Marketing Memo: Global Food & Grocery Company-Brand Marketer CEO's Speaking Out Much More During These Bad Economic Times; Have Your Noticed?

The big, global food, grocery and consumer packaged goods companies and brand marketers are fairing better than similar global companies in other business sectors in the current recession and financial-credit crisis. In part this is because people do have to eat. But it's also because such companies have tended to follow business fundamentals much better than say global financial service firms, the auto industry and a few other sectors. Such fundamentals include not building up too much debt and, most importantly, focusing on being consumer-centric marketers, something the U.S. auto industry has failed to do, for example, but something most big consumer food and grocery companies-brand marketers focus on closely and do well at.

And although people have to eat, they don't have to buy (and eat) your brands, even if you are Nestle, Kraft, or Campbell Soup. Of course having the huge brand portfolios these three global consumer packaged goods marketers do have -- in categories ranging from the most basic food and grocery items on up to niche natural, organic and specialty brands, as well as being the global market leaders in most of those food, grocery and beverage categories -- does help.

And in this serious global recession, which finds consumers trading down and looking for the best price they can find for food and grocery products, even these big food marketers are having to adapt -- searching for ways to lower their cost of goods, reducing expenses, and spending more money on things like price promotion.

We've also noticed another way the CEO's of these big, global food and grocery companies have been dealing with the global recession of late is that they are speaking out much more in to the media (especially the financial press) about what they and the companies they lead are doing to maintain and increase sales and profits in these difficult economic times. We been noticing a significant increase in interviews and the like from food and grocery company CEO's in the last couple months. And not just before earnings report time.

And it's no secret that the big consumer packaged goods marketers are communicating more so because the companies they lead are publicly traded ones. In this economic climate (check the stock market this week), communicating what a company is doing to the stock analysts who follow the companies and the investors, both institutional and individual, who invest in them is paramount -- particularly in relation to what initiatives these CEO's and their teams are taking to keep the company growing during the recession, along with the cost-cutting measures that are being made. Wall Street loves cost-cutting almost as much as it does sales and profit growth.

Communicating more frequently in these bad economic times also is important for these global food and grocery companies in terms of speaking to the food and grocery retailing trade. Grocers and other format retailers are increasing their store brand portfolios -- and devoting more shelf space, shelf space often previously devoted to manufacturers' brands -- as a way to offer lower prices overall in their stores to shoppers. And shoppers are buying more private label brands in-turn in order to save on their grocery bills. Every time a consumer buys a store brand that means a lost sale for a manufacturers' brand -- be it canned milk or pet food (Nestle), canned or packaged soup (Campbell Soup), or salad dressing and marshmallows (Kraft).

These big, global consumer packaged goods marketers therefore want the trade to know about the initiatives they are undertaking to create more value for their brands, even though the respective company sales forces or broker reps communicate such messages one-on-one to the retail buyers.

By speaking out more frequently -- as the CEO's of Nestle, Kraft and Campbell have been doing of late -- they can reach the top of the food retailing chain, CEO's, senior executives, ect. -- as well as consumers. It's part of a multi-communications paradigm. But those stock analysts and investors are at the top of the multi-audience pyramid.

Below are three features from today about each of these major global food and grocery companies -- Nestle, Kraft and Campbell Soup.

~Nestle. Forbes.com: Nestle Feels Confident About 2009.
~Campbell Soup. Rueters: Campbell ready to shop.
~Kraft. PBS-Nightly Biz Report: Kraft CEO talks recession strategies.

A few comments. First, notice that basically all three of these leading global consumer packaged goods companies are planning to grow despite (or perhaps because of) the recession. Second, notice the stress on value -- not just price but value. That's major adaptation from just over a year ago, when value wasn't a real hot button in consumer packaged goods marketing -- or for that matter with consumers. As that old saying goes: "What a difference a year makes." Particularly when the bottom falls out of the credit markets and major world economies.

Third, notice the focus on markets other than the U.S. It's a big world out there. Many people, such as the Chinese, have yet to become big buyers and consumers of Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup or Kraft Salad Dressing. Imagine the sales growth if they do? Lastly, when reading the three pieces, think about the various audiences the food and grocery marketers are trying to reach -- and why. Doing so makes the reading much more interesting, particularly from a marketing perspective.

