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GOURMET NEWS DECEMBER 2016 www.gourmetnews.com NEWS & NOTES 8 Geographical Continued from PAGE 1 U.S. cheeses that we can assume will never be affected by such restrictions are those sold as blue cheese, Monterey Jack, Baby Jack, Brick, Swiss, Colby, Baby Swiss and processed cheeses like Velveeta or Kraft Singles. If these restrictions were to be imposed in the U.S. the immediate impact might be to reduce consumption of U.S.-produced cheeses by 578 million pounds, or 5 per- cent of total U.S. cheese consumption in 2015. At current market prices, that would be worth about $2.3 billion. Delayed im- pacts would be even greater, with con- sumption of U.S.-produced cheeses possibly falling by a projected 1.71 billion pounds. Those drops in demand for American cheeses would have a significant effect on the U.S. dairy industry as a whole, with the possible effect that milk prices to the dairy farmers could fall by significantly over a 10-year period. That would put some dairy farmers out of business and reduce the size of the nation's dairy cow herd. "The lower dairy prices do boost domestic consump- tion of other dairy products, and it does in- crease exports, but not nearly enough to offset the drop in cheese consumption," ac- cording to the report. Overall, the consumer reaction if the only mozzarella cheese they could find in their supermarket was imported from Italy and their cheddar could only come from Britain would trigger a sharp contraction in the U.S. dairy industry. The report predicts that dairy farm revenue could fall by 5.5 percent to 12.7 percent over three years, leading to revenue losses of $5.8 billion to $13.2 billion. GN Human Zoo Continued from PAGE 1 young but others haven't yet begun to re- produce. Don't they all look happy access- ing the internet with their smart phones! Now over here in the next enclosure, you'll see the GenXers, and you'll notice that they're about to enter what we think of as middle age, which means that they're think- ing more about their health. Look at them wandering around the health and beauty aisle that we've set up inside their enclosure to help them feel that they're in familiar sur- roundings." If you should happen to draw Molyneaux as your tour guide, though, she'll draw your attention to subgroups of creatures that she sees within each of these generational enclosures, and what she'll point out is that in each of the various en- closures, there's a group of people who just seem a little cooler than the rest. It's that coolness that draws her interest, and she can see it being acted out when they spend their money. She's especially interested in watching these particular creatures make their pur- chasing decisions because, when the other creatures in their enclosure see what these cool creatures are buying, they start want- ing to buy those things too. This means that what these cool creatures are buying is about to become a trend. Molyneaux calls these cool creatures LOHAS. They're the market segment that, irrespective of the generation in which they're found, are greatly moti- vated by their concerns for health and environmental sustainability. "When you think about conscious consumption, LOHAS consumers lead the pack and will continue to do so. They're the ones who buy with their values," Molyneaux said. "Not only do they buy with their values, but they become brand champi- ons." When she's not acting as our tour guide in our imaginary zoo, Molyneaux is the President and Managing Partner of the Nat- ural Marketing Institute. Her market con- sulting company has been advising businesses about how to leverage informa- tion about consumers interested in health, wellness and sustainability since 1990, and she's been collecting proprietary trend data since 1999. LOHAS consumers now comprise 22 percent of all American consumers, and where they lead, others tend to follow. "Adoptions of attitudes and behaviors come first to LOHAS, but then their atti- tudes are flowing into the mainstream groups," Molyneaux said. "To be able to understand these consumers is impor- tant.... These are the consumers that set the bar." LOHAS consumers have education and more money than other market segments, and in general, they favor the organic label. While more than 60 percent of American consumers have used an or- ganic product in the last year, LOHAS consumers use more organic than anyone else. Two thirds of them believe that or- ganic foods are safer to eat, and 71 per- cent of them believe they're safer for the environment. That compares to 63 per- cent of all organic users who believe that organic foods are safer to eat and 64 per- cent of all organic users who believe that organic foods are safer for the environ- ment. Three-fourths (76 percent) of LOHAS consumers believe that it's impor- tant that their store carry food grown on farms that practice sustainable agricul- ture, compared to half of the general pop- ulation who share that belief. LOHAS consumers are growing in their perceptions that organic foods and bever- ages are safer to eat, more nutritious, fresher and better-tasting than conven- tional foods and beverages. In the decade between 2006 and 2015, the number of general population consumers who be- lieved that organic food is safer to eat grew from 41 percent to 50 percent, and the number who said that organic food is more nutritious grew from 35 percent to 45 per- cent. Similar gains were observed on the questions of freshness and taste. LOHAS consumers are more likely than the general population to prefer vegetarian meals. While 30 percent of the general population is trying to cut down on meat consumption, 40 percent of LOHAS con- sumers are doing that. "They're very into protein sources and the effect of protein sources on sustainability, including the sustainability of agriculture," Molyneaux