Better-for-you foods are getting, well, better. “Products are doing double duty,” says Karen Jury, director of communications at the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers. Examples of new functional foods include Natrel’s Pro, a probiotic milk beverage; Kellogg’s All-Bran Guardian high-fibre cereal; and Chris + Tal’s “Better Foods” line of beef and soy blended products.
There will also be more “free” food on the shelves this year. That is, lactose-free, trans fat-free, sugar-free and salt-free. Consumers are “also interested in what’s not in our products,” says Jury.
Another big trend is on-the-go ethnic foods. “Last year Indian food was really big (at dinner) but now we’re seeing ethnic foods such as Thai, Indian and Mexican becoming much more portable. Consumers want to have ethnic foods at lunch.” For example, Simply Asia (distributed by McCormick & Co.) launched a line of “Take-Out Boxes”-microwaveable lunches in flavours such as Honey Teriyaki, Sweet & Sour Chow Mein, Spicy Kung Pau and Szechwan Garlic Chow Mein.
And there’s good news for chocoholics-dark chocolate is exploding, thanks to research that shows the dark stuff is high in antioxidants. New products include Nestlé’s Dark Hot Chocolate Mix and After Eight Straws; Terra Nostra’s Organic Non-Dairy Rice Chocolate Bars (available in Intense Dark); Peanut Butter & Co.’s Dark Chocolate Dreams, a blend of all-natural peanut butter and dark chocolate; and Dr. Oetker’s Dark Chocolate Flavour Shakers for coffee.