Marketing Memo - USA: Meet the New 'Middle-Age Simplifiers,' For These Affluent Consumers Less Will Be More Says Harvard Business School Professor

The New Consumer Minimalism

Natural~Specialty Foods Memo has been arguing for many months that upscale food and grocery retailers -- including supermarkets, specialty retailers and premium-oriented natural foods reatilers like Whole Foods Market and others -- must focus on creating, implementing and aggressively communicating value-based retailing propositions during the current, severe economic recession, which we believe will last all of next year, and is going to get worse before it gets better between now and the end of 2009, if it ends then.

We've also offered this same analysis to premium specialty and natural/organic products brand suppliers and marketers in the natural-specialty foods space. Even if they sell specialty and organic brands geared to higher income consumers, value is King in these times, we've argued -- and still do.

By value we certainly mean price -- as low as is possible. But we mean more than that. By a "value proposition" we mean the creation of a marketing strategy (a set of things) that offers consumers a reason to purchase higher priced specialty and organic food and grocery items because doing so, at a decent price, offers value in the ways of good quality (such as nutrition, safety, ect.) combined with an afforable price, along with providing other "value" benefits.

For retailers in the segment it means cutting margins a bit to create a better everyday price profile in their stores. It also means buying smarter; including negotiating more and deeper deals and reflecting that savings at retail to consumers. It also means more solution selling, along with a focus more on specialty-oriented and organic product basics (oils, grains and condiments rather than packaged organic ready-meals, for example) rather than fancy niche items. It even matters how the stores are designed -- too fancy is a turn off; minimal could be in.

Most recently we've been arguing that if the current recession lasts as long and becomes as deep as we think it will, it's likley we could see some long-term changes in consumer behavior in the food and grocery product categories in the natural/organic and specialty segments. These changes could take the form of simplification -- consumers buying considerably fewer higher margin, value-added processed and prepared foods items for example in favor of more ingredient-oriented ones. Back to basics.

We are already seeing this as consumers cook more at home and not only buy more basic items, seeking the best available prices on them, but also are buying less in terms of total weekly grocery purchases. Less is more -- out of economic neccessity. They also are using coupons in record numbers, cheery-picking store weekly ads for bargains and buying items much more often in bulk form.

Harvard Business School marketing professor John Quench argues we're already seeing long- term changes in consumers, particularly in a consumer segment he calls the "middle-aged simplifiers." (His focus is in the United States.) These "new consumers" are the ones who most frequently shop at Whole Foods Market and other upscale chains. They are folks with plenty of money and plenty of education -- the folks who've been driving the U.S. consumer economy for many years.

Professor Quench argues that's over. He says the new, "middle-aged simplifier" "finds herself surrounded by too much stuff acquired. She is increasingly skeptical in the face of a financial meltdown that it was all worth the effort. Out will go luxury purchases, conspicuous consumption, and a trophy culture. Tomorrow's consumer will buy more ephemeral, less cluttering stuff: fleeting, but expensive, experiences, not heavy goods for the home," he says.

While these new consumers still have to eat -- and shop for and buy food and groceries (although it can be done online as well as in person, and that might become a "simple solution") -- its likely, if the professor is correct, they will adapt their new, simplified consumer lifestyle to food and grocery shopping as well as all else.

Lavish food emporiums like Whole Foods' mega-premium organic markets and H-E-B's uber-gourmet Central Market (and those of many other retailers) stores could be out, in favor of no frills, small-format minimalist markets like Sav-A-Lot or Aldi perhaps, as well as the more minimalist natural foods stores like those operated by fast-growing Sunflower Farmers Market and Sprouts Farmers Market, for example. Or, perhaps, the Whole Foods' of the U.S. will adapt and create that value proposition, if the professor is right about the extent of this new, "middle-age simplifier" consumer cohort.

Professor Quench argues his point in a recent essay, "How Recession Will Accelerate Consumer Downsizing," first published in his "Marketing KnowHow" Blog. The thrust of his focus and examples are mostly on premium and luxury consumer durable goods. However, make no mistake about it, if his prognostications are correct, this new, emerging consumer segment could have a profound change on the food and grocery segments in the areas of marketing and retailing.

