Market research specialist Mintel will be bringing its crystal ball to this year’s IFE, helping delegates to identify the next big trends in product development. Simon Mowbray reports
Mintel will need little introduction to the vast majority of visitors to this year’s IFE, not least because it has already had a regular presence at the show in previous years.
However, for the first time the researcher will be a key player at the Future@IFE forum, taking place throughout the four-day show.
The forum, seating 50 people and located opposite the VIP lounge in the general food hall, will see Mintel representatives talking about a range of subjects each day, including health and wellness, flavour trends and convenience.
The timing could not be more appropriate, claims David Jago, Mintel director of global new products database consulting services, who, along with fellow director Lynn Dornblaser, will be sharing his expertise in what type of products are causing a stir on grocery shelves around the world.
In particular, says Jago, retailers and manufacturers are facing significant challenges in gauging exactly what consumers want following the spluttering entry of the low-carb market on this side of the Atlantic and a general hunger for ever-greater convenience.
“We have picked the themes in consultation with the show’s organisers,” explains Jago. “We have tried to identify some big picture trends that will be applicable to visitors from all countries.
“For example, no-one can now ignore the importance of health and wellness, even if you are a chocolate manufacturer. The issue means something very different now to what it did just 12 months,” says Jago, referring not only to the regulatory pressures that producers now face around the world, but also to consumers’ ever-increasing demands for health and taste to be delivered at one and the same time.
“If we had been doing this last year, it would all have been about low-carb, but that has not had such an impact in the European market. Now it is more about a bigger picture that includes the growing importance of the Glycaemic Index, functional foods and naturally enriched products. We will have lots to talk about so no-one should leave empty-handed.”
Mintel will be tapping into its global new products database and bringing a plethora of offerings that its worldwide army of product spotters have brought to its attention over the last 12 months.
Jago says convenience should throw up a few ideas for companies looking to jump on the next big bandwagon. Among the products Mintel aims to bring are a stock cube-inspired Instant Soup Cubes brand that manufacturing giant Unilever has launched in Belgium under the Knorr banner and a new US offering from Kraft called Crystal Light, easy-to-carry, sugar sachet-style sticks of soft drink powder which can be made up with water anywhere, any time.
What both these products have in common, says Jago, is that they are both such breathtakingly simple concepts.“We will be looking at how packaging is increasingly being used to deliver convenience and focusing on the simple steps that manufacturers have taken and can take. Portionability is a good example of the sort of work that is being done very successfully. Food on the go is also still growing quickly everywhere and we expect that to continue.”
However, Jago acknowledges that what works in one country is not necessarily going to do so in another, so another key plank to Mintel’s presentations will be to warn visitors of the pitfalls of a one-flavour-fits-all approach.
“Flavour is a tough area and there are no such things as global trends in this area,” he warns. “If you look at the bestselling categories across the world, all will have different bestselling flavours depending on location. PepsiCo is very good at judging the regionality of flavour, developing things such as green tea-flavoured potato crisps in Thailand. There are lessons to be learned from that sort of success.”
Meanwhile, Jago is in no doubt about the opportunities that shows like IFE bring to delegates.
“They are vitally important because you see products that are sometimes not even available yet in retail and cutting-edge ideas that are being explored.
“Our theory is that a good idea is a good idea, no matter where it comes from and even if it may have failed somewhere else already.”
Mintel will need little introduction to the vast majority of visitors to this year’s IFE, not least because it has already had a regular presence at the show in previous years.
However, for the first time the researcher will be a key player at the Future@IFE forum, taking place throughout the four-day show.
The forum, seating 50 people and located opposite the VIP lounge in the general food hall, will see Mintel representatives talking about a range of subjects each day, including health and wellness, flavour trends and convenience.
The timing could not be more appropriate, claims David Jago, Mintel director of global new products database consulting services, who, along with fellow director Lynn Dornblaser, will be sharing his expertise in what type of products are causing a stir on grocery shelves around the world.
In particular, says Jago, retailers and manufacturers are facing significant challenges in gauging exactly what consumers want following the spluttering entry of the low-carb market on this side of the Atlantic and a general hunger for ever-greater convenience.
“We have picked the themes in consultation with the show’s organisers,” explains Jago. “We have tried to identify some big picture trends that will be applicable to visitors from all countries.
“For example, no-one can now ignore the importance of health and wellness, even if you are a chocolate manufacturer. The issue means something very different now to what it did just 12 months,” says Jago, referring not only to the regulatory pressures that producers now face around the world, but also to consumers’ ever-increasing demands for health and taste to be delivered at one and the same time.
“If we had been doing this last year, it would all have been about low-carb, but that has not had such an impact in the European market. Now it is more about a bigger picture that includes the growing importance of the Glycaemic Index, functional foods and naturally enriched products. We will have lots to talk about so no-one should leave empty-handed.”
Mintel will be tapping into its global new products database and bringing a plethora of offerings that its worldwide army of product spotters have brought to its attention over the last 12 months.
Jago says convenience should throw up a few ideas for companies looking to jump on the next big bandwagon. Among the products Mintel aims to bring are a stock cube-inspired Instant Soup Cubes brand that manufacturing giant Unilever has launched in Belgium under the Knorr banner and a new US offering from Kraft called Crystal Light, easy-to-carry, sugar sachet-style sticks of soft drink powder which can be made up with water anywhere, any time.
What both these products have in common, says Jago, is that they are both such breathtakingly simple concepts.“We will be looking at how packaging is increasingly being used to deliver convenience and focusing on the simple steps that manufacturers have taken and can take. Portionability is a good example of the sort of work that is being done very successfully. Food on the go is also still growing quickly everywhere and we expect that to continue.”
However, Jago acknowledges that what works in one country is not necessarily going to do so in another, so another key plank to Mintel’s presentations will be to warn visitors of the pitfalls of a one-flavour-fits-all approach.
“Flavour is a tough area and there are no such things as global trends in this area,” he warns. “If you look at the bestselling categories across the world, all will have different bestselling flavours depending on location. PepsiCo is very good at judging the regionality of flavour, developing things such as green tea-flavoured potato crisps in Thailand. There are lessons to be learned from that sort of success.”
Meanwhile, Jago is in no doubt about the opportunities that shows like IFE bring to delegates.
“They are vitally important because you see products that are sometimes not even available yet in retail and cutting-edge ideas that are being explored.
“Our theory is that a good idea is a good idea, no matter where it comes from and even if it may have failed somewhere else already.”
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