Oser Communications Group

When it comes to pizza, bold flavors, cus- tomization and authenticity are three key trends that are top of mind for consumers. At the 2017 International Pizza Expo, the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board (WMMB) showcased how chefs are using specialty cheese from Wisconsin to bring these ele- ments to life and meet consumer demand with innovative pizzas. As pizza consumers move away from thick crusts to flatbread pizzas with fresh, locally sourced ingredients, operators are combining specialty cheeses to create unique flavor profiles. WMMB featured a Mediterranean-style pizza at the Pizza Expo topped with Klondike Cheese Com- pany's muenster and feta cheese, Kalamata olives and oregano. A buffalo and ranch cheese curd pizza was also highlighted, fea- turing Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery's buffalo-flavored and ranch-flavored Wis- consin cheese curd crumbles, sour cream, breaded chicken and finished with scal- lions. GN News & Notes BRIEFS GOURMET NEWS MAY 2017 www.gourmetnews.com NEWS & NOTES 4 Registration Open for PLMA Education Program Registration is now open for the PLMA 2017 Executive Education Program, scheduled to be held June 12-15 at St. Josephs University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. More than 1,600 private label retailers and manufacturers have graduated the program since its inception. You can become one of the successful students, too. For further information, contact Sylvia Stein, PLMA Executive Education Manager, at 212.972.3131 or email education@plma.com. France's Groupe Danone Sheds Stonyfield in WhiteWave Acquisition The French dairy giant, Groupe Danone (Dannon in the U.S.) has announced an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to liquidate its holdings in the largest manufacturer of organic yogurt, Stonyfield, so that its proposed acquisition of WhiteWave Foods can move forward. The original merger deal would have combined the world's largest organic yogurt brand, Stonyfield, with Wallaby, a rapidly growing organic yogurt label, and the nation's largest brand of organic milk, Horizon. WhiteWave brands that Danone is acquiring are the top sellers in their categories. Horizon organic milk controls nearly 25 percent of the organic milk market, while the company's Silk brand is a leader in plant-based beverages. Following fruits and vegetables, organic dairy products are the second largest product segment in the organic industry. Young Consumers See Health Benefits in Fats Healthy oils and fats are trending, and the U.S. food industry might be better for it. For more than 30 years, there has been unrelenting advice from dietary guidelines to cut fat and saturated fat from the American diet. But such notions have soured over time and mindsets are changing. In particular, Millennials and Generation Z consumers are the most inclined to view any type of fat not only as permissible, but as offering positive health benefits, according to "Food Formulation Trends: Oils and Fats," a new report by market research firm Packaged Facts. Nestlé Waters North America Names New CEO Fernando Mercé has been named President and Chief Executive Officer of Nestlé Waters North America, effective May 1, 2017. Mercé, formerly Chief Executive Officer of Nestlé Purina Latin America & Caribbean, will oversee all Nestlé Waters North America's operations in both the United States and Canada. He will also serve as a member of the global Nestlé Waters board of directors. At Nestlé Purina Latin America & Caribbean, Mercé presided over a sustained period of strong results, including double digit increases in organic growth, profitability and market share, all while introducing key innovations to the pet care category. Baby Boomers Still Driving the American Economy BY LORRIE BAUMANN If you're a retailer looking for more dough, you should follow the Baby Boomers, be- cause they've got the bread. Welcome to the longevity economy, in which Baby Boomers may be outnumbered by Millennials, but they're living longer than their parents, and they've still got most of the U.S.'s wealth to spend, according to market researcher Mar- sha Everton, a Principal in AIMSights, an international marketing company studying the intergenerational dynamics of the Baby Boomer and Millennial generations. She and AIMSights Millennial Associate Whitney Ryan made her point during an ad- dress during this year's International Home + Housewares Show, held in Chicago in March. The number of adults between ages 20 and 49 – the Millennial Generation – is now 56 percent of the American population and it's still growing due to immigration into this country, which is precisely why this generation is of such deep interest to mar- keters, who are spending about 90 percent of their advertising dollars courting Millen- nials' purchases, according to Everton. It's the generation that's been all but abandoned by the marketers, though – the Baby Boomers – that still has a dispropor- tionate share of the nation's purchasing power. While the Millennials now outnum- ber their parents, the Baby Boomers still