Food incubators are not necessarily new. They’ve been called shared kitchens, culinary incubators, food hubs and more. Their growth grew out of the 2002 Farm Bill that allocated $27.7 million in grant funding to support value added food production and create Agriculture Innovation Centers. The idea was to help agriculture producers create greater ROI for their products in the form of value added consumer products versus selling commodities alone.

With competitive funding available agricultural co-ops and economic development companies around the U.S. jumped in and started creating shared food spaces. Everywhere from Detroit to Brooklyn, and places far and wide and in between sprung up to support this new kind of small business. Participants are caterers, bakers, food trucks, meal prep delivery companies and even manufacturers creating and launching new consumer products. Places like Union Kitchen in DC and The Hatchery in Chicago are just two of the hundreds of food accelerators around the U.S. that are helping entrepreneurs find success.

The premise is that a common shared space could bring together a wealth of tools and resources that are often cost prohibitive to individual startups. Things like warehouse space, office space, kitchen space, expensive equipment, and health and safety certificates to name just a few are things that can cost a startup hundreds of thousands of dollars. Other food incubators went deeper and provided resources for packaging, branding, legal, marketing and sales and even investor resources. And of course – the collaboration. A shared experience of running ideas past other makers in a shared space allowed innovators to test new ideas and work through challenges with others who may be experiencing similar challenges.

And incubators worked. They helped launch dozens of small business for individuals making salsa, baked goods, pet treats and more and foster local food economies. They’ve also helped launch fast growing national brands and new ideas like avocado gelato from RIPE, bone broth from Kettle & Fire and Brazi Bites, the Brazilian cheese bread bites seen on Shark Tank.

But it isn’t just communities who are supporting the future of food. Food manufacturers are also getting in on the trend and not only funding, but mentoring the next generation of food innovators in hopes of keeping their own brands fresh. Today, brands including Pepsi Co, Kraft Heinz, General Mills, Kellogg, Land O’ Lakes, Chobani and Johnson & Johnson all either own or fund food incubators.

It was more three or four years ago when I was turned on to the power of food incubators when walking the aisles at the Specialty Food Show. It seemed everywhere I looked was a new product idea that was part of a food incubator. Uniquely flavored honey, beef jerkys, gluten free snacks, interesting beverages, premium chocolates and more all had origins in a shared space. Heck it’s the first time I learned about savory and spicy yogurt – which are just now starting to find their way to market. And it seems nearly every week I’m now reading a story about an up and coming brand that got its start in a food incubator.

For those of us that work in the food space this is an exciting time. Big ideas often come from small spaces where rules, meetings, layers of management, timelines and budgets restrict us from taking unconventional risks. The more diverse and global our world is, the more exciting our food should be and it appears that food incubators are ready to show us the way.

As leaders in the food world, we should all find ways to mentor the next generation of food entrepreneurs that demonstrate a passion for the business that feeds the world. It might be surprising what it will ignite in you.

The post Why Food Incubators are the New Food Darling appeared first on Full Tilt Marketing.

What is shopper loyalty? Over the years, supermarket retailers have made large investments in loyalty cards and other costly incentive programs to attract and retain shoppers but in today’s climate the effectiveness of these programs have been called into question. FMI recently tackled the topic of loyalty by surveying 3,000 U.S. consumers and 200 key retail decision makers. Not surprisingly, the study found that, despite consumers desire to be loyal, few shoppers spend the majority of their budget with one main retailer.

FMI reports that 8 in 10 shoppers say they typically divide their grocery shopping among two or more retailers each week. In addition, almost 3 out of every 5 shoppers (58%) would prefer to shop at one store if they could have all of their needs satisfied by that single store. The bottom line is that if more than 80% of shoppers routinely split their purchases among multiple grocery retailers, it’s getting more and more difficult to define who is truly loyal.

Despite retailers’ best efforts to build a base of loyal shoppers over the years, this can all be disrupted in an instant as shopper alternatives or their expectations shift (FMI).

We’ve seen this shift happen with deep discounters such as Aldi, Lidl and Trader Joe’s. With over 1,600 stores in the US, Aldi is on track to become the 3rd largest retailer in the US by 2022 and the company is spending nearly $2 billion to remodel existing stores.