And like all new consumer trends, this one too offers opportunity to the natural and specialty foods industry.

For example, quality-oriented natural and specialty food and grocery products with minimalistic features could be big with such consumers under the professor's scenario.

In addition, minimal yet attractive specialty supermarkets and natural foods stores that emphasis quality but not conspicuous consumption could be the ticket? (Time to read Thorstein Veblen if you haven't before or re-read him if it's been a while)

The key as always is to capitalize on a new consumer segment and trend in an honest and real way by offering true value and something consumers want to buy and consume regularly -- and in the case of food stores, shop in regularly. Adapt to thrive is always a good mantra. Natural~Specialty Foods Memo believes a new era of consumer minimalism is being ushered in by the current recession.

Below is professor Quench's essay:

How Recession Will Accelerate Consumer Downsizing
By John Quench
Professor of Marketing, Harvard Business School

Watch out for a new brand of consumer in 2008: the middle-aged Simplifier. She finds herself surrounded by too much stuff acquired. She is increasingly skeptical in the face of a financial meltdown that it was all worth the effort. Out will go luxury purchases, conspicuous consumption, and a trophy culture. Tomorrow's consumer will buy more ephemeral, less cluttering stuff: fleeting, but expensive, experiences, not heavy goods for the home.

The economic boom of the 1990s fuelled consumption and democratized access to a wider than ever spectrum of goods transforming former luxuries into "must-have" necessities. Millions played the lotteries or aspired to what they viewed on "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous". As they grew richer, pressure increased on those below to trade up. And, as they traded up, pressure increased in turn on the well-off to buy even more--the second home, the big screen TV and the latest sport-utility vehicle. Enter the big houses that measured success in thousands of square feet of floor space, topped by the 40,000 square feet, $50m palace that Bill Gates has built outside Seattle. In 2006, 35% of new homes exceeded 2,400 square feet in floor space compared with 18% in 1986. Ironically, these mansions, many owned by business people on the road half the time, grew in number as the size of the average American household declined.

These huge houses had to be filled with more stuff, good news for the home-appliance and home-furnishing industries. Even grocery manufacturers benefited. Larger homes with bigger refrigerators can absorb more inventory. Flat birth rates in developed economies have put pressure on durable consumer-goods companies desperate for top-line growth. Product quality improvements mean these goods break down less often. So durable-goods sales depend on two things: the launch of new, higher-priced, higher-featured, often customized products that persuade consumers to trade in their existing appliances before they break down (think cell phones), as well as household penetration of products such as fax machines and printers previously used only by businesses.

As the world economy slumps, one consumer segment will grow faster than ever. The Simplifiers have four characteristics.

First, they perceive that they have more stuff than they need. Sure, they may collect something specific like porcelain figurines as a hobby, but they are the opposite of the pack rats who fill their attics and basements with "you-never-know-when-you-might-need-it" stuff.

Second, they want to collect experiences, not possessions. And they give experiences rather than goods as gifts to friends and relatives. Experiences may seem ephemeral. They cannot be inventoried except in the form of "Kodak" moments; but they do not tie you down, require no maintenance, and permit variety-seeking instincts to be quickly satisfied. Dining out, foreign travel, learning a new sport will prove more resilient than expected in the face of recession.

Third, their stuff embarrasses them. Their Range Rovers no longer tell the world that they are sophisticated town and country socialites. There are simply too many of them on the road to offer much social status. Worse, they now signal the irresponsible selection of a gas-guzzler.

Fourth, they have wealth that is so assured that it no longer requires conspicuous display. They lease their cars, rent other people's holiday homes, and would happily outsource other aspects of their lifestyles. They reject the marketer's continual pressure to spend more money on possessions rather than on education, health care, and other social goods.

These are the consumers who are now trading in their sport-utility vehicles. They include the empty-nester baby-boomers, less confident than before, who are tired of heating unused spaces in cavernous mansions, now preferring smaller houses with architectural character and intimate spaces, more charm and less maintenance. Their families are scattered, unable to share conveniently the family holiday home and often unwilling to inherit the burden of something they will never use. The new economy has made it even easier for consumers to get rid of their stuff. The high-tech equivalents of the yard sale, electronic auction sites, bring Simplifiers together with those who are yet to catch the habit.

