A Fresh Perspective from Southeast Asia

Only last week I returned from across the globe, having traveled to Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. My worldly travels were through participation in a study abroad course offered through my MBA program.  The course, titled Consumer Behavior, required approximately 15 pre-departure class hours where we covered general history, culture, and consumer behavior in each country.  But we of course knew that the real learning would partake during our immersion experience.

I was amazed by the beauty, development, and unique nature of each country.  I had the opportunity to chat with the natives, taste diverse cuisines, and even met with business professionals.  In an effort to share my experiences, I will be composing a few subsequent blogs.

Food ingredients come in the freshest of form in Southeast Asia.  In cities like Hoi An, Vietnam and Siem Reap, Cambodia, you shop at the local market – supermarkets do not exist.  Families typically plan out a few meals and head to the market to do some bargaining.  The market is not only where you shop for food, but also for clothing, furniture, and living necessities.  Each market is organized by category, each with a unique purpose – i.e. produce, jewelry, meat, clothing, etc. Continue reading

Tags: Pho, Southeast Asia, study abroad

My refrigerator won’t let me buy it

The Consumer Electronics Show just wrapped and a highlight – to me, at least – is the newest in Big Brother (I mean, “smart”) appliances.  LG brings us the ThinQ refrigerator that “transforms the appliance into a food management system”.  Here’s the deal … ThinQ is equipped with a scanner, inside camera and voice recognition software.  Go to the store, bring home your food, scan as you put it away and voila! You’re on your way.  The ThinQ lets you know what foods lurking in there are about to expire, alerts you to veggies reaching their final days, comments that you’re running out of eggs, etc.

Even cooler is ThinQ’s ability to impact your personal food plan.  Whether you want to lose weight, eat more protein, or even cut certain ingredients out of your diet, each person in the household can input their goals, plus details like weight, BMI, etc.  ThinQ then lets you know whether the foods you’re about to eat fit your preferences, suggests recipes, even turns on your stove.  The sensors in ThinQ link directly to your smartphone, sending you texts to keep on track, to let you know what you’re running out of and/or to give you shopping suggestions while you’re in a grocery store.

The technology in the ThinQ refrigerator is advanced in other ways, too.  Like its ability to chill wine or beer in minutes!  The refrigerator is just part of a new line of smart appliances … washers, dryers, stoves, etc. that keeps humans informed about energy use and myriad other things – hopefully, making our lives easier and more streamlined.

According to LG, appliances like ThinQ – that monitor, suggest and send you a text – are the wave of the future.  This particular refrigerator will be available to our friends in the UK later this year; coming soon thereafter to the states.

Tags: CBD, Energy, LG, Lori Colman, Smart technology, smartphone, Technology, ThinQ

What’s your approach to holiday feasting?

We’re all typically a pretty healthy, foodie bunch here at CBD, but the annual indulgence onslaught has arrived … replete with home- made eggnog and hot chocolate.  Which got us talking about holiday feasting and wondering how our friends and associates plan to handle that delicate balance between moderation – and excess.

So, we did a quick survey and sent it to a few hundred folks.  It revealed some interesting points of view:

-  89% of those responding plan to cook from scratch for major holiday meals, rather than resort to take-out, packaged or ready- to- eat items.

-  When asked whether there will be any attempt to alter favorite recipes to be “healthier” (lower fat, lower salt, less sugar, etc.) a full 50% were a resounding “no”; 22% a “maybe.”  What were the rest of us going to do?  Use real sweet potatoes and green beans instead of canned; substitute stock for cream; home-made instead of canned apple and cranberry sauce; less butter; organic milk; sea salt instead of regular and make more vegetarian options.

- “Green living” isn’t much of a concern during the holidays, whether recycling gift wrap, not using gift wrap, cutting back on lights, using low energy decorations, mulching a tree or buying one that is sustainably farmed.

-Desserts and cookies were the most noted “guilty” indulgences; followed closely by candy, dinner rolls and stuffing.  Eggnog also made the list, as did someone’s annual holiday tequila bash.

Turns out our friends are a resolution-making bunch regarding eating and drinking in the New Year.  People vowed to:  cook more rather than eat out; buy organic for the “important” foods (especially meats); eat more natural raw foods and stay away from processed; no more soda; no more rice; more fiber, take vitamins; consume less sugar; eat more whole foods; shop at places I can trust, like farmer’s markets and butchers.

What’s your approach to holiday feasting?  Do you think much about wining and dining, or do you throw caution to the wind? And – any New Year’s resolutions?

