When my two-year-old daughter decides she’s hungry, the call goes out for macaroni. Actually, it’s more a wild cry: “Macaroni! Macaroni! Macaroni!” To reach for anything other than a box of Annie’s Cheddar Mac, the one with the rabbit ears, would be a grave mistake.

We buy this stuff in bulk at Costco. To date, it’s the most comforting of all our daughter’s many fickle comfort foods. I came across a feature about Annie’s in the Hartman Group’s online newsletter, HartBeat, via a link from Food CEO. In a compelling analysis of the Annie’s brand called “Inspire Brand Love,” HartBeat singles out some key behaviors that set the company apart. Given that Annie’s took home NBJ’s 2009 Mid-Size Growth Award, these might be lessons to learn for any natural foods company hoping to connect in meaningful and lasting ways with its consumers.

Authenticity: HartBeat describes this as a consistent and effective “brand narrative,” often driven by the humble beginnings of a passionate founder. Annie Withey incorporated Annie’s when she was 27, selling her homemade organic mac & cheese out of her trunk at ski lodges, folk concerts and parking lots. She still lives on an organic farm in Connecticut. These details of perseverance and personal commitment to a cause make immeasurable inroads with savvy consumers.

Transparency: Annie’s is a company that behaves itself. From organic ingredients sourced from family farms to post-consumer recycled packaging materials, the company makes plenty of earth-friendly choices. Annie’s entire carbon footprint is offset through funds to Native Energy and their construction of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe of St. Francis Wind Farm in South Dakota. The specificity of this civic-mindedness—the name of the actual wind farm Annie’s supports—goes a long way toward fostering credibility.

Playfulness: Brightly colored boxes. Rabbits. Sure, playfulness comes more readily to a company marketing food to kids and families, but a sense of positivism and joy carries across the brand. As HartBeat notes, corporate bios on the website carry photographs of key personnel not as they look now, but as they did years ago, as children. This is a playful but meaningful connection to the ultimate consumer of the product.

Wellness: By operating in the natural & organic space, Annie’s timed it right as larger consumer trends pushed sales toward healthy products. Add in a special focus on kids and families, and Annie’s quest for healthier snacking alternatives becomes all the more poignant. HartBeat makes this telling point: “For over 20 years Hartman Group research has seen that consumer decisions surrounding purchases of natural, organic or related products with a health halo are made in part because of the presence of children in the household.”

But the bottom line here is, well, the bottom line. NBJ talked with CEO John Foraker earlier this year about the company’s performance in a recessionary climate. “We saw strong growth across our whole business and in all the channels we serve,” said Foraker. Revenues grew more than 25% in 2009 to approximately $100 million. “We are well positioned for a tough economy,” said Foraker. “Because our products are natural and organic, that might make people feel even better about choosing this healthier option for their kids.”

Related NBJ links:

NBJ Congratulates 2009 Award Winners

2009 Healthy Kids’ Market Report: Food & Beverage

Despite good intentions and a deepening understanding of nutrition and wellness, I know I’m not as healthy as I could be. As it turns out, I’m not alone. According to a new report published by Delicious Living and iVillage, most women in the United States see themselves as being only “somewhat” healthy—or worse.

“Although it may not be literally true that these women are ‘unhealthy,’ it is certain that the vast majority see room for improvement,” write the authors of the report, For Women, Healthy Is Not What You Think. “Thus, healthy food is not only intended to help maintain health; it needs to move them ‘in the right direction’ relative to their current states. This is true of younger women as well as older women.”

Published in April, the report is based on the findings from a survey of nearly 5,000 U.S. consumers—91% of them women—conducted in February 2010. The survey was designed to gauge the health attitudes, beliefs, priorities and purchasing behavior of U.S. women of all ages. From this research emerged many interesting findings about how female consumers define health and wellness; what drives them to pursue healthier choices at different points in their lives; and how these definitions and motivations affect their interpretations of label claims and ingredient attributes and purchases of specific products and brands.

Not surprisingly, U.S. women view consuming healthy food as the most important way they can support their own health and the health of their families. As a result, the majority of women say they avoid food products that contain trans fats, saturated fats, high fructose corn syrup and MSG. A smaller, but still significant, percentage of women say they avoid genetically modified foods. When evaluating label claims, the survey found that products labeled as “high fiber” are most sought out by women, followed by “reduced fat or fat free” and “low sodium.” These three claims and numerous others were ranked higher than both “organic” and “natural” by women of all ages in the survey.

Although I learned a great deal about how age and health conditions affect the beliefs, attitudes and behaviors of U.S. women from reading For Women, Healthy Is Not What You Think, perhaps the most eye-opening findings from the report had to do with perceptions surrounding natural and organic. For example, 67% of the survey respondents said they believe “natural foods are better for me,” while only 57% reported believing that “organic foods are better for me.” That said, those women who purchase organic products are more active and informed consumers and generally feel better about their health than other consumers.