This growing segment of Simplifiers presents a challenge to marketers. These are well-off people who value quality over quantity and do not buy proportionately more goods as their net worth increases. Their increasing reluctance to consume will dampen expected demand growth in developed economies further and therefore slow economic recovery, requiring consumer-goods multinationals to further focus their efforts on emerging markets where stuff will still be king.

Supply Side Memo: Long Live Newman's Own and its Charitable Mission: Famous Name Food Maker on New Product Introduction Rampage; Next Up Frozen Pizza

Ladies and gentlemen, start your ovens -- natural and premium foods company Newman's Own is getting into the ready-to-bake frozen pizza business.

The food company founded by and named after actor, race car driver and entrepreneur Paul Newman, who passed away last month, plans to soon introduce four varieties of all-natural, premium, frozen ready-to-bake pizzas called Newman's Own Thin and Crispy frozen pizza. The all-natural and premium frozen pizza pies come in four varieties: Supreme; Four Cheese; Roasted Garlic and Chicken; and Uncured Pepperoni.

According to Mike Harvard, vice president of marketing for Newman's Own, the all-natural, premium frozen pizza's will be competitively priced with the leading national frozen pizza brands. This has been one of the keys to the fabulous success of the Newman's own brand in fact. While offering a premium-quality product, be it salad dressing, pasta sauce, popcorn or ready-to-drink lemon aid, the food company always made sure to price the brand close to or just slightly higher than other national, mass market brands in the respective categories, even though its products are all-natural and of premium quality.

Asked why frozen pizza's are the newest line extension for Newman's Own, Harvard says: "For 25 years, our consumers have loved our all-natural products that help make delicious meals. So, we figured, why not make it easier and provide the whole meal. Our new pizzas deliver what consumers want --delicious, convenient meal solutions the whole family will love."

"I guess you could say we've jumped from the salad bowl onto the pizza pan," Harvard adds.

Of course he is referring to the fact the very first category Newman's Own began with 26 years ago was ready-to-pour salad dressings. We see lots of potential synergies between the two product lines, such as salad dressing and frozen pizza FSI coupon cross promotions, in-store tie-ins and the like.

The new frozen pizza line is being launched in stores this month in five test market areas. Those market regions are: New England; Albany, NY; Milwaukee, WI; Minneapolis, MN; and Charlotte, NC. Harvard says Newman's Own has plans to expand to other U.S. markets next year and roll the frozen pizza line out nationally by 2010.

Newman's Own Thin and Crispy pizza retails for a suggested price of $6.49-$6.99 for pizzas that range from 12.3 oz. to 14.7 oz, according to marketing vice president Harvard.

Among the supermarket chains in the U.S. states mentioned above involved in the frozen, premium pizza pie line's introduction this month include: Shaw's supermarkets; Price Chopper; BigY; Hannaford; Demoula's Market Basket; Roche Bros.; Foodmaster; HarrisTeeter; CUB Foods; Piggly Wiggly; Woodman's Markets; Copps; Sentry; Byerly's; Lund's; Kowalski's and a number of others.

That Newman's Own is introducing its new line of frozen pizzas just shortly after the death of Paul Newman is particularly bittersweet because along with popcorn (and pasta and Lemonade), pizza is said to be the award winning actor's other favorite food.

The Newman's Own brand frozen pizza's go from the freezer to the oven, taking only 10-12 minutes to bake, according to the company.

All four of the premium, thin crust frozen pizzas are trans-fat-free. Additionally, The crust is made with flaxseed, all-natural cheeses are used in all the pizzas, the roasted garlic chicken pizzas are made with only all-natural white meat chicken, and the pepperoni on that variety and on the Supreme pizza is uncured. The Supreme Pizza variety contains sausage, uncured pepperoni, green, red, yellow peppers, onions and cheese.

There are no artificial ingredients or colorings in any of the Newman's Own frozen pizzas, according to company marketing chief Mike Harvard.

Newman's Own is on a new product introduction rampage.