Other shifts include meal kit subscriptions and online competitors such as Amazon offering the convenience of quick ordering combined with free delivery. As a HelloFresh subscriber for several years, the convenience of not having to plan meals is worth the cost and I spend much less than I used to at the grocery store. HelloFresh unveiled a 52% jump in sales this past March along with a deal that will allow it to enter the market for trendy Paleo and Keto diets as well as organic and gluten-free foods.

The FMI study noted that retailers can earn or lose the loyalty of shoppers across all elements of their offering and price is no longer the singular parameter that drives shopper loyalty. They caution that viewing loyalty as a card program, initiative or department can lead to a “distorted view of today’s reality.”

More importantly, all shoppers value the must-haves that include: good prices, promotions, quality products, clean stores, short check-out lines and good customer service. But elements such as personalized offers, ecommerce and digital engagement are more important to Millennials who are much more likely than older generations to shop at multiple stores and split their spend across multiple retailers.

The largest generation since the baby boomers (80 million strong), Millennials are poised this year to have more spending power than boomers, according to analysts at Bernstein. These digital natives eat the highest share of their meals in restaurants and are most likely to purchase prepared meals regardless of eating place. As a result, more grocery stores are working to improve their existing prepared meal options while at the same time more restaurants and fast-casual chains are on the move, offering delivery with more accessible to-go menus.

The study recommends that retailers broaden the description of loyalty programs to provide a differentiated and unique value proposition. In this fast-changing market place, retailers such as Walmart, Kroger, H-E-B and Target are investing heavily in new technologies in order to better serve the customer but the question remains on if they will be able to capture more shopper loyalty.

FMI defines loyalty today as not a card or a program or an initiative; loyalty has to be earned by satisfying the needs of shoppers better than the competition. This requires retailers to understand the generational needs and then consistently take actions to satisfy those needs across all aspects of their business.

The post Redefining Loyalty Among Supermarket Shoppers appeared first on Full Tilt Marketing.

As a relatively new transplant into the produce industry from the alien world of security software, I entered my first PMA Fresh Summit with a certain set of expectations. Some of those expectations held up (for example, I’ve been hearing for nearly a year that “PMA is BIG”) while others were off base. Overall, it was a wildly different experience than the “BIG” shows I was accustomed to in the software world.

After some time reflecting, I’ve compiled some of my takeaways from the show:

1. Everyone is nice.

Seriously, where are the jerks in the produce industry? In an industry as competitive as produce, it’s shocking for me to see how eager people are to help one another, collaborate, and oh, show the new girl the ropes. After discussing this “nice” phenomenon with a colleague, I wondered if it might have something to do with the fact that even stiff competitors help each other out in a pinch. Someone who is a competitor today may be a customer tomorrow if you have what they need (and they’ve run out). No offense to my old software buddies, but I think I’ve found my home.

2. Yes, it’s BIG. But not in the way that I expected.

As I mentioned, I’ve been hearing how big PMA is for nearly a year. But I’ve been to massive trade shows before. What made an impact on me were the investments at PMA. I’m no stranger to trade shows that fill up every inch of the Sands Expo Center in Las Vegas, but in my experience there has been a much higher small booth to large booth ratio than I saw at PMA.

So many of the booths at PMA were huge. Massive booth footprints, combined with massive hanging signs (seriously, did everyone have a hanging sign? It was like looking up in an overcrowded kite store) and massive display units all point to some serious investments in the show.

As I took all this in, I couldn’t help but question the ROI. Coming from software marketing, I am conditioned to measure and show ROI for everything. I can’t help but wonder if these investments truly yield a high enough ROI to justify themselves. If so, I am looking forward to riding a live unicorn through a sea of glittery grapes at next year’s PMA.

3. There’s plenty of tech in produce.

In the past year, I’ve gone on tours of fields, test farms, orchards, packinghouses, warehouses and more. The more I pull back the curtain, the more I learn that there’s a lot more that goes into food production than putting a seed in the ground. I wasn’t surprised to see a fair amount of new tech at the show, but I think that consumers are still wildly unaware of all the moving parts that come together to get an apple on the shelf in their supermarket. That’s probably okay, but when I tell my non-produce industry friends about it, they’re FASCINATED.

