August 28, 2002 Recent News
Cold cereal, hot market: private label's a winner
Cereal consortium tests TV effort: Joint push by competitors puts focus on taste and convenience
Crop shortage seen likely to push food prices up
The Next Big Thing For School Lunch Boxes: Smaller Snacks Are Becoming Big Business Growing Demand For Convenience, Foods You Can 'Pop' In Your Mouth;
Snacks are shrinking as food manufacturers are trying to meet the demand for food you can eat on the run. Like computers snacks are becoming miniature. Bite size snacks are everywhere. Kids love them because they are fun and moms like them because they make a great quick snack.
(Extracted from PR Newswire 20 Aug 2002)
Cold cereal, hot market: private label's a winner
For the 52 weeks ended May 19, Information Resources reports that while branded cereals lost market share, private label (PL) cereals showed a 2.8% gain and has a 7.8% market share of the $532.8 million cold cereal market. In units, PL was at 10.4%. For store brands, unit sales were up only 0.8%, there was a drop in total unit sales of 2.3% and dollar sales were down 0.3%. PL hot cereals had an 18.8% gain and a 21.7% market share, primarily because there is only one major brand in the category (Quaker) and no constant flow of new products. In cold cereals, Kellogg, General Mills and Post spend millions on promotions. PL products include whole grain and organic cereals for adults and novelty cereals for children. The article notes companies and their store brands.
(Extracted from Private Label 01 July 2002)
Cereal consortium tests TV effort: Joint push by competitors puts focus on taste and convenience
The four top cereal marketers, Kellogg, General Mills, Kraft Foods' Post Division and PepsiCo's Quakers Foods & Beverages, have joined forces to promote cereal as "The Better Breakfast." The campaign was developed to help jump-start the cereal category, which has been in a decline for the past 5 years. IRI data for the last 52 weeks ending June 16 show a slight increase in category sales from 2001 reaching $6.8 billion. David Nelson of Credit Suisse First Boston warns that collective advertising could commoditize the category. He feels that cereal category growth will be spurred by new products and good advertising that differentiates these products.
(Extracted from Advertising Age 15 July 2002)
Poll Reveals Consumers Are Increasingly Exploring Warehouse Clubs, Supercenters and Other Alternative Grocery Formats, But Supermarkets Remain Preferred Source of Food Purchases
According to a recent survey conducted by the Food Marketing Institute (FMI), most consumers still shop at grocery stores for their primary food shopping, but believe that they save more money and get a better value when shopping at warehouse club stores. The survey also found that while shoppers expect to save money they often find themselves spending more then expected. Supermarket Guru®, Philip Lempert, says "that although shoppers believe that they can obtain a better deal at a warehouse club store, it is not translating into a vast consumer movement into the warehouse club store." Janice Jones, Director of Research at FMI says "consumers are shopping differently in 2002 than in the past, they are willing to shop in more types of stores and are willing to take the time to seek out value. Supermarket operators cannot assume a weekly stock-up market basket from every shopper as they did years ago."
(Extracted from PR Newswire, 30 Aug 2002)
Crop shortage seen likely to push food prices up
Severe drought in the Midwest could cause food prices to rise and squeeze margins for manufacturers. The USDA released crop projections for this fall's harvest well below already diminished expectations. "Food companies have such little pricing flexibility, and given that ingredient costs have been benign over the past few years they may use this as a reason to take some pricing," said Goldman Sachs Analyst Romitha Mally.
(Extracted from Reuters News, 20 August 2002)
Where is GM food going?
As much as 70% of US packaged foods on supermarket shelves contains GM ingredients, but in spite of successes in medicinal and industrial products and the popularity of GM crops in many other countries, the development of GM food crops has been controversial, especially in the EU. This article discusses the problems with acceptance, ranging from food scares and false alarms to concerns over food safety and allergies. The StarLink issue and concern over segregation, identity preservation and labeling are also discussed at some length. The article concludes that a second wave of biotech crops will need to be grown using efficient identity preservation, traceability and labeling protocols; but while the EU waffles, farmers in the US, Canada and Argentina are profiting from growing the first wave of those crops.
(Extracted from World of Food Ingredients 01, June, 2002)
US GM plantings up in 2002
A report by the USDA's Economic Research Service says the area planted in genetically modified crops is expected to consistently increase in the near future, barring a "radical change in consumer sentiment." According to the report, US biotech acreage increased 13% in 2002, compared to 2001. Of total acreage planted, GM crops account for, 75% of soybeans planted, compared to 68% in 2001; 34% of corn, up from 26% in 2001; and 71% of upland cotton, up from 69% in 2001.
(Extracted from AgraFood Biotech, 16 July 2002)