The food marketer recently introduced a new line of ready-to-eat breakfast cereals, Newman's Own Sweet Enough breakfast cereals. As is the case with the frozen pizza category, the new cereal line is the company's first entry into the shelf-stable ready-to-eat breakfast cereal category.

It's not an accident the food marketer's two newest product lines are both in the ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat segments.

Mike Harvard says a major segment focus of the company's new product development efforts is in the meal solutions sector. These are food products of various types that are ready-to-eat with either zero or only a slight (like adding milk to cereal or baking a frozen pizza) effort needing to be added by consumers. In other words, most of the value has already been created and added by the products' manufacturer.

Prior to introducing the new breakfast cereal line, Newman's Own introduced a new line of shelf-stable marinades named Dress Up Dinner Marinades, along with a new line of salad dressings in sprayer-style bottles called Newman's Own Natural Salad Mists.

These two new lines fit into the meal solutions strategy from the opposite end in that they are convenient, value added products that can be used by consumers to aid in the preparation of and to enhance a meal with very little preparation -- marinading chicken with the marinades and then simply baking or grilling, and spraying the salad dressing misters on a packaged salad mix and simply eating, for example.

Newman's Own was founded on a lark by Paul Newman and his buddy, the writer A.E. Hotchner, in 1982 in the kitchen of Newman's Westport, CT USA home. Newman and Hotcher, who wrote a best selling biography of Ernest Hemingway and the famous memoir King of the Hill about his life growing up in St Louis, Mo. during the Great Depression, along with many other works, made up a batch of Newman's favorite salad dressing -- the company's first commercial product sold at retail stores -- and gave it away to friends and family members for Christmas, creating a label that said "Newman's Own" in part as a tongue-in-cheek joke.

From there as is often said -- the rest is history. The company was launched by the pair with one key proviso -- that all of its profits after expenses would be donated to charity.

Newman and Hotchner followed up the salad dressing line with popcorn, ready-to-drink lemonade and pasta sauce. Today Newman's Own produces and markets 175 different varieties of food products in the U.S. and internationally.

And of course Newman's Own has even produced its own food company offspring, Santa Cruz, CA-based Newman's Own Organics, which was founded by and is run by Paul Newman's daughter, Nell Newman.

Still based in Westport, Conn., the charitable mission of Newman's Own is expressed in its Company motto: "Shameless exploitation in pursuit of the Common Good."

The food company's charitable mission is reflected in the following statement that will appear on every package of Newman's Own products: "The Newman's Own Foundation continues Paul Newman's commitment to donate all after tax net profits from this product and related royalties for educational and charitable purposes," says company marketing chief Mike Harvard.

The statement is being added to every Newman's Own product package to reflect Newman's wishes and plans that the company and its charitable mission live long after his death.

The Newman's Own Foundation, which is the charitable arm of the food company, have given over $250 million to thousands of charities since its founding in 1982. That's impressive. And a wonderful legacy for Paul Newman to leave.

Marketing Memo: Search Marketing is a Growing and Key Part of the Marketing Arsenal; Offers Great Opportunity For Natural~Specialty Foods Companies

Yesterday we wrote about how using social media Web sites offers the perfect opportunity for natural and specialty foods suppliers, marketers and retailers to interactively market their brands to consumers by communicating their company and brand message through various means in an online social and conversational environment -- the online social media site such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and others.

The Internet and Web offer players in all sectors of the natural and specialty foods industry additional opportunities along with the use of social media sites for communications and ultimately brand building uses.

Although it does require a small marketing budget because it is paid advertising, unlike social media sites, which have no cost to use, search marketing, using sites such as Google and Yahoo, also is an excellent means (and virtually untapped) for natural and specialty foods suppliers, marketers, brokers and retailers to create high impact, low cost marketing campaigns.

A chief advantage of search marketing is the ability to target your message using various search terms. It's niche marketing that reaches anybody who searches a topic related to your brand or product.

Big consumer packages goods companies like Coca-Cola, ConAgra and Kellogg have discovered the power of search, and each are using it extensively.

Coke, ConAgra and Kellogg all are players in the natural and specialty foods categories as well. Coke owns the Vitamin Water and related brands, ConAgra markets organic packaged goods products under different brands, and Kellogg is a major player in the natural breakfast cereal and snack categories.