said. We see the general population begin- ning to follow that trend: 41 percent of general population consumers now say they want more plant-based protein in their diets, and one out of five general population consumers say they're con- suming more plant-based protein than they did a year ago. The LOHAS consumers are also think- ing about how their preferences for prod- ucts made without toxins or artificial ingredients can apply to more than just food, and they're driving demand for or- ganic personal care products and clean- ing products. They're already requiring that manufacturers meet their demands for transparency around the issues of health and sustainability. "They don't ex- pect perfection. They expect progress. You can be transparent about the progress you're making, what you're try- ing to accomplish, what the next thing is," Molyneaux said. "That goes from op- erating your store in a more sustainable manner to conserving waste to serving social needs. There are so many plat- forms that can be addressed and that should be addressed, using these con- sumers as your springboard." GN Rastelli Continued from PAGE 1 nies are definitely taking market share." According to market research firm Pack- aged Facts, there are now more than 150 meal delivery kit services operating in the U.S. and over the past few years, these businesses have raised more than $650 million in venture capital. Most of these meal kit delivery services are targeting young professionals and families with children who live in urban areas. Americans between the ages of 25 and 55 are increasingly comfortable ordering their food online, and and cooking it at home, often in the form of meals that can be prepared in 30 minutes or less. Women now spend less than an hour a day on food preparation and cleanup, while men still spend an average of less than half an hour a day working in the kitchen, according to 2015 statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Labor. Rastelli says his company's online cus- tomers tend to be foodies who care about the quality of the food they're getting. "They're definitely people who are really engaged in food, not people who are just looking to put something on the plate," he said. He says they're increasingly likely to see organic and all-natural foods as healthier options. "Five years ago, organic and all- natural would be one one hundredth of the business," he said. "These days, it's between 30 to 45 percent of the product we manu- facture." Rastelli, who started work sweeping floors in his father's business when he was 10 years old, then became a regular employee on the night shift while he was a sophomore in high school, now sees these trends playing out in the com- pany's two retail stores. The original Rastelli Market Fresh was converted from a 6,000-foot Rastelli's Meat Stop store five years ago. Designed as a kind of hybrid between Whole Foods and the previous store, but with a lot of prepared options, the business at the new store in- spired the company to expand with a second, bigger location in Marlton, New Jersey, about a half-hour drive from Philadelphia. The new Rastelli Market Fresh is more of a prepared food store with a pantry of specialty items than a full-service grocer, with almost half of its business profes- sional customers stopping in to eat in the store rather than purchase a basket of food to take home and cook. The store in- cludes several made-to-order restaurant- type concepts – there's no hot-line buffet – including a pizza stand, sushi restau- rant, a taqueria and a Craftwich sandwich shop. Customers order from any of the concepts and the store's deli counter from a self-service kiosk that prints out a ticket for the customer, who waits only about 2- 1/2 to 3 minutes for a meal that's made from scratch. "It's set the world on fire in that area," Rastelli said. "It's been beyond our expectations." Of the 20,000 customers a week who come through the store and check out with an average $38 purchase, fully 9,000 to 10,000 of them came to eat at the 150-seat cafe/lounge or to pick up a single meal to take home with them. According to re- search reported by the Washington Post in 2015, less than 60 percent of suppers served at home in 2014 were actually cooked at home, and although that trend stalled a bit during the recession, Ameri- cans began picking up takeout again as the economy improved. The single most popular concept in the Marlton Rastelli Market Fresh store is a cre- ate-a-plate offering in which customers se- lect a protein from several choices that might include a chicken breast, a filet mignon, a grilled salmon portion and a lamb chop and then add two sides from a menu of 10 selections to put together a total customized meal priced at $8.99. The concept has lines of customers waiting every day from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Rastelli said. "We package it up for them and off they go." The retail stores also act as a product development lab for products offered by the company's online and wholesale op- erations. For instance, recipes for pre- marinated steaks and chicken breasts, which are extremely popular items, are pilot-tested in the retail stores, where Rastelli and other family members will spend time on the weekends talking to customers about whether they like what they're eating. If not, the recipe goes back for more work until there's general agree- ment that the company has a really good product before it's mass-marketed to Rastelli's online customers and to other grocery retailers. "We're finding that gro- cery stores are just shifting to what peo- ple are looking for. People still have to eat," Rastelli said. "We try to cater to business professionals who are in a jam and trying to get dinner for their families because they worked late." GN

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