Food Marketing Resources

Creating an environment in which children in the United States grow up healthy should be a high priority for the nation. Yet the prevailing pattern of food and beverage marketing to children in America represents, at best, a missed opportunity, and at worst, a direct threat to the health prospects of the next generation. Children's dietary and related health patterns are shaped by the interplay of many factorsâ€"their biologic affinities, their culture and values, their economic status, their physical and social environments, and their commercial media environmentsâ€"all of which, apart from their genetic predispositions, have undergone significant transformations during the past three decades. Among these environments, none have more rapidly assumed central socializing roles among children and youth than the media. With the growth in the variety and the penetration of the media have come a parallel growth with their use for marketing, including the marketing of food and beverage products. What impact has food and beverage marketing had on the dietary patterns and health status of American children? The answer to this question has the potential to shape a generation and is the focus of Food Marketing to Children and Youth. This book will be of interest to parents, federal and state government agencies, educators and schools, health care professionals, industry companies, industry trade groups, media, and those involved in community and consumer advocacy.

Pleasure plays a significant but often neglected role in the creation of consumer wellbeing and the relationship between the food consumption experience and healthy eating. This innovative collection focusses on the experiential and hedonic aspects of food and the sociocultural, economic, ideological, and symbolic factors that influence how pleasure can contribute to consumer health, food education, and individual and societal wellbeing. Food and Experiential Marketing uses a holistic perspective to explore how the experiential side of food pleasure may drive healthy eating behaviors in varied food cultures. It questions: Is food pleasure an ally or an enemy of developing and adopting healthy eating habits? Can we design healthy offline and online food experiences that are pleasurable? What are the features of food consumption experiences, and how do they contribute to consumer wellbeing? Providing an overview of experiential and cultural issues in food marketing, this book will be invaluable for consumer behavior and food marketing scholars, public policy professionals, and the food industry in understanding the importance of pleasure in promoting healthy eating behaviors.

How food marketers make use of key variables—such as innovation; target market; market segmentation; image; and physical, environmental, and human resources—determines how successfully they sell their products. Michman and Mazze concentrate on the food industry as they examine what contributes to a successful marketing campaign. The authors discover that not all variables have to be used concurrently; some may be more important than others depending on environmental conditions, and the effective use of one variable may cancel the ineffectiveness of another. By focusing on the key variables to use in a volatile economic environment, by emphasizing lessons learned from both marketing successes and failures, and by demonstrating how to adapt key variables to changing conditions, Michman and Mazze help executives ensure the success of their marketing efforts. Mazze and Michman examine 10 institutional formats in the American food marketing and distribution structure—supermarkets, fast-food, ice cream, soup, breakfast cereal, baby food, ethnic food, snack food, candy and soft-drinks. The supermarket industry is analyzed first with an overview of food marketing and distribution. Specific industries are then analyzed using the five key variables (innovation, image, target market, physical environment, and human resources) with a historical framework to help managers learn from past marketing mistakes. The authors emphasize that avoidance of past mistakes is essential for sound marketing strategy, a fact illustrated by the examples of companies afflicted by injuries who have disregarded this advice.

The childhood obesity epidemic is an urgent public health problem. The most recent data available show that nearly 19 percent of boys and about 15 percent of girls aged 2-19 are obese, and almost a third of U.S. children and adolescents are overweight or obese (Ogden et al., 2012). The obesity epidemic will continue to take a substantial toll on the health of Americans. In the midst of this epidemic, children are exposed to an enormous amount of commercial advertising and marketing for food. In 2009, children aged 2-11 saw an average of more than 10 television food ads per day (Powell et al., 2011). Children see and hear advertising and marketing messages for food through many other channels as well, including radio, movies, billboards, and print media. Most notably, many new digital media venues and vehicles for food marketing have emerged in recent years, including Internet-based advergames, couponing on cell phones, and marketing on social networks, and much of this advertising is invisible to parents. The marketing of high-calorie, low-nutrient foods and beverages is linked to overweight and obesity. A major 2006 report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) documents evidence that television advertising influences the food and beverage preferences, requests, and short-term consumption of children aged 2-11 (IOM, 2006). Challenges and Opportunities for Change in Food Marketing to Children and Youth also documents a body of evidence showing an association of television advertising with the adiposity of children and adolescents aged 2-18. The report notes the prevailing pattern that food and beverage products marketed to children and youth are often high in calories, fat, sugar, and sodium; are of low nutritional value; and tend to be from food groups Americans are already overconsuming. Furthermore, marketing messages that promote nutrition, healthful foods, or physical activity are scarce (IOM, 2006). To review progress and explore opportunities for action on food and beverage marketing that targets children and youth, the IOM's Standing Committee on Childhood Obesity Prevention held a workshop in Washington, DC, on November 5, 2012, titled "New Challenges and Opportunities in Food Marketing to Children and Youth."

Many small food business owners dream of seeing their products on store shelves, but how to get onto those shelves is a mystery. Focused specifically on specialty food businesses that don't have millions of marketing dollars at their disposal, this book unravels that mystery for food entrepreneurs, offering tactical tips, insight, and short stories of entrepreneurs who have been in your place and succeeded. Topics include: * Understanding the wholesale industry and the roles that brokers and distributors play * Pricing products appropriately so that you can grow and make money * In-depth insight into a variety of wholesale food channels, covering what you need to know and how you should approach specialty stores, supermarkets, club stores, and even food service and hospitality * How and why you should support your retailers to ensure you stay on the shelf * Information on labeling regulations and packaging guidelines to ensure your product gets noticed by customers and conforms with FDA requirements * Definitions and explanations of common wholesale and promotional terminology * Creating sales sheets that help your product sell-and samples to help guide you * The role trade shows play and how to make the most of them