4. Exhibitors are willing to experiment.

I saw a lot of different solutions to the age-old booth traffic quandary. How did marketers at PMA work to attract booth visitors? Here are a few of the more memorable tactics…

• I saw more mascots (we’re talking big furry suits) than I’ve seen at any other show. Some were totally bizarre, and may have had the opposite effect on me. Maybe I’m just not a mascot person ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
• Food. Arguably the best tactic to attract people to your booth. Does it get them to stay? Depends how delicious it is!
• Games! My personal favorite, games can be a huge draw for passersby. See someone else failing at giant Jenga or an oversized ring toss? It’s almost impossible to resist the urge to see how you stack up.
• Booth Babes. I’m going to try to stay off my soapbox here, but… seriously, can we be done with booth babes? Amid the discussions about gender equality, representation in the workplace, and wage gaps, booth babes are an antiquated reminder for all women that there are still some people out there who prefer our objectification to our participation.
• I’m always surprised not to hear more music at trade shows. Sure, there are restrictions on how loud your music can be, but it sets a vibe and creates instant emotional connection. The trick? Picking what to play. I walked by a booth rocking Radiohead on vinyl and honestly just wanted to hang out there, rest my feet, and eat Peatos all day (high five, World Peas – favorite booth at the show!).

5. Storytelling wins.

The best booths I saw were ones that told the company story through creative visuals, and made the viewer FEEL something. Telling your story visually can be tricky – how much information should you convey? What emotions do your typeface and imagery evoke? Which stories should you tell? There are a myriad of factors to consider when creating show graphics, but an emotional connection to a brand will always win over a cerebral one. I saw a number of exhibitors at PMA who were doing it right.

6. Produce is a good place to be.

My biggest takeaway was “Wow, this is fun.” For anyone who is passionate about food, PMA is a dreamscape of flavors, stories, and opportunities. I even tasted something I’ve never seen before, which for me is a big deal (message me and I’ll tell you what it was!).

I’m already looking forward to next year!

The post Welcome to the Jungle: My First PMA Fresh Summit appeared first on Full Tilt Marketing.

In 2015, Applebee’s made a strategic decision to target the “the next generation of consumers.”   Known for its casual dining, all-American cuisine with ribs, chicken and steak as mainstays, new unique items began to appear on the menu from sriracha shrimp to kobe-style meatballs and churro s-mores.  And then added ingredients like quinoa and sweet potato made their debut. Television ads positioned the restaurant’s bar as a hip place at happy hour or after 10:00 pm.  Executives also hinted at testing craft beer and by 2016 wood-fire grills were added to 2,000 locations.

By the Spring of 2017, Applebee’s began closing 130 locations and sales were down considerably.

What Happened?

A blogger described it best, “Applebee’s wasn’t a hip cool place to bring a date or meet friends after work. It was where you took your grandmother to lunch after church on Sunday.”   Applebee’s core market included consumers between the ages of 35-54 years old.   With the decision to shift towards a younger demographic, the chain lost sight of its roots and tried to become something it’s not – trendy, more sophisticated.

But Applebee’s has not been the only casual dining chain that has struggled the past few years, TGI Fridays and Ruby Tuesday have faced sales slumps and dozens of restaurant closures as well.  Many blame millennials but the reality is that competition is fierce as consumers have so many more choices these days.  With the rise of mobile apps, quick delivery and meal-box services, getting or making meals at home has never been easier or more convenient.

How New Leadership Turned the Tide

Having previously served as Applebee’s chief marketing officer from 2001 to 2006, John Cywinski rejoined the company in March of 2017 and was tasked with making a big turn-around.   His first order of business was to win back Applebee’s middle-American, family-oriented and slightly older demographic that had balked at the menu changes and higher prices.   “If you can’t pronounce a menu item, it’s not making its way to Applebee’s menu,” Cywkinsi said, pointing to foods like quinoa and pomegranate that were cut. “Our guests love bacon and cheese.”

