Prepared Foods - September 2008 - (Page 9)

editorial views Still Blessed R&D Applications Seminar CHICAGO PREPARED FOODS Tracking Techniques, Tactics & Trends Prepared Foods’ fourth annual R&D Applications Seminar—CHICAGO, with nearly 80 technical sessions, will be held October 20-22, 2008, at the Englewood Resort & Spa in Itasca, IL. Following on the heels of the highly successful 2007 conference, presentations are designed with the information needs of bench-level formulators in mind. Applications and subjects covered include healthy ingredients, baked goods, sports and energy drinks, new emerging ingredients, organics, allergen-free labeling, prepared meals and processed meats. The interactive Applications Lab Sessions will feature the use of product samples to more effectively demonstrate an ingredient’s functionality or its application in a finished consumer product or model system. For example, one track may showcase a series of hydrocolloid gum samples to more vividly demonstrate the ingredients’ functionality under varying physical conditions (temperature, viscosity, acidity, etc.). OR A culinary presentation will highlight key consumer trends and how specialty starches help deliver foods that satisfy this trend. The 2008 R&D Applications Seminar—CHICAGO will feature separate Applications Lab sessions on Monday and Tuesday and four Application Lab sessions only on Wednesday morning. For more information, see www.PreparedFoods.com/rd or contact Marge Whalen at 630-694-4347 or whalenm@bnpmedia.com. This was a challenging editorial. The topic is socially, politically and economically complicated, and I’m aware of how unaware I am of its many facets. The growing, distribution of, preparation of and demands for food are undergoing rapid, long-lasting changes that will continue to increase food prices. Well-known factors include a growing middle-class in developing economies, such as India and China (they have 37% of the world’s population—more than the next 21 largest countries combined). As incomes grow, convenient, meat-rich diets are desired. Also, food acreage is being converted for fuel applications. The Government Accountability Office predicts 30% of the U.S. corn crop will be used for ethanol production by 2012. That drives the price of both plant foodstuff and grain-dependent livestock. Other factors include a complex mix of global agricultural, energy and trade policies, labor costs, weather conditions and energyintensive processing, packaging and transporting of food. Few expect prices to significantly decline in the foreseeable future. (See William Roberts’ August ’08 editorial in Prepared Foods, “Commodity Crisis.”) The world’s packaged foods processors face difficult decisions. One article, “Food Giants Race to Pass Rising Costs to Consumers” (WSJ, 8/8/08), reports that some companies, such as Nestle SA and Kellogg’s, have successfully increased prices, while others, such as Smithfield Foods and Tyson Foods, have seen their stock prices tumble in their difficulty to do so. Unprofitable, long-term contracts and concerns over consumers switching to private brands are just two challenges. Despite increased food costs, Americans remain blessed. They pay a smaller proportion of their income on food than most other countries, although one 2003 thought-provoking treatise* by Ricardo Salvador and Gretchen Zdorkowski of Iowa State University points out the cost is low, because U.S. incomes are so high. For example, “An American household spending 10% of the median U.S. income of $42,228 actually spends more money on food than the Indian household that spends 51% of its $1,005 median income ($4,223 vs. $513).” They note that the food itself accounts for only 20% of the final retail cost….what consumers are paying for is “the freedom to be unconcerned about where your next meal is coming from, and increasingly about how it will be prepared and by whom (today about half of our meals are taken outside the home.)” Consumers the world over want what they want. Prepared food companies know that raw material costs are only part of the challenge; squeezing costs out of processing, packaging and transportation will be key. * www.foodandsocietyfellows.org/publications.cfm?refID =79154 Claudia Dziuk O’Donnell Chief Editor pfeditors@bnpmedia.com www.PreparedFoods.com ● September 2008 9 http://www.PreparedFoods.com/rd http://www.PreparedFoods.com/rd http://www.foodandsocietyfellows.org/publications.cfm?refID http://www.PreparedFoods.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Prepared Foods - September 2008

Prepared Foods - September 2008 Contents Hitting the Shelves Talk Soup Why Kids Choose the Foods They Do MarketWatch Regulations Oaxaca: Land of the Seven Moles Flavor Secrets: A Touch of Garlic On the National Menu Emerging Healthy Ingredients: Staples to Stars Formulating for Texture and Viscosity R&D Applications Seminar: Tropical Fruits and Flavor Considerations R&D Applications: The Fifth Taste R&D Applications: Fiber Byproduct Adds Value Abstracts IFT Profile Fast-tracking with Fiber-ful Grains R&D Applications: Domestic New Superfruit NutraNews

Prepared Foods - September 2008

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