Issue link: http://osercommunicationsgroup.uberflip.com/i/125398
features With Kids Eating Healthier, Food Marketers Capitalizing on Trend Today, nearly one in three U.S. children are overweight, with 15 percent considered obese. This growing epidemic has prompted food companies to get involved in finding a solution, subjecting themselves to self-imposed marketing regulations and launching family-directed advertising and promotional initiatives. A new U.S. study of kids 5 to 11 years old conducted by KidSay and The Marketing Store Worldwide identifies key insights and strategies marketers can employ in their efforts. "There's been a lot written about kids and nutrition, but it's been written almost entirely from the perspective of educators, academics and moms. We've heard little from the kids themselves," said Terence Burke, Vice President of Research at KidSay. "For marketers to effectively reach this audience, it is critical to understand them in terms of their attitudes, their behaviors and their knowledge." The new study shows that, among kids, eating healthy has become cool. Within the past decade, there's been a dramatic shift in kids' attitudes towards "healthy eating." The vast majority (80 percent) now think it's "cool" to eat healthy, up significantly from 2004 when just 59 percent of kids surveyed EMV Card Continued from Page 1 EMV standards were cooperatively developed by the three major credit card services providers in order to ensure global interoperability of cards and card systems, as well as increased security. Today, EMV cards are standard in Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America, Canada and, as of this spring, Australia. EMV cards are accepted in 80 countries at an estimated 21.9 million points of service. In all, 1.5 billion EMV cards have been issued to date. The United States remains the only major holdout in the world, not yet mandating acceptance of EMV chip-and-pin cards. Some U.S. retailers, especially those in major cities with large numbers of foreign visitors, have chosen to begin accepting EMV cards, but as of 2013, the decision to do so is entirely up to the merchant. However, after 2015, all retailers continuing to accept magnetic stripe cards will be forced to accept liability for card fraud, and this is expected to force universal migration to the EMV system. EMV cards do carry a number of benefits for both merchants and consumers. Chief among these is the fact that no matter where one goes in the world, a person can be sure that his or her plastic is going to be accepted. For retailers, EMV standards make it easy to reach out 8 C onvenienceRETAILER May/June 2013 felt the same way. Correspondingly, today very few (just 5 percent) now view healthy eating as "uncool," as opposed to 19 percent in 2004. "Based on our conversations with kids and moms, we identified specific strategies that both moms and food companies can use to help drive kids' demand for healthier food and beverages," said Renee Weber, Vice President of Consumer Strategy and Research at The Marketing Store. "Our goal was to present effective and long-lasting approaches that go beyond the typical tactics of celebrity endorsements and prizes." Insights gleaned from qualitative research point to three powerful strategies that marketers should employ to encourage kids to demand healthier options: First, the "nudge strategy" involves structuring kids' environments to make healthier foods/beverages more salient. The underlying premise is that kids tend to be attracted to and select items that are visually prominent or the ones that are most convenient. Stores that position pre-sweetened cereals at a child's eye level and food manufacturers that package their products in vivid colors or with a cool promotion are using nudge. Second, the "camouflage strategy" usu- to a foreign clientele, who may have a different currency in their wallets, but who are eager to pay for their purchases with their universally accepted EMV debit or credit cards. EMV cards, sometimes called "smart cards," are also beneficial in that they are more secure than swipe cards, helping to reduce instances of fraud. Rather than relying on a signed paper receipt, EMV cards require the user to input a personal identification number verifying his or her authorization. The system protects consumers from having their cards stolen, but also protects merchants and card companies from having to defend against false claims of credit card fraud. In addition, whereas magnetic stripe cards are susceptible to skimming, a process where, unbeknownst to the user, card information is stolen from his or her swipe card and uploaded to another, information can not be stolen from EMV cards in this way. For retailers, restaurants and other merchants, the move toward EMV cards could be a costly and time-consuming one. Most significantly, they will need to purchase and install new point of sale equipment and software. For small-scale retail operations, the shift may be relatively small, requiring perhaps just a new card reader. However, major retailers may be forced to dramatically redesign the