have 70 percent of the nation's disposable income and 83 percent of total wealth, ac- cording to Everton. "That presents a big opportunity," she said. Those who want to capture a share of Baby Boomers' spending are well advised to un- derstand where Baby Boomers are in their life stage, according to Everton and Ryan. Baby Boomers are at the age at which previous generations of Americans are retiring or preparing to retire. Baby Boomers, by con- trast, are holding onto their places in the American labor force with every breath in their aging bodies. More than half of them are still employed. "This is not a group that's settling into retirement," Ryan said. "They are still very active in the work force." Adults over 50 currently make up a third of the American work force, and this per- centage is increasing. "This group is the only one with a rising labor force participa- tion," Ryan said, adding that 40 percent of the workers who are more than 65 years old are holding down full-time positions. It's a myth that workers who are more than 50 years old who become unemployed for one reason or another are never coming back into the workforce, and the reality is that 40 percent of people who take a break are back in the workforce within two years – 60 percent of them in a new career, ac- cording to Ryan. They're certainly not mov- ing into retirement homes – they're simplifying their lives and they're kicking off their uncomfortable high heels, but they're not necessarily downsizing. "They're tidying up and decluttering," Ryan said. "Boomers really are getting rid of everything that's not serving them." They're looking for products that bring them joy and that earn their space. It's also a myth that Baby Boomers are holding onto their jobs because they're sav- ing for their retirement. The reality is that it's more likely to be fear of boredom than lack of money that's sending them to work each morning. "Boomers are making a choice to stay in the work force," Ryan said. "They're not doing it out of financial necessity." Baby Boomers are quite likely to stay in the work force – or to reenter it – by starting their own business. In 2015, a quarter of new busi- nesses in the U.S. were started by Millennials, but Baby Boomers ages 45 to 64 form busi- nesses at a higher rate than other age groups. Those aged from 55 to 64 years old start new businesses at the highest rate of any age group, according to the California Associa- tion of Business Brokers, a trade association that sees profit potential in helping Baby Boomers buy and sell those businesses. Baby Boomers are feeling the loss of their economic safety net as the nation's economy has trans- formed, and they're seeing ownership of their own business as a greater source of economic security than employment in a large corpora- tion, according to the association. The Baby Boomers' startups are more likely to be successful than the businesses started by Millennials: 70 percent of startups founded by adults over 50 last longer then three years, compared to only 20 percent for entrepre- neurs who start their businesses when they're younger than 50. Baby Boomers are also more comfortable with technology than many peo- ple give them credit for: 74 percent of Baby Boomers have a smart phone and 82 percent belong to at least one social media site. Baby Boomers are also focused on health and wellness, and they're driving this trend, according to Ryan. "They are leading the trend toward natural foods and 'healthy-ish' eating," she said. "They eat to live and live to eat. Food must taste good in addition to being good for you." It's the Baby Boomers who are driving the demand for ingredients with recognizable names, minimally processed and locally sourced food and for tools to prepare the food at home, she said. For retailers, what this means is that they should be smart about the Baby Boomers and budget marketing dollars to appeal to the consumers who are still outspending every other generation. They should make sure that they're spending some of those dollars on online media, since most shop- pers who access a website while they're in a store are actually looking at that store's website because they're seeking more infor- mation about the products in front of them, Everton said. "Baby Boomers are looking for products that will work in a simplified space – their filters are different, and that's what's defining their decisions," she said. Baby Boomers love products that are cus- tomized, since customization appeals to Baby Boomers' sense that they're special. They love products that offer more than good looks. "They love sustainability," Everton said. "They're updating traditional looks." Email is still the best way to reach out to Baby Boomers, and Facebook is the social platform that reaches Baby Boomers, Ever- ton advised. She noted that, "What you re- ally need to do is to get people to talk to each other, so tell them stories – and then listen to them, so that you have those sto- ries to tell." GN Wisconsin Cheese Highlights Key Trends from 2017 International Pizza Expo

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