go here. Facts and forecasts located right here.

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