Nutrition Business Journal will present a deeper dive into this and other consumer research related to nutrition, health and wellness, natural & organic products, and dietary supplements in our September 2010 issue. If you’re not yet an NBJ subscriber, visit our website to learn more.

You can also purchase or read the table of contents and executive summary of For Women, Healthy Is Not What You Think via the NBJ site.

Related NBJ links:

March 2010: Organic Foods, Beverages and Personal Care

2009 Healthy Kids’ Market Report: Breaking the Entry Barrier

Marketing to Busy Moms Requires an Integrated Approach

I took a quick pulse of farmers’ markets this week to see how well they are holding up in our prolonged economic malaise. Quick answer? Better than most.

Like everything else in this modern world, the natural & organic market continues to get more and more complex as consumer interest in food sourcing continues to rise. I found evidence of this complexity in regional differences in sales performance, in buying patterns shifting from produce to meats, in the ongoing burdens of organic certification that drive farmers into the all-natural camp.

Here in Colorado, life seems pretty good. Natalie Condon of Isabelle Farm makes more on one Saturday in April at the Boulder Farmers’ Market than she would in a whole July at a host of smaller operations. Sales are strong year-over-year, and the waiting list for her farm’s CSA runs 60 deep. At Ela Family Farms, their farmers’ market business continues to grow at a strong pace. “The satisfaction for a consumer is extremely high at a farmers’ market,” says Lynea Shultz-Ela. This speaks volumes about the power of a direct-sales approach when it comes to farmers’ markets, co-ops and CSAs.

When a consumer (an eater) and a supplier (a grower) get to shake hands and swap questions before swapping money for food, a personal connection forms that colors every aspect of that sale. There is an immediacay to the transaction that eliminates so much of the cynicism that might enter into more conventional, mass-market sales transactions. Sure, the scale is smaller and choice is limited, but that’s the point. These are direct sales that trigger our impulses for a simpler, more traditional sort of commerce. It can be downright nostalgic. Very little about today’s economy has done as much to lift a consumer’s purchasing spirit as the dirt on a farmer’s fingernails as she hands you a fresh bunch of collards.

This is a small slice — the Organic Trade Association quantifies direct sales of organic foods through farmers’ markets, CSAs and co-ops at $719 million in 2009 — of a bigger and bigger pie, but an important one. The fact that sales seem to be holding steady and, in some cases, growing should make us all feel a little better about the road ahead.

For more detailed analysis of direct-to-consumer sales across the nutrition industry, don’t miss Nutrition Business Journal’s next issue, available in late May. You can always subscribe to the journal via the NBJ Website. We’d also love to hear your comments and stories below.

Related NBJ links:

2009 Direct-to-Consumer / Non-Retail Industry Sales Report

U.S. Total Food Sales, Organic Food Sales & Organic Penetration of Total Food Sales: 2000-2008

UPDATE: According to a press release issued April 27 by The Cornucopia Institute, the USDA’s National Organic Program released a memo today (after the original publication of this blog post) saying that it would ban synthetic “accessory nutrients” from use in organic infant formula or baby food. An April 28 Washington Post article reported that the USDA will provide guidelines for how companies must phase out the additives in their organic products. The process could take more than a year.

Kathleen Merrigan, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), is living up to promises that her agency, under the Obama Administration, will get tough on abuses involving the USDA organic seal. According to an April 26 Wall Street Journal article, Merrigan’s latest crackdown involves moving to ban synthetic versions of the fatty acids DHA and ARA from organic baby formula. Martek Biosciences Corp. is the largest supplier of synthetic fatty acids, and its DHA and ARA—sold under the life’sDHA and life’sARA brands—are found in more than 95% of all U.S. infant formulas, including organic formula sold under Abbott Lab’s Similac and The Hain Celestial Group’s Earth’s Best brands.

The USDA’s actions are in response to a legal complaint filed by the organic watchdog group The Cornucopia Institute to enforce federal organic standards prohibiting the use of certain unapproved synthetic substances in organic infant formula and other organic products. “Consumers rightfully expect organic foods to be purer and safer than conventional foods—in part because federal regulations require that they be free from potentially harmful synthetic additives,” said Charlotte Vallaeys, farm and food policy analyst with The Cornucopia Institute. “But in the case of the synthetic, chemically extracted additives DHA and ARA, the system of federal regulations ensuring organic integrity was undermined by corporate lobbying and backroom deals during the Bush Administration.”

Although the USDA is not challenging the safety of synthetic fatty acids, the agency has decided that the organic regulators in 2006 should have sought public comment when they decided to include synthetic versions of DHA and ARA on a list of nonorganic ingredients that can be used in products carrying the USDA organic seal. “We don’t want an industry that acted in good faith to be harmed,” Merrigan told the Wall Street Journal. “On the other hand, we have a rule to uphold.”

