Throughout the food and beverage industry there are many opportunities for innovation. Because the millennial age group is aging, and has become the "largest consumer segment"(grantthornton) food and beverage companies are focusing on their preferences. This generation has "a lot less brand loyalty and a lot more focus on health and wellness" (grantthornton) so companies that are focusing on creating healthy alternatives and branding their products with a health focus will appeal more to the millenials. An article entitled "Food for Thought" by Grant Thornton a company that specializes in auditing, management consulting, corporate finance, risk management, and information technology states, “Innovation continues to
be key. Food and beverage companies
need to find new and different ways of
doing things”(Grantthornton). Companies such as General Mills continue to change its cereal brands by making them whole grain, heart healthy, etc. Companies such as General Mills, that already have a strong product line, that continue to make health changes to its products, will win over the millennial generation. The company PepsiCo, has also changed its product line in order to create healthier food, "Slashing fat, sugar, and sodium by as much as 25% in the next 10 years--without changing their taste"(fastcompany).
Companies, along with changing the health content of their food, can also change how their product is made, where it is made, and what it is packaged in. For example, recently Sun Chip has changed its packaging of its chips to create a biodegradable bag, in efforts to become a more "green" company. Another example of innovation within a company, would be to change the fuel that the trucks use to deliver the food and beverages. Coca-Cola is "working to increase the fuel efficiency of the system's fleet of more than 200,000 vehicles used to deliver our products around the world" (Coca-cola). There are various types of innovation that a company can use in order to improve their products.
http://www.grantthornton.com/staticfiles/GTCom/location/S/San%20Francisco/GBA-F&B-Newsletter-2012_WEB.PDF
(http://www.fastcompany.com/1738541/the-10-most-innovative-companies-in-food
http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/citizenship/fleet_transportation.html
I was actually surprised about the quote stating that brand loyalty is decreasing. I feel that a lot of people are very particular about their brands. However, I may feel this way due to the fact that a lot of companies (including those that have a lot of brand loyalty) come out with new products regularly and update their old ones. Therefore, a lot of people stay loyal to companies that they otherwise may not have if these companies weren't producing better products regularly.
ReplyDeleteWhat about a company that primarily focuses on healthy nutrition? Maybe if a company carves out a strong foothold in this area of the F&B sector, then they can start receiving brand loyalty? I too am surprised by the brand loyalty decreasing.
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