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Marketing Healthy Food To Millennial Parents

Those marketing healthy food should know that not all Millennials are created equal. The upper range of Millennials (25-34) are now becoming parents. In fact, nearly 11 million Millennials have already mastered the art of changing diapers.

The parents of this generation are unlike any other, and food brands must adapt to reach them.

Here are 4 things food brands should keep in mind when speaking to Millennial parents

1. Speak The Truth

Make sure your product delivers what it claims. If you say you’re 100% organic, you must be able to back it up. With a wealth of information at their fingertips, Millennials can see right through a brand’s dishonesty.

Be real. Millennial parents don’t want to hear about celebrity moms who shed their baby weight the first week after birth. Unlike Mila Kunis and Gwyneth Paltrow, they don’t have the luxury of personal trainers.

Nor do they want to see moms and dads who always puree organic celery on their perfect countertops. Parenting is messy and far from perfect. Be open and honest about the challenges of parenthood and Millennials will embrace your brand with open arms.

2. Appeal To All Types Of Parents

Millennial parents are diverse and your brand’s marketing should reflect that. You’re speaking to interracial couples, same-sex couples, single parents, and parents of all different races. Reflect the true diversity in your marketing materials, and your brand will succeed.

And don’t forget dad! Gone are the days of focusing only on mom as the parent who raises the children. A growing number of fathers are taking a more central role at home. Avoid the “mister mom” stereotype and deliver a fair portrayal of the Millennial dad that makes him proud to stay at home.  Marketing healthy food has become more diverse.

3. Health Is A Priority

Millennial parents are still holding on to their pre-kid foodie, locavore identities, but have to adjust to the not-so-wholesome realities of limited household budgets.

They may be more frugal than their younger counterparts, but they are still willing to go the extra mile to eat healthy. A recent Millennial parent study found that 52% support the “local food” movement. 41% buy organic when they can and 29% strictly monitor their kid’s junk food intake.

4. Give a Damn

Nope, that’s not a misprint. Brands need to give a damn about Millennial parents to earn their trust. To get them to truly like your brand, you have to do something good for someone or something they care about.

Marketing healthy food isn’t just about you anymore.  Whether you provide food for the homeless, teach kids how to cook, or help a child in need, Millennial parents will take notice and show their approval of your brand in dollar signs.  

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Frozen Foods Buck Sales Slumps with Healthy Food Marketing

Frozen Foods Buck Sales Slumps with Healthy Food Marketing

health food marketing - frozen

In contrast to the declines of years past, frozen food producers in the US are beginning to recoup sales losses after decades of TV dinner perceptions. Once relying on the benefit of convenience only, frozen food brands may have fallen behind the eight ball when it came to providing consumers with healthy and fresh options (think chicken-fried steak with gravy) but the dinner tables are turning and so is health food marketing.

While we all know that just building it, doesn’t necessarily mean they will come, brands have begun to tap into more recent consumer usage and needs when it comes to frozen, and to their benefit. In a New York Times article by Annie Gasparro, ConAgra’s president of consumer frozen-food division was quoted saying,

“Within this foodie culture the last few years, I think there has been a change in how some people define healthy foods…There is definitely a push toward products that are more real, higher quality, more homemade and closer to the source.”

Recognizing the unfortunate perceptions consumers had of the category as unhealthy and over-processed, especially among younger consumers, ConAgra discontinued some of their Healthy Choice SKUs and made a shift to simplifying their ingredient list, opting for real garlic, rather than garlic paste and shifting their strategic target toward older consumers by featuring functional claims of heart-healthy. More recently, ConAgra acquired Blake’s All Natural brand, which offers the traditional comfort meals of frozen-foods past, but with an all-natural and/or organic twist.

For years, consumers have equated frozen foods as convenience and value-oriented options, but rarely as fresh. However, this is another opportunity-area for the frozen category. Just ask Dole – one brand who is meeting demand for frozen fruits, especially antioxidant-rich berries and exotic fruits. A win for health food marketing.

In Elaine Watson’s article for FoodNavigator-USA.com, Senior Director of Marketing for Frozen at Dole Packaged Food noted,

“We’re also seeing younger consumers come into the category. But the main thing that’s changed is the mentality. Usage has completely changed into everyday healthier products like smoothies, toppings for oatmeal, salads, yogurt, and snacking instead of for desserts and baking – something that you’d buy once or twice a year in a holiday recipe”.

