Trend spotting in food and drink – new ideas from the IFE show.

 

Having spent a long day at the IFE (International Food & Drink) show, it’s always interesting to see new trends in the market place.

 

Every time I go there’s always a new sector full of pioneers and followers. This year was no exception, but more later.

 

It’s also a great chance to catch up on some great reports by Mintel on trends (more of that tomorrow).

 

But if I had to pick one new product that caught my eye this year it would be Cho! The Drinking Gazpacho. Not only does the product taste great, it’s one of my favourite delights when I’m in Spain, but the packaging and collateral is beautifully designed. The fact it was created by people from the marketing industry is probably why it stands head and shoulders above many other new products.

 

For those who didn’t know, gazpacho is not actually a cold summer soup but more like a smoothie made from tomatoes and peppers. Call it a soup and you will upset a lot of Spaniards.

 

The product is made in Spain, in Andalucia, not a nasty factory in Slough, with recipes by award winning Spanish chef, Alejandro Sanchez.

 

For those who are purists, some of the new flavours may come as a surprise – Almond & Raspberry, Beetroot & Apple and Tomato & Strawberry, pushing them right into the alternative to smoothie category. And of course there’s also the classic Tomato & Pepper.

 

The brand has attitude and I would say has an Innocent approach but in a fresh way. I can certainly see it taking off in restaurants, cafes, delis and drunk by those with more culinary taste buds and individual nature. It has all the elements to become a cool brand.

 

I think it has great appeal to women too, as it’s natural and healthy, especially for the lunch market or as food on the go.

 

I think it may take a period for the Brits to discover it on mass before it’ll take off in supermarkets, which is probably a good thing as it’ll allow the brand to really define itself to a quality audience first.

 

I think this is a product that’s been well thought through, has the right mix of brand values, food values (it uses organic produce and mountain spring water) and so will appeal to foodies.

 

TRENDS – HEALTH OR INDULGENCE?

 

Natural, organic, traditional – year on year we are seeing brands try and move towards more ethical values in food as consumer are demanding better values. The recent horse scandal has only highlighted what crap we are often eating.

 

So just when you though everyone is eating healthy, and there’s certainly a big trend that way, it seems Pork Scratchings are making a come back. I’m told they are actually good fuel before activity.. um? Not convinced. Think I might need an extra hour at the climbing centre to burn those extra calories off. But they are very yummy.

 

With a market approaching $100m in Europe, Coconut waters continue to see new entrants into the market but I think if you are trying to get into the market now you’ve left it too late.

 

Brands like Vita Coco (the market leader) followed by  CHI (number 2 in the UK market) and Jax, plus a wide range others in both bottles and cans,  are all extending the market with flavoured varieties. Vita Coco are even producing a coconut water coffee drink.

 

Another growing trend is liquid breakfast. It’s a reflection of the times that we live in that we don’t have time to eat a bowl of cereal or a slice of toast in the morning but do seem to have time to check our Twitter feeds and Facebook. Too busy or just bad time management? I really don’t think the solution lies in liquid breakfast.

 

THAT WAS SO LAST YEAR…

 

At previous IFE’s there were lots of people jumping on the energy drink market. Thankfully most came, had a short burst of energy and fizzled out. The market is now dominated by Red Bull, Boost and the larger cans like Relentless, Monster and Rockstar, as well as own brands.

So I was a bit surprised to see a new brand, packaged in a black can and served by Russian glam girls in tight black jeans and crop tops – not sure who they think their market is. I give it less than a year before it burns out.

There’s certainly a growing market in the alternative, more natural energy drinks like Pussy, Firefly, Scheckter, SoBe, Together and my favourite, Little Miracles.

 

TRENDS IN FOODS…

 

Which is the fastest growing area of snacks? Find out tomorrow when

I’ll be covering some of the fascinating insights MINTEL have come up about trends in snack foods, flavours and shopping

 

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Links

Cho!   www.chogazpacho.com

IFE www.ife.co.uk

Trends & things: www.trendsandthingsblog.wordpress.com