Cywkinsi focused efforts on targeting “routine traditionalists as well as those very important value seekers” and embraced broad stream menu flavors.  A new campaign was launched that reintroduced the “Eatin’ Good in The Neighborhood” theme with television ads that featured Celine Dion singing as a female customer enjoyed all-you-can eat riblets, and a country music song by Frankie Ballard played in the background to an image of a mouth-watering whiskey bacon burger.

Applebee’s customers are seeking affordable and approachable food, “a pretty good meal at a pretty good price,” Cywinski stated.  In addition to all-you-can-eat, the 2 for $20 value proposition was reintroduced with a beverage underlay.

Drinks specials with $1 to $3 cocktails such as the Dollarita began to gain traction especially with Millennials who were treated the same as their Gen X and Baby Boomer customers.  The good news is that Applebee’s return to its roots is winning.  In fact, same-store sales at Applebee’s rose 7.7 percent for the third quarter of 2018 and this rounded out four consecutive quarters of growth, 43 consecutive weeks of positive comp sales that have been outperforming every segment of the restaurant industry.

While the vast majority of Applebee’s off-premise business is to-go, they plan to have delivery offered in nearly 1,000 restaurants by year-end in addition to their emerging catering business.

What Marketers can Learn from this Example

They key lesson is to know your customer and when shifting to appeal to a new demographic, it’s important to ensure you don’t jump off the deep end and lose your current base in the process.  When Applebee’s lost sight of their middle-American customer base and low-cost value proposition, they very quickly lost market share.   In addition, don’t assume that every Millennial is buying into trendy and as this generation begins to age and are having kids, the simple values can still appeal just as they do with key segments of Gen X and Boomers.

Applebee’s is winning again because it’s catering to a broad spectrum of age groups while maintaining its brand identity as the real, all-American neighborhood restaurant.

The post Why Applebee’s is Winning by Leaving Behind Hip and Trendy appeared first on Full Tilt Marketing.

Six years after Blue Apron, Hello Fresh and Plated first launched in the U.S. and carved-out their own niche, supermarket retailers are finally jumping on board offering their own branded kits or acquiring meal kit companies.  That’s because consumers are increasingly seeking both fresh and convenient solutions for meal planning.

Estimated Size of the Meal Kit Market

Packaged Facts put meal kit revenue at $5 billion last year. According to a Nielson report, meal kit spending is rising three times faster than digital delivery or e-grocery.  The report states:

• 9% of consumers (10.5 million households) have purchased a meal kit in the past six months
• 25% said they would consider trying one in the next six months, representing more than 30 million potential household customers

But a study by Second Measure finds that meal-kit companies themselves are losing subscribers as the market for meal kits becomes over saturated.  Although Blue Apron has struggled the past few years, Hello Fresh’s revenue increased 70% in 2017.  Statistics portal Statista says meal kits generated $1 billion in revenue worldwide in 2015 and will hit $10 billion by 2020.

Retailer’s Acquire Meal Kit Providers

After acquiring Plated last year, Albertsons will be carrying meal kits in hundreds of its stores nationwide this year.  Kroger Co. followed suit and announced the acquisition of Home Chef in May, 2018 for $200 million.   This past October, Kroger began rolling out meal kits in select markets with plans to expand the retail distribution of Home Chef meal kits to more markets this year.

Nielsen reports that in 2017 in-store meal kits generated $154.6 million in sales, posting growth of more than 26% year-over-year. For context, total brick-and-mortar sales for center store edibles (grocery, dairy, frozen foods) dipped 0.1% last year.  Albertson’s claims that 80 percent of their customers would like to see meal kits available in stores.

 Retailers Roll Out their Own Brand of Meal Kits

Using their already popular “Apron’s” brand, Publix began to roll out its own line of meal kits in 2017.  Over the years, Publix has grown their Apron’s program that features culinary education through recipe cards, in-store demonstrations and cooking schools.  This program provides a natural extension to offering meal kits.  Additional themed kits include slow cooker and grilling options.

Walmart began rolling out its own branded meal kits in March, 2018.  The pre-proportioned kits are designed to serve two people and priced between $8 to $15.  In addition, Walmart will also offer ready-to-heat meals that are more heavily meat based.