According to the same article, this increase in volume and penetration has made frozen fruit the #1 fastest growing category within frozen.

Beyond comfort foods and fruits and veggies, there are some newer entrants to the category who are combining value, convenience and freshness with hip, millennial-friendly options, like Luvo. With the help of a few MVPs like Derek Jeter and Russell Wilson, Luvo is bringing simple, wholesome entrees, breakfasts, flatbreads and burritos to the health-minded consumer at a great value. Something we can totally get behind.

Frozen foods have always gotten a bad rap. I’m excited to see frozen get the “close to fresh” credit it deserves.  Who knows what will happen next in health food marketing!

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How The Government Is Marketing Healthy Food

How The Government Is Marketing Healthy Food

If you’re looking to the government for healthy eating recommendations, I suggest you take it with a grain of salt. Their recommendations have changed numerous times over the years. What is considered healthy today may be taboo tomorrow. Forward-thinking food marketers may be better off going with their gut, rather than following the government’s guidance.  Marketing healthy food has become intuition and not government enforced.

The definition of healthy eating is anything but black and white. The USDA has changed its definition of a well-balanced diet, and it’s marketing strategy several times over the last 70 years.

In 1943 the USDA introduced a nutrition guide promoting the “Basic 7” food groups to help maintain nutritional standards under wartime food rationing. The Basic 7 food groups were:

  • Green and yellow vegetables
  • Oranges, tomatoes, grapefruit
  • Potatoes and other vegetables and fruits
  • Milk and milk products
  • Meat, poultry, fish, or eggs
  • Bread, flour, and cereals
  • Butter and fortified margarine (Butter was a food group?!)

In the years that followed, many other guides were issued with contradictory advice. Because of the confusion the USDA released an updated guide in 1956 with added serving size suggestions and four revised food groups: Vegetables and Fruits, Milk, Meat, Cereals and breads.

That brings us to 1992—the year the USDA launched the popular Food Pyramid graphic in schools. A generation of children grew up with adjusted serving size suggestions and five new food groups: Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, Dairy, and Protein.

According to an article in The Huffington Post, the food pyramid was surrounded with controversy from day 1. Nutritional experts did not believe the latest research on dietetics. They argued that serving sizes allowed under the pyramid were linked to heart disease, and that it encouraged people to eat too many grains.

Nevertheless, the pyramid stayed standing, and in 2005 is got a long-awaited renovation. MyPyramid was meant to address the serving size issues, and make it easier to teach to consumers.

However, its days were also numbered. In 2011, the food pyramid was torn down and replaced with MyPlate, and a national “choose my plate” advertising campaign.  Something that those marketing healthy food have to be weary of.

Dr. Margo Wootan of the Center for Science In The Public says that, “the new food plate image reflects the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which promote measures like switching to fat-free or low-fat milk and opting for water over sugary drinks. The guidelines also recommend making sure that half your plate is filled with fruits and veggies — one of the major points highlighted by the new graphic.”

I personally like the MyPlate design. It’s a clean, simple image that’s easy to understand, especially for schoolchildren. But as we’ve seen far too often with the USDA, the table is set for more changes. With all of the information that’s out there, I wouldn’t be surprised if consumers don’t take the recommendations seriously, and as a food marketer, neither should you.  Marketing healthy food should be clean and simple.

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Marketing Healthy Food To Millennials

If you think kale is everywhere these days, you’re right. It’s on 400 percent more restaurant menus than it was just four years ago. Millennial kale aficionados have even been known to wear kale T-shirts and sport kale stickers. Brands and those marketing healthy food have to wonder. Is this simply a passing fad, or is kale here to stay? I believe it’s the latter.

The popularity of kale will continue to grow because it has huge awareness with Millennials, and has firmly planted itself into the digital conversation. It’s the hero Millennials need, and deserve.

And there’s a good chance aligning your brand with the leafy greens will help you reach young adults and increase your overall sales.

Kale’s rise in popularity could be equated to an increased awareness of health. As Jennifer Iserloh, co-author of 50 Shades of Kale, puts it, “Kale is the king of the superfood kingdom. People are incredibly interested in health and more and more people are cooking at home—kale is cheap, versatile, and one of the best foods you can put in your body.”

