MyPlate recipes and the convenience of healthy eating
As most of us know by now, First Lady Michelle Obama has been on a quest to reverse the trend line on obesity in America, particularly among children. Earlier this year she laid out a plan to identify "healthy recipes" that align with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's guidelines for healthy eating and the MyPlate symbol. In March, in a keynote address at the Building a Healthier Future Summit in Washington, D.C., the first lady said that future efforts to foster change is a shared responsibility among companies and consumers.
When we look at our prior work on obesity and healthy eating trends, we find that many of the first lady’s comments regarding obesity prevention echo the sentiments expressed by consumers. But while the cultural conversation is shifting to include an examination of social and corporate responsibility, consumers still consistently place primary responsibility with the individual. The Hartman Group's research shows that more than eight in ten consumers (83 percent) said they, not product manufacturers, were responsible for choosing the right foods to eat. And education, rather than legislation and choice, rather than restriction, are far preferred.
“At the end of the day, when it comes to the health of our kids, no one has a greater impact than each of us do as parents,” the First Lady said. “It’s also about companies realizing that marketing healthy foods can be responsible and the profitable thing to do as well. … And American companies can play a vital role to help make eating fruits and veggies fun and, yes, even cool.”
Both the first lady and consumers agree that education is important. But consumers are hardly in need of yet another brochure. Education has to be met with real, product-level solutions that will meet people where they’re at. This is where product manufacturers have an opportunity to not only positively impact the obesity issue but meet consumer desire for products that allow them to satisfy the demands for both convenience and healthfulness.
Traditionally, convenient and healthy have been oppositional ideas on the food continuum. However, packaging innovation, combined with “fresh” updates in formulation, has demonstrated that convenience and health can coexist for consumers–and be quite profitable for manufacturers that strike the right chord. Over the past few years, we’ve witnessed strong and continued growth for products like pre-cut produce, yogurt, chilled ready meals, and other categories that capture the right balance of convenience and health. But more instructive about such products is that consumers don’t just feel that they’re not compromising on nutrition, they believe that they’re upgrading to better quality through many of these innovations. While perishable categories provide shining examples of health-meets-convenience, center-store brands are also making strides as well, especially with the growth of globally inspired snacks and new snacking formats that are inherently healthier as well as easy, accessible, and fun.
But for the progress being made on the part of manufacturers, there’s greater opportunity still. So far, many innovations in reformulation or packaging have simply perpetuated a traditional notion of convenience eating (e.g., on-the-go, highly perfunctory eating, alone snacking, etc.). We think that there is a compelling opportunity for companies to innovate to wellness aspirations by offering products that provide freshness and convenience for social, communal eating as well. Perhaps it’s no wonder that it’s these social eating occasions that parents say are most important for helping to reinforce healthy eating for their kids. And yet for all the social and physical wellness aspirations that such occasions represent, achieving both convenience and healthfulness night in and night out can still be a struggle for time-pressed families.
As product manufacturers and marketers grapple with the call for healthful convenience, we believe the response involves more than simply removing time and energy needed to procure food. The most meaningful innovation–in whatever category, and across all eating occasions–will help consumers to heighten their engagement with food and build on contemporary notions of quality.