"It is not fashionable to be spending now," said Carol Christison this morning during her annual food trends presentation. But people are refraining from saying they're downsizing, instead the lingo is now rightsizing, which somehow sounds so much better. We aren't giving up anything, we are just purchasing only what we should, something we should have done all along. In fact, we really aren't giving up spending at all. Instead, we are "spaving," Christison said, or spending to save. More people are buying in bulk, so while the total amount might be high, the unit price for what you are buying is low.
To help put the economy into perspective, she pointed to the Misery Index. The Misery Index is an economic indicator that combines the unemployment rate to the inflation rate. It reached a high in 1980, when it was 21.98 percent. In March, it hit 8.12, so I guess all in all, we aren't doing all that bad. She also pointed out that during the recession in the 80s, those companies that maintained aggressive advertising and markets programs saw a 275 percent increase in sales in the five years after the recession. Companies that chose to discontinue or reduce their advertising only saw a 19 percent growth in the same period.
With new technology and younger generations' speedy adoption of it, that advertising can come in many forms. Companies can twitter or develop a fan base on Facebook or even use blogs to their advantage with consumer-generated content. It is important to keeping getting your name and brand in front of consumers.
To read more about the baking industry, visit modern-baking.com and baking-management.com.