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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@gilanet.com>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Fewer new foods for kids hit the shelves in 2004
  • Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 06:06:50 -0700


http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2005-01-26-kids-products-usat_
x.htm?csp=22_elp
Fewer new foods for kids hit the shelves in 2004
By Bruce Horovitz, USA TODAY 1/26/2005

The drumbeat of consumer concern over unhealthy snacks for kids appears to
have resulted in the unthinkable: a downturn in new, kid-targeted food
products last year.

After three years of steady growth, kid-targeted food introductions in the
USA dropped 11.4% in 2004, even as new food products grew overall, says
Productscan Online, a new-product database commonly used by the food
industry to track trends.

Productscan says 1,328 new bar codes for food products aimed at kids were
introduced in 2004, vs. 1,499 in 2003. "The yellow flag is out on kids food
products," says Tom Vierhile, executive editor. "It's starting to sound
like the tobacco industry all over again."

Product introductions are a key barometer of consumer desires, and the food
giants are taking parental concerns for kids food seriously. Look for fewer
sugar-filled and fat-laden kids foods — and more nutritious options —
in 2005.

"Nobody wants to set themselves up as the lightning rod," says Robert
Schult, CEO of Shansby Group's food unit and former president of Nestlé
USA. "Now isn't the time to throw millions of dollars at a high trans-fat
food for kids."

Many consumers have begun to avoid packaged foods that target kids, says
Sharron Dalton, a nutritionist. "People are moving back to real food," she
says.

Productscan defines kid products as anything that targets kids in its
packaging or marketing, such as Go-Gurt squeezable yogurt or Lunchables.
Among cuts in kids food introductions cited by Productscan:

• Nestlé. Sixteen in 2004, vs. 26 in 2003. "There was no conscious
decision to pull back on new kids products," says Laurie McDonald, a
spokeswoman at Nestlé USA. She says it's normal to have fewer launches in
a category the year after a large number.

• Unilever. Four in 2004, vs. 21 in 2003. It declined to comment.

• ConAgra. Four in 2004, vs. 21 in 2003. "Our commitment to providing new
and reformulated products that meet taste and nutritional needs of kids
runs as strong as ever," spokesman Chris Kircher says. He says ConAgra had
many "reformulations" in 2004 and that Productscan data don't include them.

• Campbell Soup. Nine in 2004, vs. 18 in 2003. "I don't think we backed
off last year," says spokesman John Faulkner, who disputes Productscan
data. Campbell had no new "Soup at Hand" kids soups in 2004, vs. seven in
2003, but it added five condensed kids soups.

But Altria Group's Kraft Foods introduced 41 new kid-targeted foods last
year, vs. 23 in 2003.

Marketing experts were not surprised by the overall declines.

Some foodmakers were caught "like deer in the headlights" by the push for
better-for-you food, says Paul Kurnit, president of KidShop. Now, he says,
"They recognize they have to be part of the solution."







  • [Livingontheland] Fewer new foods for kids hit the shelves in 2004, Tradingpost, 01/27/2005

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