In an interview with BlueApron.com, Kristen Beddard Heimann, founder of The Kale Project equates the soaring rise to a combination of health awareness, an increased popularity in farm-to-table restaurants and the rise of the Internet and high profile food bloggers and celebrities. As she puts it, a lot of it has to do with stars “creating a lifestyle that people aspire to.” Case in point, Gwenyth Paltrow makes kale chips on Ellen. People go crazy.       

Then there’s the influence of our personal relationship to food and our ability to share that relationship; thanks social media! “If Instagram had been around when sundried tomatoes (1985) or arugula (1990) were hot, I’m sure there would have been more backlash because the trend would have spread so much like it has with kale. Kale just happened to be in the right place at the right time,” says Beddard Heimann.

Kale has ridden the wave of a perfect marketing storm, and has reached almost cult-like status. Unlike other passing fads, I believe it will continue to stay on top of the Millennial food chain.  That’s something to cheer about when marketing healthy food.

The recent sales figures of kale are hard to ignore. Earthbound Farm, which sells salad greens at supermarkets in England, says it’s selling 8 times the kale from 2 years ago. Kale is even for sale at Wal-Mart.

So, to all you marketing healthy food out there, I say go green with kale. The benefits to your brand are ripe for the picking.

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Brands Taking Sides on GMO Issue in Marketing Healthy Food

Brands Taking Sides on GMO Issue in Marketing Healthy Food

The market for non-GMO foods is growing fast, as evidenced by sales of $1 billion in 2011, and brands are taking notice of the rising demand. As the debate intensifies and the anti-GMO movement gains traction, brands may be forced to take a stand on GMOs or risk falling behind.  And that has those marketing healthy food scrambling to pick sides.

 Regardless of what science says, the consumer’s perception is the brand’s reality. Scientists may sign off on GMOs, but the mess of fear and uncertainty surrounding these ingredients in the minds of consumers demands attention from brands.

According to a study conducted by The NPD Group, over half of U.S. consumers express some level of concern about GMOs. Companies like Whole Foods and pharmaceuticals company Abbott Laboratories have capitalized on this concern, casting themselves as the proactive brands that have the customers’ best interests at heart.

Whole Foods has vowed to label all products with GMOs in their stores. Abbott Laboratories took action as well, removing GMOs from their Similac Advance baby formula, making it the first mainstream baby formula with no genetically altered ingredients. Cheerios has also jumped on the anti-GMO bandwagon, removing GMOs from their cereal.

All of this comes despite the general consensus among the scientific community: GMOs pose no threat to consumers. In fact, a poll of scientists revealed that 89% of respondents believe they are perfectly safe. Many studies reached the same conclusion. As a result, critics like the University of Florida’s chair of the Horticultural Sciences Department, Kevin Folta, have said that gestures like these are “corporate deception in the name of a buck and anti-GMO deception in the name of ideology.”

Moves like those made by Whole Foods, Abbott Laboratories, and Cheerios lend legitimacy to the claims that GMOs are harmful. Not all brands or people who are marketing healthy food know whether or not they are really safe, but the truth is that it doesn’t matter; an increasing proportion of the U.S. population is alarmed, and many marketers are willing to make drastic changes to relieve their worries.

So what should your brand do? Is removing GMOs the only way to avoid scaring away consumers? Not necessarily. Here are some options:

  1. Launch a transparency campaign. First make sure you understand the science of GMOs, and then you may address consumers’ wide array of worries. By willingly starting this conversation, you could help consumers keep their confidence in your brand.
  2. Buckle down and remove GMOs. Maybe this is the best plan of action for you, after all. This can be an expensive transition, but it has great potential to create goodwill with your audience. Make sure to make the change with all of your product offerings, or consumers may question their safety in comparison to your non-GMO offerings.

However you decide to cope with this perception problem, the fact remains—the issue of GMOs can no longer be avoided. Why not get ahead of the discussion and take a position before your consumers decide for you?  Become proactive when marketing healthy food.

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Marketing Healthy Food: Don’t forget taste!

If you’re a marketer trying to talk “healthy”, remember that people have deep-seated beliefs and perceptions around eating and what it takes to eat and ‘be healthy’. It could take years of therapy (and your budget) to change it. So work with your consumer and meet them where they’re at. And please, don’t forget taste appeal!