The marketing publication Brandweek reports Coca-Cola has set up a marketing campaign on Google and Yahoo in which each time a user types in the search terms "Coke," Diet Coke," "Sprite," "Vitamin Water" or any other brand marketed by the beverage giant, the phrase "My Coke Rewards" comes up at the top of the search list as on of the options.

My Coke Rewards is the company's consumer loyalty marketing program. Coke's using it on the search engines makes thousands more consumers aware of the program compared to if the loyalty scheme was only advertised in traditional media and in-store.

This week Kellogg is using search to help kick off its new RiceKrispies.com Web site, which promotes the food company's Rice Krispies brand cereal.

Because Halloween (October 31) is such a big sales period for Rice Krispies (people make the famous Rice Krispies marshmallow snack treats for Halloween) Kellogg has bought search words like "Halloween" and "Recipe" on the Google and Yahoo search engines. When userers (read potential Rice Krispies' customers) types in these search terms and others, the RiceKrispies.com Web site comes to the top of the search answers list.

ConAgra has gotten into search marketing in a big way as well. The food company has bought up scores of search terms related to its brands and products, including "great tasting recipe" and "easy-to-prepare." Type those (and numerous others) search terms in Google.com and at or near the top of the results will be information about various ConAgra brands, recipes features the company's products and related brand information, according to Brandweek.

The use of search marketing by consumer packaged goods companies is expected to grow about 30% to $594 million by 2012, according to recent research by Forrester Research, Cambridge, Mass.

Additionally, both Google and Yahoo say the use of search marketing by consumer packaged goods companies is one of their respective fastest growing categories.

Search marketing and the natural and specialty foods industry

Search marketing using Google or Yahoo or other search engines offers numerous pluses for natural and specialty foods companies.

First, the cost of entry is low. Companies can get into search using a few key search terms to start for very little money. It's far less of a cost than producing a four-color brochure, for example.

Additionally, make this comparison. Natural and specialty foods suppliers/marketers often use in-store food sampling demos as a major aspect of their marketing and promotional campaigns. Doing a demo at just one store can run $100 or more today. That means if you do demos at 20 stores the cost would be about $2,000-$3,000 If you reach 1,500 consumers at those 20 stores that's considered a pretty successful conclusion.

However, from the standpoint of return on investment (ROI) reaching 1,500 consumers with a brand message for $2,000-$3,000 isn't great. It's true their is a certain qualitative aspect to in-store demos in that you get your product tasted. However the ROI is low.

By comparison, for $2,000-$3,000 a company can get into search marketing in a substantial way to start, including buying numerous search words or terms. And instead of reaching just $1,500 consumers with the investment, tens of thousands of consumers can be reached.

We aren't suggesting search marketing as a substitute for in-store demos per se -- although in these lean times it isn't something we advocate much . Rather we are suggesting search marketing can leverage a brand message in terms of ROI far more than a promotional tactic such as an in-store demo can.

Second, search marketing has a very good return on investment (ROI), as we mentioned above In fact it offers one of the biggest bangs for the marketing bucks currently available.

This is true not only compared to in-store demos but compared to numerous other marketing tactics as well, especially within the paid advertising segment.

Lastly, Search is a trusted tool for consumers. And consumers are increasingly turning to sites like Google and Yahoo to look up recipes, types of foods and other related information. Embedding your brand message within search offers not just an advertising message but also an informational one. food products and search go together well.

For example, say a user is looking to make some treats for the kids' Halloween party. She goes to Google, types in "Halloween treat recipes," and among the thousands of search results that come up there's Kelloggs Rice Krispies Treats right at the top, including the recipe. She sees this result, thinks about how her mother always made the marshmallow treats for Halloween, and makes a note to do so herself, adding Rice Krispies to her grocery list.

Such can be the power of search for consumer packaged goods companies of all sizes.

Search marketing is perfect for companies producing and marketing natural and organic food products since so many consumers are using search sites to research healthier food options.

For example, "organic foods" is one of the top search terms on Google and Yahoo. So is "food allergies."

The same is the case in the specialty foods segment. Consumers increasingly are using search sites to look for recipes including premium ingredients and products.

