Written by
Hannah Hugeback
When is food more than just food? With each bite we take, food is evolving to be something so much more than calories. Food brands are rethinking the role they play in our lives, innovating around functional nutrition, environmental impact, and more. We’ve seen this happening in a variety of projects we’ve worked on, including the recently launched Airly which is a delicious cracker with climate positive impact. This special edition of Spy10 looks at how food is being reimagined to address issues both old and new and major takeaways for your brand to explore.
1. Fashion From Food Waste
Food waste is a major issue. With about 1.3 billion tons of food wasted each year globally, the fashion industry is emerging as an unlikely hero. In an effort to decrease the environmental impact caused by the industry, many fashion brands are looking to upcycling food as part of the solution. Otherwise known as “creative reuse,” upcycling is the process of using unwanted scraps from one supply chain and transforming them into new, high quality products for another. Expect to see brands innovating their supply chain practices by using upcycled food to promote a cleaner, more sustainable life for their products.
For example..
Piñatex is using pineapple leaves, an agricultural waste product, to reimagine the life of high quality leather goods. Inspired by the principles of Circular Economy, the company creates a 100% vegan leather while building additional income for farming communities in the process. This innovative and sustainably sourced leather has been used by brands like Hugo Boss to create sustainable footwear, and is suitable for use across fashion, upholstery, and accessory industries.
Think about how the practice of upcycling can revamp your brand’s base materials for a more sustainable approach.
2. Food & Design
Food is a universal need, and The World Bank estimates that about one billion people across the globe are diagnosed with a disability - a large number that is often overlooked in the food packaging design process. In an effort to make food more widely accessible, expect brands to reimagine not only how food packaging can be more easily opened, but how the packaging can work smarter for consumers experiencing disabilities.
For example...
Mimica Touch takes the guesswork out of food freshness with the touch of a finger. This temperature-sensitive label is used to identify food freshness for dairy, red meat, and juice products by changing texture when an item is no longer safe to eat. Originally created in an effort to fight food waste, this label gives independence in the kitchen to consumers experiencing visual impairments, who may otherwise have difficulty reading expiration dates or seeing their products in full.
By making your product more inclusive, you can create opportunities for your brand will be accessible to more people.
Photo Credit: Mimica Lab
3. You Wear What You Eat
Fast food is officially fashionable. Food establishments are taking notes from streetwear brands to create hyper obsessed fans, turning consumers into walking billboards for their favorite restaurants. By tapping into consumer’s desire for exclusivity and rarity, fast food giants are collaborating with brands outside of their category to drop exclusive, limited edition merch, creating fan frenzy in the process. For the first time, consumers have been given an avenue to make a statement about who they are and what they love through food fashion. Expect to see more food brands collaborate with fashion and accessory brands in an effort to excite their consumers.
For example...
In June 2021, McDonald’s scored big when they announced BTS x McDonald’s collaboration, which included the BTS meal and exclusive merch. This isn’t a collaboration with just any boy band - BTS is a K-pop global phenomenon with roughly 100 million superfans all over the world. Available for a limited time on Weverse Shop, the McDonald’s collaboration included items such as t-shirts, hats, bags, and other accessories with exclusive designs created by the world’s biggest boy band. To say this collaboration was successful would be an understatement - the clothing line sold out almost immediately, while in-store foot traffic to McDonald’s rose 12% within the first week of the launch.
What other brands do your consumers love? How can you collaborate across categories in a way that feels cool and authentic to your brand? Each touchpoint of your collaboration gives consumers the opportunity to express their love for your brand in ways that feel true to them.
Photo Credit: US BTS Army
4. Personalizing Nutrition
The pandemic made a lot of people rethink their approach to health, specifically by being proactive through nutrition. Sure, there are plenty of smartwatches and apps to track nutrition, but consumers are searching for a more personalized approach to dietary advice, tailored to their genetic makeup. Expect to see less of a one size fits all approach to nutrition with more hyper-personalization informed by new technology and tracking options.
For example...
Intriex is an at-home health monitoring system that uses saliva to accurately measure hormones and metabolic rates. With the swab of your mouth, Intriex reads three key body indexes: resting metabolic rate, body fat index, and ketone index. Once collected, the app creates a customized workout routine and nutrition outline tailored to your body’s specific needs. The goal is to take the guesswork out of nutrition while promoting an easier way to track and receive personalized health information.
As consumers become more involved in interpreting their health data with at-home health monitoring, individualized nutrition is the next step toward proactive health. How can your brand help consumers understand how your product works for them specifically, not just for anyone?
Photo Credit: Indiegogo
5. Mood Food
Covid-19 introduced a new wave of snacking. Rates of stress and anxiety related to the pandemic and economic turbulence are high, leaving consumers searching for ways to boost their mood through food. As the snacking trend continues, expect to see food and beverage brands innovate the category with options that provide management for stress and anxiety, sleep, and brain function.
For example...
Launched in October 2020, PYM (Prepare Your Mind) is a wellness company offering chews to alleviate everyday stress. Each chewable is infused with all-natural, scientifically researched amino acids and adaptogens to help reach a calmed, relaxed state of mind. The company’s founder and CEO Zak Williams has also made it his mission to destigmatize mental health challenges in the process. Williams uses the company’s website as a platform to speak openly about his struggles with depression and anxiety, and provide mental health resources.
Take a look at your brand’s benefits and claims. Can they be expanded beyond the functional benefits to communicate any mental or emotional ones? Challenge yourself to reach the benefit of the benefit - not what your product does, but how the use of your product makes people feel.
