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OTC diet aids sales bulge
America's anxiety over its obesity, along with its favor for easy fixes, has lifted the over-the-counter (OTC) diet aids category. Different lead ingredients took turns in the marketing spotlightamphetamines, ephedra, bitter orange, and more recently caffeine.
Yet cautious consumer attitudes shadowed the appetite suppressants category not long ago, following deaths from the use of ephedra (including Baltimore Orioles pitching prospect Steve Bechler) and fen phen (prescription Redux), and a general awareness that many of these products help only in limited ways, if at all. read more
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Premium shifts due for coffee
Foodservice operators such as Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts and McDonald's have cost retailers a vast share of U.S. coffee salesdown to 34 percent at the end of 2006 versus 50 percent in 2001, said DataMonitor PLC in a Financial Times report. But the rising market for this brown beverage keeps all outlet types awash in sales.
And with the researcher's projection for a 34 percent sales advance by 2011, mostly in consumption outside the home, consumer familiarity with specialty brands could soon color their purchase behavior at the retail shelf. read more
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Pouches sell convenience appeals of lunchmeat
Is lunchmeat unfairly cast as a protein source for only for one part of the day, or do its appeals (convenience, portability, taste) earn it a slice of mornings and eveningswhen it might enliven scrambled eggs at workday's start or help sustain a Little Leaguer playing a late game.
The answer may lie in the 56.2 percent of U.S. households that bought refrigerated lunchmeat sold in pouches at least once in 2006, according to Nielsen Homescan Consumer Facts. read more
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Bringing American Innovation to the Art of Brewing
Wander through the beer section of a high-end liquor store and you'll see beers infused with citrus flavors, aged in wood casks like fine wine, offered in 750 ml. bottles instead of in a six-pack or case. What you're seeing is evolution in action. Beer is changing. You'll always be able to enjoy your favorite lager on tap at your local watering hole, but you can also enjoy new varieties and flavors of beer, thanks to continued innovation in the industry. read more
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Peanut butter and jelly, all grown up
Call it mom's lifesaving meal. Or every child's comfort food. Peanut butter and jelly is an American staple, revered for its sweetness and protein, economy and portability, and an innate knack for bringing smiles to the lunch table.
Not only do PB&J make a popular duo, they pass muster as a healthful edible pair, with mono-unsaturated fats on one side and frequent fruit-based ingredients on the other. read more
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Sick Consumers Prefer OTC Products To Doctors When Seeking Relief
The ailments are as old as humanity itself, and when it comes to curing them - or at least treating them - the world's consumers seem to prefer tried and tested over-the-counter (OTC) medications that they often prescribe for themselves. The good news for marketers is that this trend has created a $70 billion self-medication industry that shows no sign of shrinkage.
Those are the results of a recent global health survey conducted by The Nielsen Company, in which it looked at both common health complaints and treatments around the world. read more
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Breakfast cravings in the a.m., or any time of day
Who's closer to America's palate than roadside diners? Ask their waitresses for one truth about our eating preferences, and chances are they'll say we love to eat breakfast foods at any time of day. The desire is so great that supermarkets display these items throughout the storein shelf-stable center-store, refrigerated cases, frozens and freshand some even serve them in sit-down restaurants. read more
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Instructed Consumers Respond To Foods' Specific Health Attributes
An "instructed mind," Aristotle once said, should seek and be satisfied with the degree of precision that is possible in a specific case, and not look for precision when it simply isn't in the cards. (Needless to say, this is a paraphrase; Aristotle rarely used playing cards as a metaphor.)
His caution, however, is relevant since US consumers can be said to be highly instructed these days - the mass media, the Internet and corporate America have combined to create something of a glut of information in virtually every consumer category. read more
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CHANNEL WATCH
An index of 100 means there has been no change.
Among the key finding...
The Dollar Channel experienced the sharpest increase in average household shopping trips by channel between June and August 2007.
The Drug Channel reached its record high index (109) ¯ plus earned the top channel performer slot ¯ for average dollar sales per household during the 13 week period ending on August 4, 2007. read more
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It's all about trust!
This year, a plethora of food recalls from peanut butter to mushrooms, cantaloupes and chicken have headlined the front page of every newspaper and Internet news source, and the results have been both devastating ... and promising.
Although food safety in the U.S. is considered among the best in the world, food-borne diseases still cause 76 million illnesses a year which has steered many consumers away from conventional produce to organics, and from international to local or regional products, especially produce. read more
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Phil's Supermarket
Give your products a Second Life! Where can more than seven million consumers connect with your brand around the clock? CLICK HERE for more information.
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U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends 2007
FMI's best-selling report, U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends, tracks the consumer environment as well as the attitudes and behaviors of American consumers as they relate to and impact the food industry. The report focuses on better data and knowledge of the grocery shopper, understanding the role of food and nutrition in today's society and providing retailers and suppliers with operationally useful information needed in serving, communicating and improving relations with their customers. read more
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Management Compensation Study for Retailers and Wholesalers 2006-2007
The 2006-2007 Management Compensation Study is the industry's most comprehensive source of salary and benefits data. Representing nearly one million employees, 56 companies located around the country shared their salary and benefits information.
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Speaks
FMI's Speaks is the annual state of the industry report a must-have for everyone in the food industry. The report reviews important changes affecting the industry that took place in 2006 and evaluates industry performance in sales, profits, margins and productivity measures. It presents detailed information on supermarket operations, store-level benchmarks and outlines strategic and competitive issues. read more
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Food, Nutrition & Science
We've just launched a brand new monthly newsletter: Food, Nutrition, & Science from The Lempert Report.
Our mission is to provide retailers and brands with the latest food news and the tools needed to better serve and empower our shoppers to make the best food choices possible. Each issue will contain interviews with leading researchers, nutritionists and trend setters. read more
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Every year Harris Interactive runs a poll ranking industries on how well they serve consumers. This year's poll found that U.S. adults point at the supermarket industry as performing best of all. Fully 92 perfect of adults think supermarkets generally do a good job, and only 8 percent think they do a bad job giving the food retailing industry a net positive score of 84 percentage points. The number two and three industries don't come close to that. 
For the third consecutive year we've seen gas prices jump in the spring and continue at high levels throughout most of summer as consumer demand outpaced what the oil companies could pump out of their processing facilities. As we enter the fall, will consumers once again have more money to spend (or charge) on the holiday season and then have the winter months to either save or pay down their charge cards in preparation for another round of increases at the pump. 