Consumers read into health messaging more deeply and emotionally than marketers do. It’s not clean cut. There’s a tug of war in their subconscious. Years of the diet industry have wreaked havoc on the average American. People don’t know what’s “good” or “bad” anymore. Is a baked potato considered healthy these days? They’re as mixed up and skeptical as ever.

Marketers, on the other hand, must know what side of the fence their brand/product is on.

Are you the healthier cookie or the yummier yogurt? Are you trying to offer a better, guilt-free treat (heavy on the “health”) or are you selling a more pleasurable ‘healthy food’ (heavy on the “taste”). These are two different consumer mindsets and thus challenges for you to face. Either way, be positive! Nobody wants to summon the latent guilt or negative associations.

In order to do that, we have to acknowledge that there’s a strong inherent tension between Health and Taste. There’s a general consensus that healthy food tastes bad. Let’s explore.

First think about the imagery and feelings conjured up in your mind when I mention the word “taste”. Taste is mostly what makes eating pleasurable. Science shows us that without our sense of taste, many of us lose our appetites and drive to eat altogether. It becomes a chore (I couldn’t imagine that!).

Taste (the ability to recognize flavor) is also what helps us make connections with people – the better the flavor, the better the food and the longer people linger and talk. Taste can invoke memories, define an event/moment, and inspire people to create.

Now lets think about ‘health’. On one side, “health” offers an unlimited list of benefits that span far beyond the moment of eating something delicious. It’s a wise choice, few would disagree. And the old adage, ‘health is wealth’ couldn’t be more true. Especially as people start families and head toward middle age and retirement years, health is a central part of their lives and values.

However even if one fully subscribes to a healthy lifestyle, it’s not always pleasurable. We’re living in a culture that’s surrounded by overabundance and quick fixes. It takes work to be healthy. Conscious shopping, aware consuming, restrictive diets and exercising far more than one would like. Regardless of viewpoints, it’s not the easy path.

For more in-depth reading on the topics above:

Why it’s hard to change unhealthy behavior — and why you should keep trying
Taste Remains Consumers’ Top Preference for New Foods and Beverages
Emotional Eating? 5 Reasons You Can’t Stop
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Marketing Healthy Food to the Millennial Moms

Millennials… just when we think we have them figured out, we discover that they still preserve some traits from previous generations.

Turns out that despite all the self-obsessed, me-generation stereotypes, “parenthood is an important, if not the most important, aspiration for the majority of them.”   And because of this, there is an ever-emerging segment among the Gen Y target audience, which have been coined the Millennial Moms –representing 46% of total women in their age group.

And while there are many attributes that make the millennial mom unique from a Gen X mom what we found most interesting is their intense desire to feed themselves and their family as healthy as possible. In fact, it has been reported that 6 out of 10 Millennials report eating healthier than their parents.

And when they are on the brink of becoming parents themselves, this becomes even more true. From the moment they realize they are pregnant, most millennial moms start to think about everything they eat and how it might affect themselves and their children. This trend continues into parenthood and intensifies as their child begins to eat “real food”.

What’s even more interesting is the priority for eating healthy transcends economic levels. A Millennial mom with more a disposable income tends to get more organic or natural foods- that tend to be more expensive.

However, lower income millennial moms don’t let this stop them because it is such a priority for them.   So, they have found other ways to be healthy without breaking the bank. They tend to make sacrifices just to make sure they can feed their families the healthier alternatives.

One easy way they accomplish this is by simply cooking at home. They seek out the healthiest recipes and recreate them on their budget. They know that by cooking at home they can have full control of what they are feeding their children.

So knowing how important these millennial moms are and how important it is to speak to them, the below highlight a few key points to remember when talking about food.

  • Millennial Moms on average spend 17.4 hours on social sites which is 4 hours more on average than any other ‘mother’ group
  • 7 out of 10 of Millennial Moms are watching food videos weekly
    • 68% purchase food products featured in videos they watch
    • And 9 out 10 are open to watching branded content
  • 35% of food and beverage product page views are accessed from a mobile device and 40% report using a smartphone while shopping in stores
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Is the Alkaline Diet here to stay in Healthy Food Marketing?