For example, let's say you produce and market a unique product such as a Key Lime cookies. We bet there are thousands of Key Lime cookie lovers out there who actually use Google or Yahoo to search the term in order to find out what's out there in Key Lime cookie world. A company that makes the cookies can buy a dozen or so related search terms for very little money and get a major impact, which also is measurable, using Google or Yahoo search. It's a specialty advertising for a niche, specialty product.

For natural and specialty foods manufacturers, marketers and even retailers that aren't using search marketing we suggest you look into it. It's not only fast growing but also becoming among the most powerful ways to reach consumers with a targeted message. It's also a level playing field. You need not be a Coke, Kellogg or ConAgra to get into search marketing. It's cost of entry is low and it potential impact as a marketing tool is high.

Thursday Talking Points Memo: Food, Society and Marketing

RIP: The Dinner Entree?

Some say the traditional dinner entree-side-dish-dessert dining tradition is nearing extinction, or worse--that it's already dead. Others say it's not true. Rather, they say, its merely becoming another option, along with a host of new ones, for diners and eaters. We agree more with the latter than the former argument. However, the entree is losing its luster at many higher-end restaurants, and that has implications for food marketers and retailers.

An eye-opening and interesting piece by writer Kim Severson in yesterday's (December 5) New York Times has a number of very successful and well-known chefs and restaurateurs predicting the extinction of the dinner entree--that "center-of-the-plate" piece of protein-packed meat, fish or fowl. This phenomenon also has implications for food marketers and retailers, especially those in the natural and specialty foods categories.

Severson writes that in top restaurants in New York City, San Francisco and Chicago, "the main course is under attack." In it's place, top chefs say instead they're offering small plates, sample and snack menus, enhanced appetizers, salumi plates and cheese boards and similar offerings, which provide diners with small tastes with lots of variety rather than the standard entree, side dish and vegetable combination.

"The appetizer, once a loyal lieutenant," Severson writes, "is now demanding more attention on menu's. Side dishes and salads, fortified by seasonal ingredients and innovative preparations, are announcing their presence with new authority."

The chefs say the entree has been losing its cachet for some time. "I think the entree has been in trouble for a long time," chef Tom Colicchio says. "Eating an entree is too many bites of one thing, and it's boring."

In his Manhattan restaurant Craft, which he opened in 2001, Colicchio no longer offers the standard appetizer-entree-dessert menu, according to the Times' piece. Rather, at Craft he's created a menu of meats, fish, fowl, side-dishes and sauces to be mixed and matched by diners and combined into a meal. He still offers desserts though.

This trend of pushing aside the appetizer-entree-dessert format is a growing movement at restaurants. Severson sights the Spotted Pig in Manhattan's West Village, where the menu is categorized by the following: snacks, plates and sides. It offers a variety of each. The menu only has five entrees on it.

Other Manhattan restaurants doing similar include Gemma, in the Bowery district, Boquerra, in the Flatiron District, Maze, British TV star-chef Gordon Ramsey's restaurant located in the London Hotel, and others. Maze's menu lists a long list of small plate items of all varieties but doesn't designate any of them as either a starter or a main course. The word entree appears nowhere on the restaurant's menu.

Popular New York chef Maio Batali has his own theory about the eventual extinction of the entree. He tells Severson: "As a diner, the idea of me chewing 17 bites of one thing and another 17 bites of another is absolutely boring, and not how I want to eat, chef Batali says. Two of the restaurants he owns in New York City, Otto and Casa Mono, offer no main course entrees at all.

Other's in the Times' story suggest health concerns, global travel, and the desire among diners to experience multiple tastes over a meal rather than gorge on a single entree and just a couple of side dishes, as partial reasons for the entree's fading from the dining scene.

Although we believe the demise of the dinner entree is likely rather far off in the main, in reality it isn't that old of a dining concept. Paul Freedman, a professor of history at Yale University and author of a new book, "Food: The History of Taste," tells Severson that "although it's hard to imagine a time when the single-entree meal wasn't the norm, the concept is only about 75 or 80 years old, and not necessarily something to be cherished."