Merrigan said the USDA will issue a draft guidance on the issue later this year that would provide food manufacturers a grace period to reformulate their organic food products. Once the draft guidance is issued, public comment will be collected for 60 days and then the USDA will issue a final ruling, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Martek’s life’sDHA is also found in other organic products, including WhiteWave’s Horizon Organic Milk Plus DHA. The company’s synthetic fatty acids, which have been on the market since 2002, are extracted from microorganisms using hexane, a non-organic chemical that is frequently used in the production of cooking oils but that has been banned from use in organic food products.

In its complaint to the USDA, the Cornucopia Institute cited reports of babies being sickened by the synthetic fatty acids added to infant formula. Martek spokeswoman Cassie France-Kelly told Nutraingredients-usa.com earlier this month that “there has been no statistical rise in the number of adverse events” since Martek’s ingredients were introduced into infant formulas in 2002. “The fact is babies get sick, some react to infant formula yes, but that could be milk proteins or other ingredients,” France-Kelly said. “To link these ailments with the presence of omega-3s and omega-6s is spurious at best.”

Numerous studies have demonstrated the health benefits of omega-3s and omega-6s for infants, although The Cornucopia Institute said it rejects such findings. “Two recently published comprehensive scientific review studies on the topic both substantiate Cornucopia’s findings that challenge these claims,” the watchdog group wrote in a April 21 press release. “These two meta-analysis studies collectively consider the results of 18 clinical trials, and conclude there are no proven benefits to DHA/ARA supplementation in infant formula.”

In 2009, U.S. consumer sales of organic formula totaled $64 million, according to Nutrition Business Journal estimates. France-Kelly told the Wall Street Journal that a ban of its synthetic ARA and DHA from organic products “wouldn’t have a material impact” on Martek’s financial results because the company primarily sells its ingredients for use in conventional products.

NBJ is interested in your thoughts on this issue. Should synthetic fatty acids be banned from organic baby formula? Does such a move strengthen the integrity of the USDA organic seal, or does it hurt consumers by forcing them to choose between buying organic formula and formula that has been supplemented with the fatty acids that many parents believe are important to their babies’ health?

Related NBJ links:

2010 Organic Foods, Beverages and Personal Care

Martek Strengthens its Hold on Baby Formula Supply Market

2009 Raw Material & Ingredient Supply Report

Processed food has become synonymous with the Western diet—and, although their products are generally healthier than the conventional potato chips and toaster pastries sold to Americans, natural & organic food companies are playing a part in enabling U.S. consumers to easily choose packaged options laden with fat, sugar and salt over healthier fresh foods.

According to an April 4 New York Times article, Americans consume 31% more packaged food than fresh food and much more processed food than people from nearly every other country in the world. The average American eats a total of 787 pounds of packaged foods, such as frozen meals, condiments, soups and baked goods, while consuming only 602 pounds of fresh vegetables, fruits, eggs, nuts, beans, meat, poultry and fish. On average, Spain, France and Mexico also each consume more packaged than fresh food per capita. In comparison, the average Chinese citizen eats 1,034 pounds of fresh foods and 116 pounds of packaged foods.

Of course, eating a diet made up predominantly of what celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has termed “processed crap” often leads to obesity and a cascade of serious, long-term health maladies, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes. “Processed foods contain large amounts of fat, salt and sugar, and Americans have become addicted to them,” T. Colin Campbell, a nutritionist at Cornell University, told the New York Times. “There is a lot of money tied up in the [packaged food] industry because it is profitable for companies to make these foods.” Americans also gravitate toward processed food because it is convenient and fits into a non-stop lifestyle that is spent in the car or in front of the computer or TV.

If you attended this year’s Natural Products Expo West tradeshow, you know the natural & organic food industry—like the overall U.S. food industry—is all about packaged convenience. I was amazed at the number of products designed to help people consume more antioxidants and other nutrients associated with fruits and vegetables without having to actually eat a fresh fruit or vegetable.

Although most of the natural & organic products sold in the United States are much healthier than their conventional counterparts, the industry is still guilty of peddling food and beverage products that are contributing to—rather than helping to prevent—America’s health crisis. This was a point Whole Foods Market CEO John Mackey lamented last summer when he acknowledged that his company now sells “a bunch of junk”—or in other words, food that, while natural or organic, is still loaded with fat, sugar and salt.

Whole Foods’ new campaign to “Retake Our Plates!”—which is devoted to encouraging food system reform and educating consumers on how to make healthier food choices—is certainly a step in the right direction. But this and other natural food retailers and really the entire natural & organic industry must do more to clean up the products they are selling to American consumers. And, at some point, rather than spending oodles of money to position highly processed food as being more nutritious, wouldn’t it be better to simply encourage people to enjoy the taste and goodness of fresh food?

As more consumers wise up to the fact that they are what they eat, those companies and retailers that can provide truly healthy alternatives that incorporate fresh over processed whenever possible will be in a good position to boost their bottom lines while helping the United States cope with its ballooning health crisis.

Related NBJ links:

March 2010: Organic Foods, Beverages and Personal Care

Much Work Remains in U.S. Diabesity War, Author Says

2010 Functional Food and Beverage Web Seminar

Renegade Lunch Lady Takes on School Lunch Programs