What Does this Meal-Kit Mania Mean?

Only time will tell if the meal kit market becomes over saturated or remains profitable.  But what is not likely to change is consumers’ desire for both freshness and convenience.

Suppliers have the opportunity to develop a partnership with retailers and/or meal kit companies to include their product in the kits.  As an example, Smithfield Foods partnered with Chef’d in 2018 to bring meal kits to grocery stores and these are now available in 27 states at more than a dozen retailers, including Costco, Hy-Vee, Harris Teeter, Tops, Weis and Gelson’s Markets.

Like Smithfield has done, suppliers have the option of getting ahead of trends like these as the retail marketplace continues to adapt to changing times.

The post Retailers Jump onto the Meal Kit Bandwagon appeared first on Full Tilt Marketing.

A couple months ago, my husband and I took a trip to Alba, Italy for the Fiera Internazionale del Tartufo Bianco, or the International White Truffle Festival. While first planning our trip, we were most excited about the wine – Alba is a central location for visiting Barolo and Barbaresco, regions producing fantastic wines of the same names. Then a friend told us about the truffle festival and we began to investigate. We were excited, but couldn’t have been fully prepared for what was in store.

Let me back up. This region, Piedmont, is the birthplace of the slow food movement – an effort to conserve traditional products and techniques and protect local economies. As a reaction to fast food, “slow food” reinforces the oh-so-Italian idea that creating something truly magnificent can’t be rushed. Things are made well here, sometimes painstakingly hand-crafted. That takes time, but the results are worth it.

Tourism

Walking around the city, the number of restaurants struck me. Like, really nice restaurants where you’ll have a meal you’ll remember for your entire life. Food is not taken lightly. We began to notice, every restaurant had the logo for the truffle festival emblazoned on a window, on a poster, or even mounted on a wall. But it wasn’t just the restaurants. The entire city was alive for the festival; we saw the logo on banks, clothing stores—nearly every business in the city.

The design work is masterful. The logo, typography, photography and composition all come together to capture the magic and wonder of the region in a way I’ve rarely seen. But more on this later.

Truffles

The festival focuses on white truffles, a commodity prized as much for its imperviousness to cultivation as its unique flavor. However, it’s not just about truffles. Instead, it is a celebration of all the products of the region.

Italian cuisine is fiercely regional, and the slow food movement’s emphasis on all things local means that you’re not going to see many vegetables in Piedmontese cuisine. Why? The soil that produces some of the greatest wine in the world looks like moon dust. Midwestern road trips as a child gave me a baseless notion of what “good soil” should look like… and this was not it. But the moon dust soil is marvelous for growing three things in abundance: wine grapes, hazelnuts (wine growers plant hazelnuts above the elevation suitable for growing grapes), and truffles.

The whole city, and to some degree the whole region rallies around the truffle festival. The government organizes other events (like a hilarious donkey race) to complement the festival’s central marketplace. Chefs create truffle menus and host demonstrations. Winemakers, cheese makers, pasta artisans, and charcutiers share their products and find eager customers in the “World Truffle Market” at the center of the action. Everyone buys in.

The Tapestry

Each bottle of wine, and each truffle, tells a story—of the soil, the weather, the people involved, of shared knowledge and tradition. What the truffle festival has done so brilliantly is weave all of those stories together into a tapestry that tells the story of the region. You can take a step back, look at the big picture, and just get it. Or, you can look closely and learn the story of a 4^th generation winemaker in the process of transitioning to organic, who sees the effects of global warming on his crops and wonders if his 4-year-old son will have the option to keep the family business going.

People are excited to attend this event year after year because of the story the festival tells. The way the slow food movement entwines with the history of the region, the wine, and the mysterious truffles create an authentic story that—just like a great meal—visitors will remember for the rest of their lives.

The truffle festival is a brand. And a great one.

With a glance at the tapestry that is the festival’s brand story, a visitor garners a true sense of everything that makes this region and its people unique – the deep-rooted traditions, appreciation for the land, and a rejection of the cheap, the quick, and the mass-produced. The festival has distilled the message into symbols and images that have become rally points for an entire city.

