If you are a subscriber to Nutrition Business Journal, you can now access all of the 2008 Nutrition Industry Overview online at nutritionbusinessjournal.com. No need to sort through your over flowing mailbox, search your desk and interrogate your co-workers for your copy of NBJ. Just go to nutritionbusinessjournal.com.

To see all the articles, go to the current issue page. Here you will see the entire overview issue laid out in an expanded table of contents view. From here you can link to every article if you are signed in as an NBJ subscriber.

If you do not know your NBJ subscriber username and password, call Rachel Dederich, NBJ’s Subscriber Services Coordinator, at 303.998.9263.

-Patrick

I would like to introduce you to the new website for Nutrition Business Journal - www.nutritionbusinessjournal.com.

Alot has changed in the world of web design since we first launched NBJ’s website in 1998, so you will notice MANY changes in the look, feel and efficiency of the new nutritionbusinessjournal.com.

NBJ’s mission has always been to deliver strategic business information, analysis and market data to those in or interested in the nutrition industry to fuel better business decisions and promote healthier lifestyles. The new nutritionbusinessjournal.com is our new way of delivering on this mission.

I welcome your feedback and suggestions, via this blog or via my email prea@nutritionbusiness.com

Enjoy!

-Patrick

More bad news for consumers today. The White House predicts food prices remaining high for the next 2-3 years. In addition, Kraft will hike prices to protect margins and profits, according to CEO Irene Rosenfeld.

The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) found that consumers are spending less at fast casual restaurants and having more of their meals at home or picking up food in the prepared food aisle of restaurants like Publix and Whole Foods Market. 71% of 2,020 respondents to an FMI survey said they were cooking at home more and eating out less. Food industry analysts expect frozen dinners and other frozen prepared foods to see growth in 2008.

This may also drive consumers to fresh foods - meat, seafood, chicken, pork and fruits and vegetables - as some in the natural products industry are suggesting.

Stay tuned!

-Patrick

Yes, this sounds cruel, but it really isn’t my idea. Leave it up to the managers at Frito-Lay to figure out how to save money, short-change consumers and (inadvertently) introduce a new way to fight U.S. obesity.

The Dallas News reported that Frito-Lay will hike prices and decrease the weight of their snack packages.

The culprit is well known - high prices for commodities such as corn, cooking oil and the fuel to deliver products to retailers.

After reading this story, it occurred to me that the U.S. recession may help cure the U.S. obesity problem if more companies follow Frito-Lay’s lead. By protecting the health of the bottom line, Frito-Lay may in fact decrease the size of the nation’s waist line.

The actual story here is how cheap food has become over the years. I’ve heard many noted authors including Marion Nestle and Michael Pollan comment on how cheap food has become in the United States. Perhaps this recession will reset more than all the defaulted subprime mortgages.

Earlier in the week Frito-Lay’s parent company Pepsico reported 4.7% growth in quarterly income and 13.4% growth in revenue. At least someone is working to stay fat.

-Patrick

You know the organic clothing movement is going mainstream, when you can roll up to your local Levi’s store and pickup a pair of organic jeans. Well, that’s just what I did last weekend at the Levi’s Boulder store in the 29th Street Mall. I wasn’t planning on buying organic jeans, but they were available in the style I was looking for and, by golly, they look just like my normal Levi’s 527s.

Little did I know that Levi’s had tried to launch organic cotton products back in 1993 (according to the store manager) and pulled back for reasons unknown.

Well Levi’s is back in the game now, offering a significant line of organic products via their website here.

We’re planning our March organic industry issue, so if you have input for our planning process, submit a comment and let me know what you think.

-Patrick