Is the Alkaline Diet here to stay in Healthy Food Marketing?

From Atkin’s to the Zone Diet, diets come and go both in media and consumers’ minds, but as we’re all aware, not all diets are created equal. Some gain traction and go from diet of the day to movement, and as brands, it’s critical that we realize the importance of being a part of that movement when appropriate.

So let’s talk alkalinity. For starters, the body’s levels of acidity and alkalinity fluctuate from acidic in the stomach to alkaline in the blood. Proponents of the Alkaline diet believe that through the consumption of many fruits, vegetables, legumes and lots of water while avoiding alcohol, processed foods and animal-based products (meats, cheeses, milks), it is possible to produce less acid in the body and thus promote more alkaline blood. While the jury is still out on the extent of the health benefits of higher blood alkaline, few could argue that more fruits and veggies and less alcohol and processed foods would be a poor diet direction to take.

So, which brands should get involved? Here are just a few categories that are poised to position themselves within the alkaline-centric market.

  • Water – While Alkaline waters may be the first branded products to boast the functional benefits of the alkaline-diet specific water, brands are beginning to think outside of the bottle. Water brands are now opening retail locations where consumers can fill reusable glass bottles with alkaline-friendly water, customized with their choice of additional vitamins, minerals and supplements – and at a premium. Cameron Costa, in a CNBC article entitled, “Alkaline Water: Small Business Boom or Bubble?” noted that at one such retail location, Molecule in NYC, consumers can pay up to $4.22 for a single glass of water.
  • Cooking Oils – Most home cooks are familiar with olive oil as a salad dressing and cooking ingredient but there are a few more oils seeking a place in the healthy consumers pantry. Certainly not new products, but gaining traction, avocado oil, flax oil and coconut oil are becoming household ingredients gracing the shelves from Whole Foods to Costco. While all are candidates for cooking use while on an alkaline diet, coconut oil as the most trendy. In the New York Times piece, “Once a Villain, Coconut Oil Charms the Health Food World”, Melissa Clarks tells of how this product when from movie-theater popcorn demon in 1994 to the health food baby of today, with Whole Foods witnessing double digit sales growth for years.
  • Juices– We’re not talking about sugar-laden processed juices, but whole food, pressed juices. These juices can provide a great source of nutrient-rich fruit and vegetable juice that make it easy to get full servings of alkaline foods. And despite the premium costs, with some brands getting $12/bottle at retail, it’s hard to say what the ceiling is to this trend.

This Alkaline Diet is just one of many trends on which smart food marketers can capitalize.

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Marketing Healthy Food is About More than the Food

When you market healthy food to families, you’re selling more than just the biological benefits of eating well; you’re selling independence, a connection with cultural traditions, and stronger family ties.

Let’s consider family A, who decides it would just be easier to pick up the phone and order out on any given Tuesday night. Easy.

Family B plans and cooks a meal from scratch, making a conscious decision to share the experience, leave the TV off, and to enjoy each other’s company. Suddenly the processes of chopping, steaming, and sautéing mean so much more.

Chances are the process of eating the actual meal together took about the same amount of time in each case. But common sense tells us that Family B has the healthier, tastier, and more fulfilling evening.

Breaking bread at the dinner table is where, as the food writer Michael Pollan puts it, “we teach our children the manners they need to get along in society. We teach them how to share. To take turns. To argue without fighting and insulting other people. They learn the art of adult conversation.” Out of the simple family meal, he says, is born democracy.

That’s the power of cooking, eating, and sharing the experience of healthy food with those around you.

And that’s why health food companies that are already doing it should be saluted, for helping to repair an American way of eating that has had obvious detrimental effects on our waistlines, medical bills, and family dynamics.

But if you’re a brand struggling to promote your food to the public, what are you not doing that you could be doing? What are the successful brands doing right, and how can you learn to do it as well? Perhaps a most basic way to make deep connections to families is to use the families in your communications.

Whether you’re in the traditional media or connecting through the ever-expanding possibilities in the digital sphere, make sure the families that you are marketing to know that you are about more than just the food. Make sure they know that in addition to food that is healthy and delicious, the conscious act of eating together is the real benefit. Remind them that your brand knows what life is really about—family. Even if others in America have temporarily forgotten.