Jun 16
Premiumisation trend in food
I’ve recently been having a bit of a look at how the premiumisation trend has been playing out in some food areas. In Hawaii, single estate coffee is now actively marketed with some of the top blends and Peaberry beans retailing at $50-$60 per pound or more. Although we are talking about a natural food product, you would be amazed at the technologies some of the farms are using to get the best quality. Here are a few highlights:
Regular soil sample analysis to ensure the right level of nutrients are present in the volcanic soil. Some farms are organic.
Coffee trees trained to grow along trellises to get optimal exposure to the sun, like vines. This growing format has actually been patented by Kona Joe! A good example of technology transfer between parallel industries.
Hand picked and sorted beans
Water-less pulping, not sure how this process works
Combination drying processes to ensure the beans are in the optimal condition
Various state-of-the-art roasting technologies
Gas tight, nitrogen flushed packaging with a CO2 bleed valve
You can even have a custom label on the coffee just for you…
See this Kona Premium link for a full story of their process. In the USA, coffee is the subject of deep passion and premiumisation is a key trend which I predict will continue to play out in the market, credit crunch or not.
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John, it’s a stimulating list of Food & Drink trends but I would also want to include some more key consumer trends that have massive impact, in particular Health & Wellness. In the developed markets, this has already become a key strategic driver for mainstream brands, and shows no sign of letting up.
What links would you draw out from this trend, as distinct from the others you mention?
regards
Miles
Hi Miles, I would say that you are right in general on the importance of the health and wellness trend. In the area of coffee, however, consumers (especially US consumers)don’t really believe that coffee can be good for them – “you’d have to change the personification of coffee to make it healthy” – is the kind of verbatim you get. In fact, it’s a bit of a let down to talk about health benefits in something many see as an indulgence. So, healthy coffee is a bit of a hard sell, which is a pity as coffee is actually a pretty healthy product with numerous health benefits proven in many studies (once you filter it to get rid of the cholesterol raising oils). If you did want to find a healthy coffee product, you can get chlorogenic acid extracts from coffee with powerful anti-oxidative properties or coffee berry see http://www.coffeeberry.org/ or you can process the coffee specially to increase it’s level of antioxidants see http://www.port-trading.com/antioxidant_coffee.html. Ironically the best source of cholorogenic acid is the much maligned Robusta bean. John