The last day in the beautiful city of Montreal started out with an alarming surprise. It was about 4:00 AM that fire alarms and sirens started blaring through the inside of the Hyatt hotel. The PA system was telling everyone to evacuate immediately. Oddly enough, I had slightly awoken earlier smelling smoke but just dismissed the thought. I threw on my jeans & flip flops then grabbed the passport and computer then started the 10 story decent down the staircase with all of the other blurry eyed & stunned guests. The smell of smoke was strong and the overall vibe expressed the concern and confusion of all. The hotel guests piled into the street and camped out in the cold, as Montreal's finest began to take on the fire, squelching the billowing smoke and flames. Within an hour, all was well under control and we ventured back to our rooms for a couple hours of sleep.
That had to be one of the more interesting hotel experiences I have had as of late.
Sial was a refreshing, but late start to the day. One more look at the passion put into the craft of the products displayed at the conference. The key to innovation is relevance - relevance to the consumer in benefit, pleasure, health or practicality. Another commonality between top innovators is the creation of a unique, ownable point of difference. True innovation truly changes the landscape!
In an attempt to decode & illustrate the innovations that I experienced these past 3 days, let's touch on what was mentioned yesterday on the blog, as some of the overarching trends:
- Citizenship = eco or social conscience
- Sensory Experience = we use all 5 senses when we experience food and beverages
- Premium = a sophistication of product deliverables; delivers a promise to consumers
- Convenience = we all feel the daily time crunch of our schedules and lifestyles
- Human Element = touches people on an emotional level, resonating a response
- Exotism = this is about perception and the way products make us feel; think super foods, the allure of African spices and fruits, foods from Spain
- Healthful Quality = nutrition, natural, organic, green
- Small is BIG! = appropriate portions, bite-size indulgences
- Complex Flavors = bottom line - it's gotta taste good; full bodied flavor profiles with depth
- Dark = as in chocolate
- Fruits are everywhere = used as a major ingredient call out
Food IQ would love to start a consortium of trend and innovation ambassadors from around the globe. Shoot me an email (right side of the blog under "email me") detailing your innovation findings or discovered trends. We would love to see what is happening at world tradeshows, in restaurants, on grocery store shelves, in magazines and in your lifestyle.
Food for Thought: when you deliver an innovative product to a consumer - be sure to deliver on your promise!
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