Nourish the Thought

Aquarios Cereal Debuts at NRA

One of the coolest things we saw at the recent NRA show in Chicago was Aquarios Cereal...yes a cereal made the top list.

Keep your spoons ready and your eyes open for this across the country!

Our Five Cents - Innovation

We spoke about innovation with Westin and Wii.

FOOD for THOUGHT:  New product development keeps you in the game and relevant with your consumer audience.  Pure innovation changes the game/landscape and positions you as an industry leader for others to follow.

Live from Sial - Final Day

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!

Live from Sial - Day 2

Day 2 has found my eyes opening wider and my mind sponging every ounce of creativity.

There were a lot of fabulous Canadian products showcased at Sial; my favorite being maple caramel.

The overarching buzz at Sial came from the following call outs:

• Organic & natural
• Premiumization
• Fruits - exotic seemed to have bigger call outs
• Authentic ingredients/techniques
• Sustainable/environmental concerns

One of my favorite products today was avocado oil from Chile.  The vibrant color embellished the thought of we all eat with our eyes first.  The assertive flavor and creamy smoothe mouthfeel is condusive to an array of culinary possibilities.  Another interesting product was square veggie chips with flavors like herbes de provence, sundried tomato & basil and pesto.

Innovative packaging and innovations in food & beverage go hand in hand; as packaging can be that point of difference that positions the product with an ownable point of difference.  It was interesting to walk the show and see what caught my eye and then reflect on why some products resonated more than others.  For me, simple clean packaging that evokes an emotional connection or functional solution is key.

more tomorrow...