Simple Does it

Jeff Wells

Squeezed by the economy and overwhelmed by the furious pace of innovation in the marketplace, consumers are returning to simpler times.

Simpler times meaning, in this case, simpler products. Recent market data shows that shoppers are springing for items with short ingredient lists and claims like “homemade” and “simple.” According to research firm Innova Market Insights, 987 new product releases last year included the words “simple,” “simplest” or “simplicity” on their packaging, up from 467 in 2008. There were 5,705 product releases, meanwhile, that incorporated words like “pure,” “purely” or “purity” last year, compared with 3,013 the year before.

On the food side, Dreyer's-owned Häagen-Dazs has found success with its “five” brand of ice cream, which includes flavors like chocolate, ginger and strawberry made using only five ingredients. PowerBar, meanwhile, now makes a “Pure and Simple” line of energy bars that contain no high-fructose corn syrup, preservatives or “artificial anything”, according to the company.

In the personal care and HBC category, companies like Burt's Bees market their non-use of synthetic ingredients like parabens, phthalates and sulfates. Kiss My Face, which uses olive oil as a base for many of its products, plays up the use of natural, often edible ingredients in place of the chemical alternatives.

Retailers are catching on, too. This summer, Whole Foods Market announced that it will require all of its personal care products to meet the U.S. Department of Agriculture's organic standard, while Kroger Co. released mirra, its own line of HBC items that lists sunflower extract, soy, amino acids and chicory root among the ingredients used.

While going back to square one may be an easy decision for consumers, it's easier said than done for suppliers, whose production models can be a headache to scale back.

“The simplicity trend creates a new challenge for the ingredients industry, as manufacturers look to shorten the length of ingredient labels,” said Lu Ann Williams, head of research with Innova.

While the ingredients may be pared down and cleaned up, the marketing to promote these products has become more intricate. Häagen-Dazs runs a globe-trotting TV commercial showing where the various ingredients in its “five” line come from. Post Shredded Wheat cereal, meanwhile, last year ran a series of webisodes featuring a fictional CEO character bragging about the company's “lack of innovation.”