Telling the Story

I’ve had the opportunity to work with companies across a variety of industries, and help craft their brand stories. For many, it’s hard. Sometimes it’s not intuitive. When I begin asking questions, the response is frequently along the lines of “Well, I started this company in 1996 and in 1998 we moved into this office space and the staff grew to 6 people…” While these are important milestones for a company’s founder, they don’t create the rich tapestry that a brand story should tell.

A truly impactful brand story will center less on a business story and more on a human one. The values, the hopes, the challenges, the history (even before the brand was a seedling of an idea in the founder’s head), are essential threads that your brand story should incorporate. Brand stories aren’t created by marketing agencies – the story is yours. A good storyteller just knows which threads to keep pulling. Remember, crafting something magnificent takes time, but the results are worth it.

The post Tourism, Truffles, and “The Brand Tapestry” appeared first on Full Tilt Marketing.

Cause marketing isn’t a new idea. As early as 1973, 7-Eleven took a forward-thinking marketing step to create an Endangered Species Cup. Thanks to setting aside 1 cent from the sale of each cup, they donated over $250,000 to the National Wildlife Federation timed with the passion of the Endangered Species Act. On an even grander scale, in 1976 Marriott Corporation and March of Dimes showed us what was possible when charities and business worked together. Big wins for media and PR, donor awareness and event buzz helped raise $2.4 million for March of Dimes, generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in free PR for both organizations and stimulated attendance of 2.2 million people for Marriott’s grand opening event.

Cause marketing efforts between brands and causes continued to trickle out of conference rooms, but it wasn’t until 1982 when the Susan G Komen Foundation truly leveraged the idea of matching consumer based causes with businesses, that we saw the power of cause based marketing take off.

Cause Marketing Today

Today, cause based marketing is commonplace for brands both large and small. Campaigns support larger community issues, or causes that are deeply personal to the brand or part of the ethos of the brand. Either way, consumer research studies show that when price and quality are comparable, 89% of Americans would switch to a brand associated with a good cause.

Today companies are expected to not just do good – but be good. Consumers interact with brands all day long in every aspect of their lives. They act with their wallet and expect brands to be socially responsible and good corporate citizens. A brand survey by Edelman showed that more than half of consumers consider themselves to be belief-driven buyers. As political and ethical issues heat up and social media creates easy sharing platforms, it becomes easy for consumers to create positive brand buzz or even boycotts on the flipside.

Taking a Role in Change

Brands are living breathing things, created and occupied by real people. Therefore the expectation is those brands should have an opinion and a role in community and change. Consumers expect the brands they support to care about the same things they care about. If they don’t, they will find another brand that does.

From 7-Eleven and Marriott’s earliest ideas and success, brands continue to show us creative ways to bring attention to important social issues like homelessness, bullying, climate change and the disaster of ocean plastic. Here are just a few recent examples.

Rainier Fruit

We worked with Rainier Fruit on their Pears for Pairs campaign that raised awareness of homelessness in the U.S. and also raised funds to purchase socks for homeless charities around the country. Rainier Fruit has a mission to live Wholesome to the Core and support ideas that give back in communities where they do business and in just two months contributed $20,000 to the Hanes Charity Sock Drive.

Ben & Jerry’s

Ben & Jerry’s has always been a company focused on socially responsible issues, but in the last couple of years they have placed their flag deep in the issue of climate change as one of the many issues they care about. Their website and social content shares information about climate change, information on how to register to vote, and ways to get active in climate change politics along with other social issues.

Green Giant

With the rise of social media, bullying has become a pervasive issue nearly 24 hours a day impacting kids everywhere. Kudos to Green Giant for this clever issue driven campaign “Raise a Giant” that shared tips on how to talk to your kids about bullying.

Corona

Corona also did a great job of connecting their brand personality to an important social cause. More often than not when we think of Corona we think of tropical beaches so it makes sense for Corona to address the issue of ocean plastic in an awareness campaign called Wave of Waste. Corona created art installations with billboards and messaged recycling containers in six international cities to bring awareness to the eight million metric tons of plastic waste that are dumped into the ocean each year.

