Real Food

As I look out at my fading garden under the late summer sun, I have consumers’ words ringing in my ears. More and more, here at The NFL, we’ve heard consumers talking about “real” food. I’ve been pondering what that means. So, I did what we all do when we run across something uncertain, I “googled” it. I came across everything from restaurants to blogs and stores named Real Food. It’s definitely a term that has great meaning to today’s’ consumers and food manufacturers should be taking note.

After hearing it so often from both consumers and clients, and spending quite a bit of time in the food industry, here’s what “real” food means to me:

Minimally or non-processed – as close as possible to the original form
Few ingredients
All natural
Nutritious

As food developers, scientists, and marketers, there are several cues that we can design into our products that let consumers know that this is “real” food. These include:

Short ingredient decks
Natural sweeteners and colors
Minimal packaging and package graphics
Toned down messaging and call-outs on package
Attention to nutritionals

Whatever we do for our day jobs, in the end, we are all consumers too. And, as a mom of young kids, I often hear myself saying, “no, you can’t have that, I’d rather you eat ‘real food’.” As a generation of moms, we are training consumers of the next generation to reach for the “real” food. THAT is why “real” food will have staying power, and manufacturers who bring “real” food to market will win at the shelf for years to come.

- Marci Sherman