Topics worth repeating

"So what do you see coming down the road?" is a question we're probably asked at a trade show as much as we ask it. I thought it might help to briefly review some of the topics that seem to be getting a lot of Gourmet News press these days. Here are a few:

* Low-Carb Diets. You'd have to live on another planet to be unaware of the impact the whole variety of low-carb diets are having on Americans' eating habits. The low-carb promise is that you can eat meats and high-fat foods and still lose weight. According to a recent Mintel study, 75 percent of people on a low-carb diet cut carbs not to lose weight, but because they think it's a healthier way to eat.

* Strength of the Euro. While this has had the most direct effect on those importing products from Europe, there are some opportunities resulting from the strong currency. One is to source more domestic product, whether oil, cheese, wine, cookies or hard goods. Another possibility is to look at imports from outside the European Union. As cited in our Emerging Cuisines feature in May, specialties from Egypt and Croatia are gaining popularity here.

* Ethnic Foods. A rising Asian and Latin American population, more travel abroad, TV's Food Network are all factors in the increasing popularity of ethnic foods. Mintel, in its Global New Products Database Trends Predictions for 2004, predicts Indian cuisine will be "Cuisine of the Year."

Your well-traveled customers will be looking for sauces, spices, cheeses and oils to allow them to replicate foreign flavors at home. They'll want to share not just the photos but the foods of the countries they visited on vacation.

There are of course more trends but you can be a "trend tracker" yourself. Keep an eye on our pages and be aware of when you see multiple stories around a single topic.

Other news sources can help, too, as well as keeping in touch with your customers. Ask them what they're looking for, and what new products would be of interest to them.

Enjoy your trend spotting this summer and be sure to let me know if you see something of particular interest.

Rick Rector

Publisher

rrector@gourmetnews.com

Copyright United Publications, Inc. Jul 2004
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