2005 Report

EUROPEAN FOOD INDUSTRY DEBATES THE FUTURE

Senior executives, regulatory managers, product developers and academics met late October at the historic Le Plaza hotel to debate some of the tough issues facing food manufacturers. Over two days, delegates heard presentations on a wide range of compelling topics including obesity, kids nutrition, innovation, heath claims, nutrient profiling, consumer communications and biotechnology.

Obesity was a pivotal focus where academics and industry executives examined the causes of the disease and the impact it was having on business. In particular, rising rates of child obesity, generated a lively debate when Lizzie Vann, managing director of Organix Brands, accused large food companies of continuing to produce unhealthy products with poor quality ingredients, while using their profits to support education programs and socially responsible initiatives. There was an inherent conflict here, she said.

Child psychologist Claus Vogële said blaming certain foods was misguided and lacked empirical evidence. “The increase in portion size and lack of physical activity are among the most likely contributors to the obesity epidemic,” he said.

Delegates heard examples of positive initiatives in Finland and also Italy where organic food is offered for school lunches in many regions. And in the UK, celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver, had forced the government to change policy on school meals as a result of a public outcry following his TV series exposing the poor nutritional quality of food being served to children.

Consumers - what do they want?

Discussions turned to the complex issue of communicating health benefits to consumers, and here the recurring theme was ‘wellness’. Euromonitor statistics confirm that successful products are generally those that target wellness rather than those making specific claims.

Wellness was slowly becoming the standard for the food industry and it was marketing that was key to selling products. Conference chairman Julian Mellentin said: "The presentation by Benecol was one of several that demonstrated very clearly that branding strategy and innovation in marketing and packaging are more important than science in creating profits in healthy foods." Medical-sounding claims don’t sell products he noted.

Peter Wennstrom, president Health Focus, Europe, said the value chain started in the mind of the consumer. ”You need to get the whole product right in the mind of the consumer. They must need the product, accept the ingredient, understand the benfit and trust the brand. Is your brand a credible provider of the benefit you want to deliver?” he asked delegates.

Nutrient profiling

Another hot topic focused on the controversial subject of nutrient profiling. The problem: how to analyse and interpret the nutrition values of different foods and beverages. There were many unanswered questions and no objective scientific criteria for assessing foods. Guy Valkenborg, from Brussels-based consultancy European Advisory Services, warned that many accepted foods such as margarine with phytosterols, calcium enriched fruit juice, iodised salt, would have an unfavourable nutrient profile under proposed EU legislation. He also questioned how companies could invest in research if they didn’t know if their carrier and potential claims would be considered acceptable.

Professor Andre Huyghebaert from Ghent University, Belgium, said nutrient profiling did not serve any purpose from a health education point of view and claimed it was incompatible. “People do not eat individual foods but meals,” he said. “Nutrient profiles do not take into account individual food habits and products with reduced content of salt and sugar are less tasty. People will add salt and sugar themselves, thereby most likely exceeding current levels.”

But larger companies are not waiting for legislation and food giants such as PepsiCo and Kraft are already introducing their own sign-posting and guidance systems to help consumers measure fats, sugar, salt and nutrients in their diets. Kraft’s Senior Director International Nutrtion, Gerd Harzer, said these systems were workable. Kraft has developed a nutient profiling scheme called Sensible Solutions that takes into account serving sizes and the role of product catogeries in a balanced diet.

The concept of indicating healthier choices by category had been successful in Australia according to Tony Fear from the National Heart Foundation of Australia. The Tick Program there uses a logo to indicate a healthier choice within a specified category and is only awarded to products which have met strict nutrition standards. All products are independently tested before they can use the Tick logo on their labels.

The conference format of themed topics coupled with case studies from innovative companies proved popular with the delegates who attended. "I appreciated the practical approach of the seminar topics, the breadth of the discussions and debate, and the calibre of the speakers,” said Maximilian Wolf, Senior Strategic Marketing Manager Europe, McNeil Nutritionals.

The event was sponsored by The Solae Company, CoroWise/Cargill, Meg-3/Ocean Nutrition, Orafti, National Starch/ Hi-Maize and Nairn’s Oatcakes.

By Peter Sofroniou

WHAT THEY SAID

On strategy

"Nutrition will be THE cornerstone of R&D and consumer relations for the next decade. The consumer is better informed about nutrition than your own R&D department. Regulators are also better informed - which makes them expert members of your strategic planning and R&D teams”

Lizzie Vann, Managing Director, Organix Brands

On innovation

“Health and nutrition is the new battleground”

“You need to have a deliberate corporate culture design to enable innovation”

“Less than 3% of food innovations ideas make it to launch, with only 10% of those succeeding in the market (1 out of 3,000 ideas)”

Mike Croghan, Global Business Director, Nutrition, National Starch Food Innovation

On marketing

“Health and wellness is becoming the new standard for the food industry”

Paul Coussement, CEO, Orafti Group

On obesity

“Controlling diet by forbidding foods doesnt work. The mental focus associated with maintaining the ban to eat certain foods leads to craving of these “forbidden fruits“  and as a consequence frequently to a binge attack during which all self-administered rules are broken.

“It’s no good asking ‘how can we make fat people thin? We should be asking how can we help people of all sizes be healthy?”

Claus Vogële, Professor of Clinical and Health Psychology, Roehampton University, London

On biotechnology

“Nano science – study and use of material at an extremely small scale – down to millionths of a millimetre – will be used to create novel foods. Nanoparticles carry flavourings, nutrients, functional food additives and drugs”

Helen Conn, Managing Director, Brittania Health Products

 

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