DAWN FARMS TOP 9 | ISSUE 18 | 2018

GLOBAL UPDATE ON CONSUMER, MARKET AND MENU INSIGHTS. 

1. IGENS ARE COMING

Yesterday a Mintel seminar helped us better understand the complexities of the 16-20-year-old mindset -tomorrow’s iGen consumers. Growing up in the golden age of food and technology, and similar to teenage generations before, they are fraught with contradictions. Curious about world cuisines, yet frustrated by their own culinary restraints and inhibited by their household’s routine mealtimes. Watch Bad Canteen >> a YouTube series targeting these ‘can’t cook’ consumers. A clear interest in health and body image is offset by the fact this group loves takeaways (and Netflix). This so-called ‘Sober Generation’ alongside the burgeoning ‘vegan movement’ suggests a need for a cause, a form of compassion and rebellion against today’s binge society. Question is, will they grow out of it?

2. DR. OETKER’S RAINBOW PIZZA

German pizza manufacturer Dr Oetker has launched 2 new pizzas ‘Yes It’s Pizza’ featuring vegetable dough bases which give a unique, vibrant colour (rsp £3.69). One has a base made from 35% pure beetroot and topped with smoked ham, zucchini, red onion and cheese; the other has 35% spinach content topped with mozzarella, broccoli and mushrooms. Consumer demand for high vegetable content and healthier convenience options are the driver behind these concepts. We also see the trend towards ‘coloured carbs’ coming to the fore -  last week’s Top 9 talked about how ingredients are adding colour and flavour to food and drinks to make them more appealing (sumac, ube/purple yam).

3.  SAINSBURY'S ‘LITTLE’ AMBITIONS  

Sainsbury’s has of course hit the headlines this week due to its surprise announcement on its proposed £7.3bn merger with Asda. This would create the UK’s biggest supermarket by market share and thus transform the traditional ‘big 4’ landscape. In other Sainsbury’s news, it has launched a new baby food range under its Little Ones brand endorsed by registered nutritionist Fiona Wilcock. Some 50 new dishes including Katsu Curry and BBQ Pulled Pork, all with a high vegetable content, cater to the "very-developing palate" of babies and toddlers aged 6mths to 3+ years. Products below 12 months are organic and those above are fortified where appropriate eg with iron.

4. DISNEY EATS CHANNEL

It has been Disney’s year so far in the box office and now it’s making moves into food. Disney has launched a new online cooking channel aimed at young families – get a preview here >> ‘Disney Eats’ plans to take Millennials and their kids on a culinary adventure inspired by Disney’s characters and its theme parks. It introduces a ‘co-cooking’ concept to help parents and children to cook together, while also ensuring advertisers meet specific nutritional guidelines. Disney merchandising will also be available - kitchen utensils, bakeware and cookbooks. Meanwhile, on-site Disneyland has a new Toy Story-themed restaurant, called Alien's Pizza Planet—A Better Place. Toy Story (and pizza) fans click here >>  

5. ASIAN TWIST ON BURGERS

McDonald’s this week reported strong growth in every major market, from France to Russia to the US, crediting menu updates as part of its success. In Malaysia it launched a Nasi Lemak Burger celebrating a local speciality- watch the video here >> This features a chilli bun, cucumber slices, fried egg, a coconut flavoured crispy chicken thigh topped with a drizzle of sambal, and caramelised onions. Its hugely successful launch in Singapore (750,000 burgers sold in a two-week period) shows the potential for regional-inspired recipes. McDonald’s Spain offers a Creamy Thai Grand Extreme - double beef burger, roasted peppers, cheddar, along with a creamy Asian style sauce with mild curry.

6. FRANCO MANCA MICHELIN TOUCH

The so-called pizza pioneers of London, Franco Manca, are celebrating 10 years since their first authentic Italian pizzeria opened in Brixton. As part of the celebrations, Italy’s youngest Michelin star chef Martina Caruso has created a limited-edition pizza for the menu - the No. 7 Eoliana. Caruso has reimagined the Aeolian speciality salad using regional ingredients as pizza toppings including red Piennolo tomatoes, roasted potatoes, red onions, mozzarella, capers, Nocellara del Belice black olives and fresh mint. Three more special edition pizzas are due this year. 

7. TRUST IN BLOCKCHAIN

The Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has embarked on an initiative to explore how blockchain can help it build a ‘Food Trust Framework’. Working with 4 dairy companies (including Fonterra) and delivery services in Australia and New Zealand, its overall aim is ‘simply’ to make a food item’s journey more transparent and in doing so help increase customer confidence in the provenance and quality of their products. Each product will have a QR code that customers can scan to reveal information from every stage of the end-to-end supply chain. The benefit of using Blockchain technology is that data is logged on a secure online ledger that can’t be edited or deleted.

8. THE PERKS OF DELIVERY

Competition in online delivery just got tougher. Just Eat UK orders are up 25% to almost 30m, boosted by its acquisition of rival Hungryhouse in January. It also quotes good growth in Italy and Spain. Deliveroo has launched a ‘roowards’ scheme via a new support site for existing operators and employees and to encourage new sign ups. These ‘perks’ are negotiated discounts with partner providers from cinemas, gyms to energy providers, food safety trainers. Meanwhile newcomer EasyFood is a new platform backed by Easyjet founder Stelios. Already 200 restaurants of its 1,000 target are on board in Birmingham, before it sets its sights on other UK cities and London in 2019.

9.  MERCHANT GOURMET POP-UP

Waitrose has teamed up with Merchant Gourmet (pulse, grain, seed and nuts brand) to trial a pop-up healthy eating counter at its Salisbury store. The Grain & Graze counter promotes healthy eating, offering on-the-go style breakfast, lunch and smaller dinner dishes such as smoky Spanish grains and chorizo paella, beluga lentil and beetroot salad, and quinoa power balls. Recipe cards will be available to inspire consumers to recreate the healthy dishes at home. There is a growing desire to make things ourselves at home, perhaps with political and economic uncertainty putting a greater focus on self-sufficiency. IKEA UK and McDonald’s South Korea have already undertaken similar initiatives.