By the way, I’m totally happy to share this eggnog recipe, with a credit and big thanks to Martha Stewart!

Tags: CBD, Lori Colman

Private label continues the march

The Private Label Trade Show was a big event last week here in Chicago.  This year’s show was a major endeavor, with over 2,000 exhibitors representing a mind-boggling assortment of food, beverage, wellness and home goods products.  From high-end chocolates to pork rinds … even organics, one in four products purchased today are store brands – a category growing twice as fast as national brands.

So, what drives the consumer to buy private label?  While the private label industry shed the “cheap bland generic” image long ago, store brands are still a bargain.  Without the heavy spending on advertising and promotion, store brands won big during the last recession.

A 2011 Mintel study found that nearly half of respondents believe that store branded products are of better quality today than they were five years ago.  And over 60% of shoppers believe that there’s no real difference between name brand and private label in the key categories of dairy, canned and shelf-stable products.

What impressed me most about the products on display at the PLMIA show is the move toward higher quality, more innovative products that store brands are seeking.  Many retailers have invested in their own brand reputation that impacts the perception of the items that carry their name … often, products with enhanced health and wellness attributes as differentiators.  Trust your retailer, trust their brand.  Trader Joe’s has made a fortune on that philosophy.

I wasn’t quite sure what to make of the plethora of “sanitary wipes”, particularly the one pictured here.  In chocolate!

Not sure I’d ever buy that, no matter what the label.  What store branded “labels” or products do you buy?

Tags: CBD, Lori Colman, PLMIA, private label, Private label show

Family farming vs. Industrial agriculture. What’s your take?

With Farmer’s Market season winding down here in the Midwest, venturing back into the grocery store environment seems a bit alien.  While a visit to the weekly market rates high in entertainment value, the best part is talking with the folks who grow or make the products they’re selling … and we’re eating.  Family farming vs. industrial ag … which are you more comfortable with?

The just-released research findings of the 2011 Consumer Trust Survey from The Center for Food Integrity (CFI) would suggest that Americans are growing ever more disenchanted about the state of our global food industry.  CFI is a non-profit coalition of agribusiness companies and industry associations whose mission is “to build consumer trust and confidence in today’s food system.”

Here is a paragraph from the study’s conclusion:

Consumers aren’t sure today’s agriculture still qualifies as farming. Why? Generational and geographic distance between farmers and consumers, technological advances in farming, and changes in farm size and structure. We see consumer alienation from agriculture and the food system expressed through concerns about nutrition, food safety, affordability, environmental sustainability, animal welfare, and other issues.

The study went on to gauge consumer’s attitudes toward farming styles and deduced that people believe that family farmers share their values; “big ag” simply does not.

Recently, various industry groups have begun to unite (such as the new US Farmer & Rancher Alliance) in attempts to improve the image of industrial farming and production.  So we’re starting to see some interesting marketing and PR programs (which may be called “farm-washing” by some) such as Monsanto’s Americasfarmers.com appear across multiple media channels.

Yet, the CFI’s own research points to the difficulty in changing public perceptions with the following sentence taken from their presentation:  No single program or initiative will reverse the growing trend of consumer alienation from today’s farms.

Can marketing solve these issues of consumer perception?  Or are we likely to see bigger changes ahead in how our world produces food … and what or how we choose to buy?  What do you think?

Tags: agribusiness, CBD, Center for Food Integrity, Consumer Trust Survey, family farming, food, industrial agriculture, ingredients, Lori Colman, Sustainability

Starbucks to Customers: Recharge with Caffeine, Not Energy

Recently, Starbucks began covering electrical outlets in some of its busiest New York City locations to discourage “laptop loungers” from overstaying their welcome and to help free up seats for other customers who lap up their lattes with more urgency.   As another current CBD blog post pointed out, it’s not unusual for companies to fire their most unprofitable customers.  But using this tactic to pull the plug on this segment has proven difficult to do gracefully.  It’s caused significant backlash and denigrated a core value that has always been integral to the brand strategy.

Starbucks has always promoted itself as a gathering place.  Come in, stay awhile and get free Wi-Fi while you enjoy your beverage.  Together, these are the cornerstones of their allure and, more importantly, RFM model.  Plus, it demonstrates a profound understanding of the considerable time it takes to finish a Venti.   While addressing the issue of abusive laptop loafers might be critical to some store’s business success, there are better ways to achieve the same result. Continue reading

Tags: airline, laptop, Starbucks, Venti