Not all chefs believe the entree is doomed to the garbage disposal of culinary history however. Popular San Francisco chef Michael Mina, who made famous the concept of multiple tiny courses embedded within a single entree, believes there's room for both the alternatives and the traditional entree in dining. Mina just opened an upscale steakhouse called StripSteak in Las Vegas. At StripSteak, the entree--prime steaks of various cuts and sizes--has a home in the center-of-the-plate.

On the other side of the menu, Mina is in the process of planning a restaurant and wine bar in San Francisco, scheduled to open next year, that will offer no main courses at all. Rather, it will offer 25 same-size dishes divided into five categories. Diners can mix and match the dishes as they please to make a meal.

Severson's New York Times' colleague, food critic Frank Bruni, agrees strongly with those like chef Mina who believe there's still plenty of room left in the culinary scene for the entree. After reading Severson's piece, which he complements, Bruni then wrote his own retort to those wishing the entree's extinction in the Times' food section blog called "In Defense of the Entree." Bruni says he loves small plates and such but, quoting Mario Batali's 17 bites comment, says "Sometimes that's just how I want to eat." His piece is a good complement to Severson's.

Analysis: Implications for food marketing and retailing

There's without a doubt a trend, especially at higher-end restaurants, towards smaller plates and variety. We see it weekly. The introduction of Tapas at restaurants in the U.S. started this trend. Health concerns--diners today in the main just don't eat huge dinners like was the norm in the 1960's and 1970's--play a part as well. People would rather in many cases eat less but have better quality in a restaurant.

Variety also is key. The old rules of a meat, poultry or fish main course, along with a starch and a vegetable on the side, just don't make sense to many diners today, especially younger people and those who've traveled and sampled foods from other cultures--or for that matter just watch the world of food on The Food Network or PBS.

It's a fact food trends often start at restaurants first, especially innovative ones. These trends then work there way down the "food chain" to specialty stores and supermarkets. So, how goes this trend towards more limited entree or main course dining for marketers and retailers?

First, we don't believe the entree is going away anytime soon. However, we do believe it's becoming less important in dining and to diners. Mix and match is cool. Multiple tastes are part of the eating experience. Also, the more restaurants that offer small plate and other similar alternatives--and do away with entrees altogether--the more the trend will grow. Trends are a two-way, push and pull concept: consumer demand fuels them (pull) while at the same time what restaurants and other food venues offer and how they offer it influences consumer choice (push).

Second, we believe the trend towards limited and non-entree dining is important for food marketers and retailers to recognize and understand. It means things like smaller portions and more variety in terms of in-store fresh-prepared and manufactured frozen foods. For example, It might be smart (and profitable) for a frozen food marketer to come out with a line of "small plate" frozen foods to complement the traditional frozen entree. A quality, upscale, global-flavored line of all-natural or organic "small plates" or Tapas is a perfect fit for a natural or specialty foods company looking for a new niche. All-natural, premium, fresh, convenient--these are among the current top food trends and will be for the next couple years.

At retail, the trend has implications for fresh meat departments for example. Cutting and merchandising smaller pieces of steak, pork and other meats makes good sense. Instead of cooking say four medium sized steaks, many people enjoy buying and preparing smaller pieces of a variety of meats and fish, for example, so they can offer their own variety at home like is being done at the restaurants described in the Times' piece. Doing this also means more incremental sales for food retailers.

The examples go on, and extend throughout the store--and throughout the food manufacturing and marketing chain. In fact, we're starting to see a number of savvy food marketers already picking up on this trend. They're offering smaller and mini-versions of everything from fresh produce and prepared desserts, to frozen foods, pizza's, gourmet groceries and more.

In many ways this trend away from the larger, center-of-the-plate entree reflects the "less is more" flight to quality we're currently seeing in consumers. In other words, they would rather eat less of foods that are superior in quality and taste instead of having larger servings of mediocre foods. (We call this the "anti-belly-fill" phenomenon.)

Nowhere is this phenomenon being seen more so than in the natural and specialty foods categories. As we write often, there are numerous convergences going on between these two categories and sister industries. Chief among them is the combining of natural and organic product attributes with those of quality and premium taste. The melting away of the dinner entree is a good analogy to that trend in terms of diners' wanting to combine multiple premium tastes and variety into healthier-oriented meals.