Photo Credit: You Can PYM
6. Making Nutrition Accessible
Roughly half of U.S. consumers believe that a healthy lifestyle has become more important over the past year. Brands are taking notice and focusing on providing more BFY options, but these items aren’t attainable for everyone. Price and access are huge barriers for a lot of Americans, leading to food insecurity for millions of people. As consumers seek out healthier options, expect to see brands innovate to make nutrition less premium and more accessible.
For example...
Dollar General has partnered with Feeding America to bring affordable nutrition to rural communities. Dollar General announced their plan to expand their fresh produce offerings from 1,300 stores to 10,000 stores nationwide. The focus of this expansion will be on stores in food deserts, where access to affordable, nutritious food is limited. With about 75% of Americans living within a 5 mile radius of their stores, the impact this expansion will have on the millions of Americans who rely on the store for affordable products can’t be overstated. By expanding fresh produce and partnering with a registered nutritionist to create DG Better For You Meals, Dollar General is slated to be the first affordable health destination for underserved communities.
Who are you currently serving, and who is being left behind? What obstacles do consumers face when interacting with your products, such as price or location? Think about ways you can address any of them.
Photo Credit: Progressive Grocer, July 2021
7. Rethinking Pet Food
For many people across the globe, pets are the unsung hero of the pandemic. During isolation, pet adoptions skyrocketed and owners leaned on their pets for connection and emotional support. People feel closer to their pets than ever before, now viewing them as companions who deserve the same high quality nutrition as their owners. As pet owners humanize the nutritional needs of their animals, expect pet food brands to mirror popular human food trends to attract health-focused consumers.
For example...
Petaluma is the first baked and plant-based adult dog food brand. With ingredients such as sweet potatoes and roasted peanut butter, the brand touts over 33 grams of protein with essential nutrients per cup. The brand was created by Garret Wymore and Caroline Buck who saw a need for dog food that eased the minds of plant-based shoppers who consider animal cruelty and environmental impact with every purchase. As a result, Petaluma is sustainably and organically grown to promote the health of man’s best friend and the planet.
The humanization of pet food is a reminder that health and nutrition are top of mind for consumers, and they are seeking access to better-for-you across categories as a result. Some brands are catching on and are communicating less plastic use in packaging, or the removal of toxic dyes. Are there ways your brand can play in the BFY space? What could this look like for your brand and category?
Photo Credit: Pentawards, June 2021
8. Cheers to Togetherness
As restaurants open back up, people are chomping at the bit to make a reservation. Dining out was one of the most missed activities during quarantine, right up there with missing family and friends. Food is being used as a vehicle for connection, celebration, and feeling a sense of normalcy after a somber year, and brands are listening closely. In a move to ignite optimism, expect brands to lean into togetherness and communicate the ways in which their products make getting together more special than ever before.
For example...
In April 2021, Aperol Spritz celebrated reunions with their campaign, “Together Again.” In support of togetherness, the brand vowed to pick up the tab for 100,000 Spritz in the UK. Participants simply sign up online and order a Spritz at any participating bar, pub, or restaurant. While consumers enjoy the activity of reconnecting with friends, Aperol will pay half of the tab.
After a year of stark reality, how can your brand play a role in celebrating togetherness? Think of how your products can bring people together in a tone that is true to your brand.
Photo Credit: Aperol Spritz
9. Breakfast Renaissance
The most important meal of the day is making a comeback in a major way. Working from home has given people the opportunity to fall back in love with breakfast, a meal typically skipped during the morning commute. This love affair is so strong that consumers are finding new ways to enjoy breakfast items into lunch, dinner, and even dessert. Breakfast brands have broken out of their category to expand into an anytime at all event. As consumers crave access to breakfast throughout the day, expect brands to challenge what breakfast means, and what’s acceptable to eat when.
For example...
Kraft Macaroni & Cheese is an American staple in the world of lunch and dinner, until now. This iconic dish has officially entered the world of breakfast after making a surprising discovery - over the last year, 56% of parents served Mac & Cheese to their children for breakfast. Kraft saw this as a huge win for parents and decided to celebrate them by giving away limited edition breakfast boxes. While the packaging design got a refresh, the ingredients on the inside stayed the same. Each box came with a placemat for coloring and topping suggestions like bacon or scrambled eggs to bring the breakfast experience to life.
What other moments of the day and occasions could your brand stretch into? Start by taking a look at the unconventional ways your consumers are using your products to draw inspiration and break category conventions.
Photo Credit: Businesswire, August 2020
10. Global Eats
As the most diverse generation America has ever seen, Gen Z’s taste preferences are reshaping the culinary world. These young foodies have been introduced to different cuisines through friends, multicultural families, and the internet, making them incredibly explorative in the kitchen. While their global taste buds drive them toward authentic ethnic experiences, pandemic boredom has also pushed other consumers to crave a similar experience. In response, many food establishments are expanding their flavor offerings and exploring the world of multicultural cuisine.
For example...
Say goodbye to your everyday hotdog, because Oh K-Dog is bringing a new form of street food stateside. Rice hotdogs have become a craze in Korea — quickly becoming one of the most popular and viral street foods. Americans are showing up in droves to try these tasty treats, boosting popularity and expansion into different states. With multiple styles, sauces, and toppings, Oh K-DOG is giving adventurous eaters an outlet to explore a new cultural dining experience without having to catch a flight.
The population is more diverse than ever and takes pride in embracing the unfamiliar while sharing their culture with others. Explore how your brand can connect with other cultures in an authentic way that breaks free from harmful stereotypes. Share the ways in which your brand appreciates cultural nuances through education and representation, giving credit to the cultures these trends originate from.
Photo Credit: Oh K Dog