April 2, 2007 – The International Food Fair is a hotbed of gastronomic temptations. Difficult to contain your salivary glands in front of maple butter with black Périgord truffles. Hard, hard, to lift your nose on the smoked trout with orange and anise that the friendly hostess hands you. And how can you resist the desire to free from your small sealed glass the 100 ml of red wine it contains?
With their most beautiful stalls filled with their best products, the 700 producers and artisans from here and elsewhere converged on Montreal in an attempt to impress food distributors. Only a minority of the thousands of products presented here will end up on supermarket shelves. To stand out, a product must either innovate, be practical, sophisticated or simply be as natural as possible.
Guided tour with nutritionists and communicators Frédéric Blaise1 and Hélène Laurendeau2.
Innovate to stand out
Among the quantity of products on display, there are many new features including this small receptacle that could also contain margarine or butter. But it is rather olive oil spread that is found inside. Available in different flavors, this new kind of oil is a fine example of an innovative product likely to be of interest to consumers.
“Innovation is the driving force behind the food industry. To be sold, a product must stand out, ”says Frédéric Blaise. And where does innovation draw its inspiration now? “In children first of all, because they play a big role in the purchasing decisions of parents who, for their part, want to offer healthier food,” he continues.
According to nutritionist Hélène Laurendeau, ethnicity and exoticism form another important niche of the “innovation trend”: “With globalization, we are witnessing a crossbreeding of products that no longer has any limits”, is astonished. she points to, among other things, a pizza with nan bread, bamboo nectar or cashews coated in maple syrup.
Practical food
New so-called “nomadic” food products – which you can take with you wherever you go – attempt to meet the needs of people pressed for time.
And the demand is high, according to Frédéric Blaise: “Lack of time combined with general culinary incompetence are important vectors of food innovation: people are looking for simple food solutions. “
This is why the packaging of several products is inspired by the gourd. Intended mainly for children and containing foods made from fruits or vegetables, they are intended to be practical and healthy.
Another example is the frozen meal of fresh salmon, which can be simply cooked in the microwave. Likewise, a chicken fillet … without chicken – a tofu-based product that attempts to combine innovation, practicality and health.
The natural returns at a gallop
Another sign of the times, packaging no longer displays the word “health” as much. “The term is less present, more erased, but natural and healthy ingredients are still popular,” says Hélène Laurendeau.
“In processed foods, we see the effort of manufacturers to ensure that the first ingredients are natural and healthy, rather than being at the end of the list,” said the nutritionist.
This is what Frédéric Blaise calls “naturalness” which he defines as a quest for purity. This is largely based on values based no longer on the quality-price ratio alone, but also on that of “value-price”.
This is where consumers’ personal values come into play, such as the importance they place on ecology, sustainable development or fair trade.
Fine products sought
You can refine a product to give it new letters of nobility, such as maple syrup with green tea, Tahitian vanilla, Espelette pepper … This transformation makes it a product for cooking rather than consuming as is. “Sophistication is used to enhance a product that is mature on the market,” explains Frédéric Blaise.
“Sophistication serves gourmets, that is, those who work with food and have fun while cooking,” says Frédéric Blaise. They represent about one in five people. “
Sometimes refinement is also a matter of packaging. To set a good old cheddar apart from the crowd, why not dress it up with a beautiful and distinguished box? Is it snobbery? “No !, slice Hélène Laurendeau. Rather the search for a more refined, more elegant product, which we like to present to our guests. “
But whether they claim to be one or more trends, most of the products presented at SIAL do not target a large audience.
“Here, the cut between the products reserved for the well-heeled and those intended for the less rich, is palpable, agrees Frédéric Blaise. This is undoubtedly because SIAL gives way above all to innovation. “
Martin LaSalle – PasseportSanté.net
1. A nutritionist by training, Frédéric Blaise is president of the communications and marketing agency Enzyme.
2. Nutritionist Hélène Laurendeau has worked in communications and media for 23 years, as a host, columnist, author and speaker.