These are just some of the brands doing exciting things and living their values. It’s time to ask yourself, what is at the heart of your brand. What do you care about most? It’s more than selling a singular item, it’s being part of a lifestyle and greater community that we are all part of. Here’s to being good corporate citizens and making a difference in 2019.

Are you ready to put your values into action?

Looking to create your own cause based marketing program or launch a values based awareness campaign? Drop us an email at Melinda@fulltiltmarketing.net

The post Brands that Take A Stand appeared first on Full Tilt Marketing.

Research indicates that Americans use 500 million disposable straws a day. For years, environmental groups have targeted single use plastics like pop rings, plastic bags and water bottles, but it wasn’t until 2015 when a video of a sea turtle impacted by a plastic straw went viral that the issue of plastic straws became a movement.

In fact, the plastic straw ban might have been the single biggest environmental movement of 2018. With several supporting organizations and public hashtags like #laststraw and #stopsucking consumers began to show their collective support to ban straws. Even corporate America and government took notice with businesses like Starbucks getting involved and communities like Seattle, Oakland and Miami Beach creating new laws and ordinances.

The Socially Conscious Consumer

It’s a new day and consumers expect more of the products they buy and the companies that produce them. In fact, consumers both tell us and show us how they feel about social issues. Edelman’s 2018 Brand Study found that 64% of consumers choose, switch, avoid or boycott a brand based on its stand on societal issues. And Shelton Group’s 2018 Brands & Stands: Social Purpose is the New Black report, 86% of consumers believe that companies should take a stand for social issues and 64% of those who said it’s ‘extremely important’ for a company to take a stand on a social issue said they were ‘very likely’ to purchase a product based on that commitment.

Look to social media, look to the State of the Union address, look to your local community and you will see groups of individuals coalescing around ideas. Single use plastic is not a new idea, but plastic straws got the biggest bang for the PR buck in the social movement. Why?

Keep It Simple

Simple ideas with tangible actions are easiest to understand. It’s difficult to make a case for change around the idea of #stopeatingthiskindorthatkindofmarinefishthatisntsustainablefishedbybadpeople. That makes for a very long hashtag and leaves consumers wondering what they can do to help the cause and make a difference other than eating no fish at all. What’s the result of a nebulous idea? No change and no movement in the collective change on public awareness and education. Straws on the other hand – easy concept, direct language, actionable ask. #StopSucking

In further social changing environmental news, several global companies including Nestle, Proctor and Gamble, PepsiCo and Mondelez have reported joining forces with TerraCycle on the new ‘Loop’ returnable packaging initiative. It’s an interesting and sustainable idea for the future which is also like turning back time harkening to the original days of the milkman. A quote from TerraCycle’s CEO Tom Szaky summed it up by saying, “Loop is about the future of consumption. And one of the tenets is that garbage shouldn’t exist. Removing plastics from the ocean is not enough. We need to get at the whole idea of disposability and single-use items.”

Think of plastic straws or single use plastic and returnable containers as the equivalent of the canary in the coal mine. The canary is our alert system for consumer behavior. Research shows that we are logically at a tipping point in the era of social responsibility.

The Issues that Matter

In the 2018 Cause and Social Influence’s Influencing Young America to Act, survey participants were asked to rank key issues as most important to them. The number one issue in the eyes of all young Americans surveyed was Civil Rights/Racial Discrimination (29%), followed by Gun Safety (22%), Immigration (21%) and Climate Change (21%). Other feedback from Sustainable Brands reminds us that issues like education, health and the environment have always been important, we are also witnessing the rise of topical issues like mental health, veteran affairs, gender equality and LGBTQ equality as fast emerging.

What we can learn from the banning of plastic straws is that the movement gave voice to bigger issues around single use plastic, marine conservation and climate change. What are the bigger issues that your brand can give to in a simple and actionable way?

Are you looking for ways to put your values into action and community with consumers in meaningful ways that make a difference? Drop us an email at Melinda@fulltiltmarketing.net and let’s talk about doing good.

The post Why Plastic Straws Were the Biggest Environmental Movement of 2018 appeared first on Full Tilt Marketing.

