Food Business News - October 25, 2011 - 10

Coke, Pepsi executives see juice, dairy opportunities
over cereal,” Mr. Hammer said. He said PepsiCo might need to look outside the company for dairy product innovation since it has little expertise in the area. Whether or not PepsiCo looks outside for product innovation depends on the category, he said. For example, sports beverage experience already is in house because the company owns Gatorade. Mr. Del Pozo said he has found that in product innovation, a new ingredient may confuse consumers. In those instances Coca-Cola might partner with another company, such as how it invested in Zico Coconut Water. Both Mr. Del Pozo and Mr. Hammer were asked about the use of high-fructose corn syrup, which recently has been replaced by other sweeteners in many products. Mr. Hammer said PepsiCo will continue to search for more ways to use natural sweeteners. “Whether it’s stevia or luo han guo or some other sweeteners that are out there,” he said. He did not mention HFCS although the Food and Drug Administration has said HFCS may be listed as a natural ingredient if a common enzymatic process is used. Mr. Del Pozo said, “At the end of the day, calories are calories.” He said consumers should have a choice in what they consume, including sweeteners. Mr. Del Pozo said he saw four trends in product development: weight management, sustained energy, baby boomer health and beauty. He said consumers need to feel and see the beneﬁts of functional ingredients, such as in better digestion after consuming Activia yogurt regularly and in the rush of energy after consuming a 5-hour Energy shot. PepsiCo wants to evolve and become a lifestyle company and not just a food and beverage company, Mr. Hammer said. The company wants to encourage people to live more sustainable lives. Mr. Hammer said companies should decide whether they want a product to enter the market fast or wait until the product is ready. If the company decides upon a fast introduction and the product does not start out well in the market, the company should quickly decide whether to give up on the product or modify it. Companies want new product development to be good, fast and cheap, he said. “Pick two because you can’t have all three,” Mr. Hammer said. FBN

Continued from Page 1 development, ingredient and marketing converge in building a beverage brand?” Mr. Del Pozo said juices already have an inherent connotation of health and wellness and thus would ﬁt in the probiotics category. He added many consumers are unable to consume a lot of dairy products and might be looking for another way to add probiotics to their diet. Mr. Hammer said dairy products might become more of an all-day beverage, such as Frappuccino beverages from Starbucks. Some have wondered if the energy drink market is on its last leg, he said, but dairy products may energize the category. People may start looking at dairy as fuel. “As opposed to something you just put

Cause of cantaloupe Listeria outbreak narrowed
WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration has narrowed the possible cause of the Listeria outbreak associated with whole cantaloupes to two possible factors: low level sporadic Listeria monocytogenes in the ﬁeld where the cantaloupe were grown, which may have been introduced into the packing facility, and a truck used to haul culled cantaloupe to a cattle operation that was parked adjacent to the packing facility and may have introduced contamination into the facility. The F.D.A. said the Jensen Farms cantaloupe packing facility’s design allowed water to pool on the ﬂoor near equipment and employee walkways and that may have contributed to the spread of the pathogen in the facility. In addition, the agency said the packing facility’s ﬂoor was constructed in a way that made it difﬁcult to clean; and the packing equipment was not easily cleaned and sanitized. In addition, washing and drying equipment used for cantaloupe packing previously was used for postharvest handling of another raw agricultural commodity. There was no pre-cooling step to remove ﬁeld heat from the cantaloupes before cold storage, and the F.D.A. said that as the cantaloupes cooled there may have been condensation that promoted the growth of Listeria monocytogenes. The cause of the multi-state Listeria outbreak associated with whole cant-aloupes that has caused 123 illnesses and 25 deaths as of Oct. 17 has befuddled the F.D.A. The agency said its ﬁndings regarding the outbreak highlight the importance for companies to employ good agricultural and management practices in their packing facilities as well as in growing ﬁelds. The F.D.A. recommended that companies employ good agricultural and management practices for the growing, harvesting, washing, sorting, packing, storage and transporting of fruits and vegetables sold to consumers in an unprocessed or minimally processed raw form. The F.D.A. issued a warning letter to Jensen Farms on Oct. 18 based on environmental and cantaloupe samples collected during the inspection. The agency also said it still considers the investigation to be open. FBN

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October 25, 2011

Food Business News - October 25, 2011

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