The Food for Thought conference was opened by organiser Victoria Emerton, and the first session opened by David Howlett, strategic planning director, MMR Research, who said, “Make sure you do not become another great product that is not a success”.
Referring to niche formulations, he continued: “It’s better to be liked a lot by a few than a little by a lot. Reward motivates us to make decisions, whether it’s the taste of a coffee as a treat in the morning or the idea of choosing a low-calorie drink and looking after our health.
“Red Bull had a deliberately challenging taste – very sweet, very energising – but what that distinctive taste does do is communicate an effect. Research often rewards familiarity and leads to a product being too conservative. We are not chasing familiarity here,” he assured the delegates.
Leatherhead food research KTP Associate and dietician Louise Brunger spoke on Feeding the mind, looking at the benefits of omega-3 and a number of other ingredients, including glucose, caffeine, seratonin, vitamin B12 and magnesium.
“We have carried out cognitive performance tests using an iPad mini and advise our clients to adhere to strict guidelines in terms of health claims,” she said.
There were a number of academics visiting the show. Professor Ian Clark raised the question, ‘Is eating broccoli good at preventing osteporosis?’. He went on to say how cartilage degradation is one of the major diseases in the western world, both among sports people and seniors. However, as he was keen to point out, “We are not looking for panic-inducing gobbledygook, as there is as yet fragmented research but there are signs that sulfuraphane in broccoli may help. Watch this space.”
Steve Osborn of Leatherhead Foods was keen to say to cagey scientists, “Don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story. Credibility and communication are essential. He sees most growth in products for the elderly consumer. As he reminded us, according to the WHO website: “There are more people dying now from being overweight than being underweight”.
Per Rehné of Cornelius Group led the roundtable discussion on Open Innovation and the role of the distributor. “There are overlaps of technology and knowledge between sectors,” he explained, “and as an ingredient distributor, we can take advantage of that. Do not start with the motive ‘We have to make a profit’. Look instead for a purpose.”
He noted the improvement in food quality across restaurants and supermarkets, and talked about brainstorming new packaging material ideas and helping SMEs carry out their new product development via universities.
“In Denmark, every student in food science used to spend a year in industry,” he said. “This reduced to six months, then six weeks and has now disappeared. Where will this practical hands-on knowledge come from?”
Orion Kelly, innovation director with Unilever, warned delegates not to be afraid of failure and not to marginalise the consumer: “Don’t expect to hit the customer expectation first time,” he said.
He quoted Sir Andrew Witty: ‘The future of the UK economy will in large part come from fast growing SMEs’.
“What we do need to do is to link up more closely with universities,” he said. “There are times when their laboratories and testing kitchens are underused.”
He sees a future in foods with health benefits and extended shelf life, as well as potential to find new materials from waste matter.
Dr Wendy Hall, dietician and lecturer at King’s College London, spoke on The Cressida Study for cardiovascular risk reduction.
“As a nation, we are only eating 46% of the recommended amount of oily fish per week,” she said. “We need to double that. Only 31% of the population is eating 5-a-day of fruit and vegetables. We need to remedy that, too.”
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