A Fresh Spin from Spain

A new year is always something to celebrate. While New Year’s 2016 celebrations have by now become a memory of January’s passing, there are still plenty of milestones to celebrate this year. Personally, I’m still reeling from my first European adventure, which was a few weeks ago to Barcelona, Spain for Alimentaria’s press conference.

The press conference covered all topics relating to Alimentaria—which is a bi-annual trade show held in Barcelona that highlights food and beverage trends—and provided journalists with in-depth presentations and panels on Spain’s meat, gastronomy and wine industries. During the event, I learned that Alimentaria is also celebrating a milestone this year: its 40th anniversary. It really is a year of celebrations!

The 2016 edition of the show will be held April 25-28 at the Gran Via Exhibition Centre of Fira de Barcelona and will feature exhibits covering wine, cheese, olives, healthy foods, Mediterranean foods, snacks, biscuits, confectionary, gourmet foods, international foods and Spanish foods. Gastronomy will also be featured prominently with rising stars of Spanish haute cuisine in attendance. It may be a lot to gobble up, but organizers believe the exhibits and show experiences will help buyers tap into the trends that are a hit with consumers.

Consumer trends were, in fact, a topic of discussion during the press conference. Gerard Costa, marketing professor at Spain’s ESADE Business School, gave a presentation on the new consumer and the impact that consumer has on food producers. The new consumer, according to Costa, values several key product attributes.

Fresh is best. According to Costa, 85 percent of consumers think “fresh” is healthier, 80 percent think fresh is tastier and 75 percent are eating more fresh products. The buzz around fresh creates a fear for consumers that packaged and processed products are unhealthy, Costa said.

Consumers also want to discover food trends, and they seek items that have those specific attributes. Costa identified three examples of trends that consumers are discovering through sources of influence. Superfoods, like chia, acai, kale and bimi are becoming popular. In addition, consumers are interested in foods with new flavors—mango, cinnamon, apricot and ginger are trending. Finally, power blending is a trend to note. “Big companies that produce solutions to power blending will be big,” Costa said. 

“The challenge for packaged companies/processed foods producers is to adapt to the new consumer,” he said. Costa suggested that in order to adapt, the whole sector should come together and address the expectations of consumers by reinventing the formula.

Of course, in the U.S., the industry is seeing food companies adapt to this new consumer. Large consumer packaged goods companies like Nestle USA, General Mills, The Hershey Company, and The Kellogg Company have begun to reformulate products, remove harmful ingredients or transition to natural preservatives.

Costa’s observations are worth noting because of their similarities to what is happening in the U.S. market. Perhaps Alimentaria’s conferences, seminars and presentations could offer valuable insight to American buyers. If anything, discovering Barcelona’s vibrant gastronomy scene, historic landmarks and Mediterranean influence would be well worth the trip.