Zeno Group Table Hosts a Round Table for Food and Beverage Stakeholders
posted by Lynn HanessianTuesday, June 9th, 2009
On Monday, Zeno Group hosted a roundtable discussion about food, beverage and nutrition trends for 2009 and beyond, and the implications for business. Never before have the opportunities, threats and stakeholders been so diverse. Who could have ever thought eating and drinking would get this complicated?
Sylvia Rowe, President of SR Strategy LLC, kicked off the presentations with an overview of the unprecedented “convergence” of food and beverage trends: as risk, as medicine, as ethics and values, and as fuel. “Obesity continues to the lens through which all nutrition issues are viewed today,” noted Sylvia. Interestingly, the importance of sustainability was mentioned in relation to 2 distinctly different notions: the sustainability of production and the sustainability of consumer behavior change. (Given that it was World Oceans Day with Ted Danson on CNN warning of imperiled global fishing stocks, sustainability was clearly in the headlines and central to the roundtable discussions.)
Following Sylvia’s remarks was Nutritionist Ashley Koff, RD. From the perspectives of her many clients and the media, Ashley emphasized the importance of simplifying the message to an overwhelmed consumer. Balancing new discoveries related to the functional benefits of foods and food ingredients is ever challenging, while the promise of new advances, such as personalized nutrition tailored to an individual’s DNA, is off in the future. Across the board, addressing energy is a key.
Zeno Group’s Nick Mendoza rounded out the presentations with a sampling of food and beverage brand social media programs. Today’s consumers discuss the brands they eat and drink frequently with their friends. To participate in these conversations, a healthy social media program requires brands to communicate with transparency, while always listening first and valuing the relationship. Authentic engagement and audience empowerment should be driving social media activities, rather than self-serving promotions or a soapbox mentality.
Representatives from O.N.E. Natural Experience and Nuttzo brought along their products for everyone’s enjoyment. The FDA representative also brought an array of the agency’s communications tools.
With the release of the movie Food, Inc. coming later this week and the deliberations around the 2010 food guidance system (the heavily anticipated next food “pyramid”) still very much underway, food and beverage producers and marketers need to be ready to tout their advances and protect their brands in these dynamic times.
