source: Farm and Food Report
A few minutes of conversation with Andrew Benson, VP of International Relations at the International Food Information Council (IFIC), is enough to convince you that agricultural producers are on the brink of a new revolution — one hinging on emerging opportunities made possible because of world consumer needs.
“Consumers are everybody’s ultimate customer,” Benson says. “Whether you are a seed supplier, a crop grower, a crop processor, a food manufacturer, a food retailer or a vendor — in the end, everybody serves a consumer. Therefore, it is very important to lend an ear to what consumers are looking for now and the trends that are impacting their purchasing behaviours over time.”
Benson’s Washington, D.C.-based organization carries out studies and research around issues such as consumer confidence in the food supply, as well as the distribution of information around nutrition and other areas.
“What we would do is go and talk to the public informally — either one-on-one or in small focus groups — and then, do the same substantially and quantitatively. We actually carry out surveys of large segments of the population, which gives us a really accurate read of what the public is thinking on particular issues — what their questions and concerns really are.”
Perhaps not surprisingly, the portrait of consumers today that emerges is dominated by a very startling observation. That is the rapid increase in rates of obesity that is occurring in developed countries and, to some extent, in developing countries as well, according to Benson.
“The challenge our research reveals — and that a lot of consumers are struggling with — is how to balance the pressures and demands of a very busy lifestyle: decreased opportunities for physical activities, less walking around getting to the job, more driving, more sitting at the office or on airplanes, and more pressures on consumers from the point of view of the need for convenience foods. Overall, this has had a very measurable effect on waistlines.”
One might ask why this should concern producers. Andrew Benson has this to say:
“Consumers are looking for help. They are trying to eat foods and drink beverages they enjoy, but that also fit their lifestyle. Truly, they want to modify their overall diet so that they don’t continuously face the issue of putting on more and more weight. I think the more successfully producers can help consumers do that, the more they can enhance their potential for providing products that consumers want.”
He suggests that producers familiarize themselves with tools like Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating or the newly released New Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005, which reflect many of the objectives that consumers are trying to achieve themselves in terms of reducing their fat intake.
“They seek the right balance between fats and carbohydrates, while integrating a little more physical activity into their daily routines. Now, if the food you produce has an advantage which is beneficial to a consumer, then obviously the idea is to get the word out there.”
But Benson also cautions producers to be careful about how or why they communicate to the public, for information is a double-edged sword.
“Consumer confidence is very good and very high in both the U.S. and Canada, because people take the time to tell the public what is happening. If you look at surveys of U.S. opinion, 80 per cent of consumers think the food is safe and well looked-after by our regulators. But in other parts of the world — particularly a few years ago in Europe, where confidence kind of hit rock bottom after a series of food scandals over there – it is not always so. Consumer confidence can also erode quickly.”
His advice is, when you have a good, safe food supply, it is important to pay attention to the messages consumers are exposed to as much as possible.
“Nobody can be the ultimate source of information for everybody in the food chain. If you try to do that, you will fail. I don’t think the public expects that, either. For them to know about food, nutrition, health and food safety, the whole food chain needs to communicate: nutritionists, dieticians, politicians, farmers, agronomists, scientists and the media.”
In the new world of food production, the consumer is both king and kingmaker.
For more information, contact:
Andrew Benson
International Food Information Council
(202) 296-6540
http://www.ific.org/
Revision of Canada’s Food Guide for Healthy Living
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hpfb-dgpsa/onpp-bppn/revision_food_guide_e.html
Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005
http://www.healthierus.gov/dietaryguidelines/
A few minutes of conversation with Andrew Benson, VP of International Relations at the International Food Information Council (IFIC), is enough to convince you that agricultural producers are on the brink of a new revolution — one hinging on emerging opportunities made possible because of world consumer needs.
“Consumers are everybody’s ultimate customer,” Benson says. “Whether you are a seed supplier, a crop grower, a crop processor, a food manufacturer, a food retailer or a vendor — in the end, everybody serves a consumer. Therefore, it is very important to lend an ear to what consumers are looking for now and the trends that are impacting their purchasing behaviours over time.”
Benson’s Washington, D.C.-based organization carries out studies and research around issues such as consumer confidence in the food supply, as well as the distribution of information around nutrition and other areas.
“What we would do is go and talk to the public informally — either one-on-one or in small focus groups — and then, do the same substantially and quantitatively. We actually carry out surveys of large segments of the population, which gives us a really accurate read of what the public is thinking on particular issues — what their questions and concerns really are.”
Perhaps not surprisingly, the portrait of consumers today that emerges is dominated by a very startling observation. That is the rapid increase in rates of obesity that is occurring in developed countries and, to some extent, in developing countries as well, according to Benson.
“The challenge our research reveals — and that a lot of consumers are struggling with — is how to balance the pressures and demands of a very busy lifestyle: decreased opportunities for physical activities, less walking around getting to the job, more driving, more sitting at the office or on airplanes, and more pressures on consumers from the point of view of the need for convenience foods. Overall, this has had a very measurable effect on waistlines.”
One might ask why this should concern producers. Andrew Benson has this to say:
“Consumers are looking for help. They are trying to eat foods and drink beverages they enjoy, but that also fit their lifestyle. Truly, they want to modify their overall diet so that they don’t continuously face the issue of putting on more and more weight. I think the more successfully producers can help consumers do that, the more they can enhance their potential for providing products that consumers want.”
He suggests that producers familiarize themselves with tools like Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating or the newly released New Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005, which reflect many of the objectives that consumers are trying to achieve themselves in terms of reducing their fat intake.
“They seek the right balance between fats and carbohydrates, while integrating a little more physical activity into their daily routines. Now, if the food you produce has an advantage which is beneficial to a consumer, then obviously the idea is to get the word out there.”
But Benson also cautions producers to be careful about how or why they communicate to the public, for information is a double-edged sword.
“Consumer confidence is very good and very high in both the U.S. and Canada, because people take the time to tell the public what is happening. If you look at surveys of U.S. opinion, 80 per cent of consumers think the food is safe and well looked-after by our regulators. But in other parts of the world — particularly a few years ago in Europe, where confidence kind of hit rock bottom after a series of food scandals over there – it is not always so. Consumer confidence can also erode quickly.”
His advice is, when you have a good, safe food supply, it is important to pay attention to the messages consumers are exposed to as much as possible.
“Nobody can be the ultimate source of information for everybody in the food chain. If you try to do that, you will fail. I don’t think the public expects that, either. For them to know about food, nutrition, health and food safety, the whole food chain needs to communicate: nutritionists, dieticians, politicians, farmers, agronomists, scientists and the media.”
In the new world of food production, the consumer is both king and kingmaker.
For more information, contact:
Andrew Benson
International Food Information Council
(202) 296-6540
http://www.ific.org/
Revision of Canada’s Food Guide for Healthy Living
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hpfb-dgpsa/onpp-bppn/revision_food_guide_e.html
Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005
http://www.healthierus.gov/dietaryguidelines/
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