Consumer demands for local, natural organic products skyrocket

Shoppers have spoken – they want organic, natural, locally produced products and are quite willing to pay more for them.

A recent survey reports that fully two-thirds of consumers in the U.S. look for this information on their product labels – and nearly 60 percent say that they will not purchase products that do not have explicit, comprehensive product sourcing information on the label.

Label inconsistenciesConsumer demands for local, natural organic products skyrocket

However, many shoppers report being confused by definitions on product labels; eight out of 10 say that ‘natural’ means that the product ingredients were produced without pesticides and do not contain artificial ingredients, and do not contain genetically modified organisms. However, this is often an inaccurate or incomplete description of the product.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not have formal definitions for ‘natural,’ ‘all-natural’ and ‘no artificial’ products – although they have objected to recent poultry processing claims that state the birds were not processed in a way that fundamentally altered the chicken, because they contained color-enhancing additives.

Words matter

Key words pique the interest of consumers – like ‘no artificial growth hormones’, ‘pesticide free’, ‘organic’, ‘non-GMO’, ‘humane’ and ‘fair trade’ – because consumers, particularly millennials, increasingly place the environmental, safety and social concerns above the price of a product.

From fair wage to protecting the environment, 80 percent of consumers said that they would be willing to pay nearly double for organic, ecofriendly, sustainably produced products.

Is it really ‘local’?

‘Buy local’ has become a bit of a marketing tagline in the food space as consumers express increased interest in knowing more about their food, where it came from and how it was grown. That creates an opening for producers who want to try out new marketing techniques, but it also creates conception challenges for consumers.

According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report, U.S. farms sold $4.8 billion of raw commodities and $3.9 billion of value-added commodities directly to consumers, retailers, institutions and local distributors in 2015 – but many of these products, sold as local, were actually produced internationally.

Labels as a SSoT

The food and beverage manufacturing industry has had to adjust to serve clients and customers who seek organic, non-GMO, high quality, nutrient rich foods with accurate, transparent, traceable labeling systems.

For producers as well as consumers, quality comes at a price.  In order for manufacturers to deliver the highest quality raw ingredients, develop, produce and ship their products while competing in global markets, maintaining profits and increasing market share – they need innovative solutions that will allow them to create and develop exciting new products with exceptional quality – while increasing their revenue and reducing their global regulatory compliance risks.

Then again, for food engineers, research and development specialists and food and beverage manufacturers, it can sometimes be difficult to balance customer preferences and the demands of the marketplace against production costs and profit margins.  The profit margin for food and beverage manufacturers is notoriously low – so streamlined processes and maximized resources are essential for companies that hope to thrive and achieve sustainable growth.

Balance

Balance is crucial – and difficult to achieve without the proper tools.  The key for producers and manufacturers lies within their data – finding a way to accurately analyze, integrate and provide cross-functional support for the most complex aspects of recipe-based production development.

An innovative PLM platform supports rapid response, speed to market and optimizes product development along the supply chain while monitoring quality controls, regulatory compliance and specific recipe data – like Halal, Kosher, organic, allergens and nutritional information.

In terms of transparency and availability of information, a PLM platform can be uploaded to the GDSN with a single click, setting the global stage for rapid product rollouts, new market penetration and increased sales around the world.

Trust, and a SSoT

Nothing is more important that trust – trust provides brand loyalty across product lines and around the globe.  Clean labels as a single source of truth can propel your business – dirty labels can sink you.

Industry leaders and successful organizations – manufacturers that thrive in all market conditions – understand the value of brand loyalty, and the necessity of providing customers with trusted product information, particularly as the information relates to locally sourced and organic ingredients and products.

SpecPDM exclusively delivers specialized functionality so that manufacturers can leverage their data and increase value-added production.  This process solution empowers food engineers, research and development teams and food and beverage manufacturers to create, capture and share product data – with a central storage and specifications system that enables accurate, compliant, comprehensive real-time data access and provides opportunities for crucial first-to-market product status. For more information, email us at info@specpage.com or click here: https://www.specpage.com/

2019-09-17T11:52:47+02:00Blog, Transparency|
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