10/21/2020 By Jeannie SwedbergAs we started 2020, immune health was on many of the lists of food trends to watch for this year, nestled among snacking, sustainability and mood foods. You could call it a consumer flirtation—one of those trends flirted with by people but without a real commitment. Then COVID-19 hit and that relationship turned into a full-fledged romance. Interest in immune health suddenly skyrocketed, as people began to embrace immune-enhancing products to ward off the pandemic or at least to improve their chances...READ MORE
9/23/2020 By Jeannie SwedbergIFIC survey dives into consumer attitudes toward food and health
Did you catch Tree Top’s R&D Blog? If not, it is a fun read and compliments some of the consumer trends highlighted in this year’s Food & Health survey, conducted by International Food Information Council. This is the 15th time the organization has fielded the study. This year’s research was conducted in the height of the pandemic and included more than 1,000 Americans. READ MORE
9/8/2020 By Jeannie SwedbergThe beauty of virtual conferences like the upcoming PetFood Forum Connect is that you can attend every session you want, take notes sitting at a desk, and even re-watch something if you want without leaving the comfort of home or taking off your bunny slippers (not that I have bunny slippers.) You don’t have to decide between a trend session and a scientific one or product development and regulatory. You can watch them all live or recorded. It’s a smorgasbord of information, and you get to sample anything and everything you want. READ MORE
7/31/2020 By Jeannie SwedbergAs you’d expect in this year like no other in our collective memory, sales in pet foods have been erratic. The year started off on a positive note with year-over-year sales steadily beating 2019 numbers through Feb., according to IRI data. Then March hit and a two-week period of panic buying set in or some serious stocking up took place. And with that, sales spiked about $100 million above previous levels. After that, pet food sales sank below historic market expectations as...READ MORE
6/15/2020 By Jeannie SwedbergDepending on which consumer research you look at, somewhere between 74% and 80% of people say they are trying to limit or avoid sugar in their diet. Consequently, the mandatory labeling of added sugars on the Nutrition Facts panel of packaging as of January 1 of this year couldn’t have come at a more opportune time...READ MORE