entire point of sale, requiring a significant investment of time and resources. ally involves hiding a healthy food that most kids typically do not like within another food that they do like. Mixing spinach into a fruit smoothie or pureed carrots into spaghetti sauce are examples of camouflage. Another variation involves coupling a disliked healthy food with another food or sauce that kids do like. For example, Earthbound Farm Dippin' Doubles Carrots & Ranch Dip co-packs baby carrots with Ranch Dip. Third, the "play strategy" involves bringing play into food. Kids are driven to play and look for opportunities to do so. Food and beverage marketers can effectively leverage this desire to play to motivate kids to choose healthier foods. Fruit roll-ups let kids play with their food by unrolling it, twisting it or punching out shapes. String cheese lets kids pull it apart into pieces. Play can also be provided through the packaging. GoGurt, for example, incorporates the fun of squeezing yogurt out of a tube. Most of the research conducted by KidSay and The Marketing Store was conducted in mid-2012, except for quantitative trend data that dates back to 2004. An executive summary of the research can be obtained at www.globalkidsstudy.com or www.kidsay.com. n Because of the costs to merchants of making the change, and also because of a lack of real interest on the part of the general public to switch over to the new system, many in this country are skeptical that EMV cards will be fully implemented into the nation's retail landscape by October 2015. "The roadmaps laid out by the networks intend to convert the U.S. payments ecosystem to EMV by 2015, four years after the first road map was developed," said Dave Kaminsky, Senior Analyst at independent research firm Mercator Advisory Group. "Judging by the experience of other countries in trying to implement EMV, as well as the experience of the networks' previous attempts to influence changes among U.S. merchants, that timeframe likely will not be met." Still, regardless of whether EMV cards will in fact be universally accepted in the United States by 2012, many merchants are keen on accelerating the process, already committing themselves to making the switch. Merchants are turning to companies like Acquirer Systems, ACI Payment Systems and Compass Plus to provide valuable expertise on how best they can migrate to EMV payments. As we inch closer to the 2015 deadline, these and similar technology and consulting companies are sure to become more and more in demand by retailers who are unsure of how to comply with the new standards. n Percentage of Americans Attempting to Cut Back on Gluten Reaches New High in 2013 As of this January, about a third of U.S. adults say they want to cut down or be free of gluten in their diets, the highest percentage making this claim since 2009. This is according to research by The NPD Group, a global information company that continually tracks on a bi-weekly basis top-ofmind dieting and nutrition-related issues facing consumers. "For as long as NPD has been tracking the eating habits of Americans, which is since 1976, they have been expressing a desire to eat healthier foods and beverages," said Harry Balzer, NPD Chief Industry Analyst and author of Eating Patterns in America. "It's not that we want health and wellness more but that we are constantly changing how we address health and wellness. A generation ago, health was about avoiding fat, cholesterol, sugar and sodium in our diet. While those desires still exist for many, they no longer are growing concerns. Today, increasingly more of us want to avoid gluten in our diet and right now it is nearly 30 percent of the adult population…and it's growing. This is the health issue of the day." Balzer points out that as recently as 2011, it appeared that this health trend might have run its course, but then more Americans started to say they would like to cut back or avoid gluten in their diet. According to the latest information collected from NPD's Dieting Monitor, a greater portion of the adult population is currently interested in removing gluten from their diet today than ever before. Interest in gluten-free menu items at restaurants and other foodservice operations is also growing. According to NPD, the incidence of consumers ordering food described on a menu as glutenfree or wheat-free has grown over time and is now more than double what it was just four years ago. In fact, those seeking out gluten-free meals reportedly accounted for 200 million restaurant visits in the past year. "The number of U.S. adults who say they are cutting down on or avoiding gluten is too large for [foodservice] operators to ignore," said Bonnie Riggs, NPD Restaurant Industry Analyst. "Restaurant operators and marketers can find opportunities to address consumer needs when it comes to their growing interest in cutting down on or avoiding gluten, like training staff to accurately answer customer questions [and] using symbols on menus and menu boards to highlight items that are gluten-free, as a way to extend consumer awareness and confidence in ordering." n