For the second year in a row, we’ve surveyed food bloggers to find out where food trends meet practical daily life. Why?

Food bloggers are on the front lines of the “what’s for dinner” 5pm reality of how food trends play out in practical application. Many of us have probably experienced trendy smoked cocktails, homemade condiments or culinary foam on our restaurant plates, but we’re unlikely to invest our time and resources in specialty equipment or complicated techniques to try these presentations at home. But based on likes, pins, comments and shares, bloggers get firsthand knowledge and detailed feedback about the everyday home cook and their reaction to ingredients, prep time, cook time, recommendations for substitutions and more.

This year, in addition to food trends, we took a deeper dive into meal planning and shopping behaviors in response to this fast-changing marketplace. Overall, we found the results to be quite revealing.

See the survey results for yourself here.

The post Bloggers Weigh In On 2019 Food Trends appeared first on Full Tilt Marketing.

We surveyed food bloggers from across the country and asked them to weigh-in on both food and drink trends they see as important to their audience. As we noted in our food trends report, bloggers are uniquely positioned to understand culinary trends both as home cooks and content creators and they also like to experiment with drinks.

In fact, as influencers, they literally have their hand (or mouse) on the pulse of the everyday consumer, who in many cases makes food and drink choices based on the blogger’s recommendations. As we raise our glasses to the future, we found the results to be an interesting mix of all-natural, premium and artistic flavors.

Mocktail mania, which ranked the highest in emerging drink trends, began to arise last year especially among those Millennials as well as other consumers choosing to drink responsibility and forgo the hangover (nonalcoholic drinkers make up a third of consumers). Bars have begun to recognize an opportunity to serve craft drinks that have all the artistry and flavors of a traditional cocktail. Whether it’s adding a splash of lavender and lemon to Grenadine and bitters or mixing pomegranate and berries to sparkling water, mocktails are becoming cool and imaginative, a mixologist’s dream with the bonus of looking like real cocktails while tasting delicious.

Flavored waters ranked second along with gourmet lemonades and specialty ice teas. According to Restaurant News, lemonade provides fertile ground for experimentation, with the addition of other fruits — berries in particular — and herbs kicking up the flavor a notch. A Datassential BUZZ coffee and tea consumer survey shows that flavored teas index highly in the coveted 18-34 age bracket and this younger audience is seeking a wider variety of flavored ice teas.

Bloggers also noted Butterfly Pea Flower in their comments. Native to Thailand, this flowering plant is most widely used in tea. Bon Appetit praised its color appeal “as like seeing a glow stick turn from a boring translucent-gray tube into a glimmering neon cylinder for the first time. Just add water and it’s a deep midnight-cobalt blue. Squeeze in lemon, and it transforms into a rich violet.” But it’s not just the brightly lit color that makes Butterfly Pea Flower exciting, when steeped it releases antioxidants similar to green tea and it’s also known to help reduce inflammation in the body.

One food blogger noted its extensive use beyond tea, “Butterfly Pea Flower is in everything. It started in teas and cocktails, now it’s moving into desserts like gelato and savory foods like ramen.”

Craft sodas also known as artisanal, specialty or small-batch soda ranked third. While regular sodas have been declining in sales due to negative perceptions of artificial ingredients and health risks. Craft sodas have been on the rise. According to USA Today, craft sodas are capturing share by hyping premium and natural ingredients, creative flavors, limited runs, unusual packaging or their local roots. Using fruits, spices and herbs, craft sodas offer consumers a variety of refreshing flavor combinations from grapefruit, chamomile and cardamom to citrus cucumber and Jasmine tea ginger ale.

In summary, when it comes to drinks consumers (especially Millennials) want an experience from the mocktail to the small batch craft soda and this includes imaginative flavors combined with healthier, natural and fresh ingredients. As MyDrink Beverages, a global consulting firm noted, “There has never been a more exciting time to be in the beverage industry. Innovation is happening across every market segment, and beverages are fitting into more areas of people’s lives than we could have ever imagined.”

The post Mocktails, Craft and Artisanal… Food Bloggers Weigh in on Premium Drink Trends appeared first on Full Tilt Marketing.