A recent Wall Street Journal article, “A Taste for Hotter, Mintier, Fruitier” points to a growing trend among American consumers. Food companies that are looking for ways to appeal to changing consumer tastes have hit on a winning idea: bolder, more intense flavor profiles. They’re going into the lab to develop for increasingly sophisticated tastes—literally and figuratively speaking.
The goal is the Japanese concept of “umami”—not only flavor, but an “explosion of flavor” that leads to a much deeper, more memorable experience.
Americans have been more experimental food-wise, craving more boldness and much less blandness. An influx of ethnically diverse people, international cuisines and The Food Network, and other influences, continue to expose consumers to exciting new options—and they’re eating it up. Pun intended.
A few examples:
• Frito-Lay’s new Doritos chips flavors (First, Second and Third-Degree Burn) offer jalapeño, buffalo and habanero flavors.
• McCormick & Co. offers more exotic spices now, such as dried lemongrass, roasted garlic, smoked paprika and sea salt. The company says that Americans now keep 40 spices on hand on average. Asian and Caribbean spices, blends and marinades are now available in every supermarket.
• Wrigley, long known for its staid Doublemint, Spearmint and Juicy Fruit gum, has been introducing a dozen new flavors per year. The fall of 2010 will see the launch of Extra gum in dessert flavors like key lime pie and strawberry shortcake.
• Dr Pepper Snapple has added Latin-inspired fruit punch and mango flavors to its Venom energy drink line.
As with everything else, this trend has implications.
• Will consumers be satisfied or will they continue to crave ever bolder food and beverage choices?
• Will continued exposure to such strong flavors dull our taste buds to simple, natural flavors like those of fruits and vegetables?
• Will we seek balance—as Asian cuisines do—between sweet, sour, salty, bitter, hot/pungent? Or will we overpower in one way or another?
So what do you think?
• Do you believe food/beverage companies are going too far?
• In their haste to drive new products to market, are they pushing too fast with too many new items to try to outdo each other? To achieve differentiation?
• Are their innovations creating exciting new options, or too many confusing choices for consumers?
I’d love to hear from you.
Tags: Marketing, Strategy and Tactics
Hey Ted
I would say this is a good thing. These companies are trying to create long tails with their product. Some of these new flavours will definitely be niche products but you never know if one might just become a hit. I think there is a possibility of too many options but if the respective companies were able to convey to their customers flavours in different categories like sour, salty, spicy etc. then that would dwindle down their choices from lets say 20 Dorito types to the 4 that are in the spicy category.
Hi Phillip,
Great observations. Thanks for weighing in. Many times, food companies do significant testing before bringing new flavor profiles to market. . .just because there’s substantial investment involved in launching new products. Having said that, tastes are definitely changing and consumers have demonstrated an interest in more exotic fare, so you’re probably right. Bringing in more items to see what sticks might be the plan for some of these brands like Doritos. I also suspect some of these new flavor profiles might be viewed as “here today, gone tomorrow” as companies try to keep abreast of even faster changing consumer tastes these days. And during times like these, adding spice to the marketplace might be just what the doctor ordered!
Hi Ted,
Interesting post and timing. I was just reading a blog post in Natural Foods Merchandiser about this year’s Fancy Food Show in NYC. I used to attend and miss it these days. Topic: “Unexpected ethnic flavors spice up Fancy Foods Show”. I thought you and the Daily Fix readers might enjoy reading it. http://naturalfoodsmerchandiser.com/blogs/tabid/84/EntryId/296/Unexpected-ethnic-flavors-spice-up-Fancy-Foods-show.aspx
Ted, a challenging trend, especially for retailers. There’s X amount of shelf space. So as a retailer, how do you determine what to cull, which products to reduce, or how to reformat your aisle to accomodate new products? Especially challenging, how do the above analysis with little to no sales history (after all these are new products coming on board)! You could say use a comparable product for analysis, but what’s comparable to “Doritos Late Night Last Call Jalapeno Popper”?
Hi Claire,
Thanks for sharing this link about the Fancy Food Show. It gives us a glimpse into “coming food attractions”. Just one more indication consumers seem to be demanding to more exotic fare from around the globe. The question is, as Phillip pointed out: how much of this will stick? It’s going to be interesting to see, isn’t it?
Hi Paul,
Thanks for weighing in on my post. Retailers are confronted with hundreds of new products every year. They have to make choices and decisions as to what to shelf. The price of entry for many new products is high and large manufacturers can afford it, whereas smaller ones can’t necessarily. Regardless, as new products are tested, other products either lose facings or shelf space altogether. It’s tricky. Especially now when so many retailers are giving additional space to their own brands. To answer your question, though: sometimes highly unique products without any track record appeal to retailers most, because they have a shot at resonating with the first adopters among their customers in a big way. There’s a chance they might create a bit of excitement!
I think this article’s relevant not only to ‘food’ industry, but to most B2C companies. Consumers are looking for new trendy items, products that make a statement.
It’s the survival of the fittest all over again. Even if there’re too many options, the ones that customers don’t like get dropped, thus redefining the trend, giving it a new vector.
Hi Katya,
Good point. Of course you’re right: new product intros are essential to the life’s blood of companies and categories in every consumer product sector. Buzz-worthy new products drive consumers into stores and online. We’re restless and we want new, exciting options. Slow movers are removed from assortments and new products are constantly cut in. Of course, as Paul pointed out, many of those fail. But the marketplace is full of innovators who will continue to create new products from their ideas. The trick is to develop the kinds of products that will stick. Thanks, Katya, for weighing in. I appreciate it.