NFDA SHOW: FOOD TRENDS STAY THE COURSE

ROBERT McMATH

SAN ANTONIO -- Exhibitors at last month's National Food Distributors Association Mid-Winter Table Top Show here are staying on the courses they set in prior years when it comes to new product trends.

Traditionally the first food show of the new year, NFDA has been the place to identify hot trends over the last few years. This January, however, despite plenty of new products on display and in the works, observers said that much appeared to be window dressing, fine-tuning, brand extensions or "upscaling" of existing products.

In the packaging arena, Hain Pure Foods, Uniondale, N.J., has placed its Fat Free Rice Cakes in a large resealable, paperboard canister that differs from the industry norm of stacked cakes in plastic bags. This offers better display, and protects the cakes from breaking up.

Upscale formulation is also showing up, in pursuit of higher-priced line extensions. Plochman Inc., Chicago, showed three new mustards with innovative ingredients. These include Honey Dijon using SueBee Honey in a dual-branded identification, which extends another trend.

Premium Dijon contains a California Chardonnay -- "the first Dijon mustard blended with the upscale taste of America's best wine." And Spicy Peppa mustard uses Tabasco Pepper Sauce as an ingredient (although it is not dual-branded on the front label). Meanwhile, the Tabasco brand from McIlhenny Co., Avery Island, La., continues to extend its recognized place in the hot sauce category -- continuing the consumer trend favoring spicier tastes. It has added Basting/Marinading Sauce, Caribbean Style Steak Sauce and Pepper Jellies in Mild and Spicy varieties. These are offered to the retail trade, as well as through the company's own mail-order division. Even older, almost "historic" brands are taking on new category extensions. Angostura International, Cranford, N.J., showed two extensions in the steak sauce category, one a salsa flavor, and both with 59% to 61% less sodium "than the average of the two leading brands." That is a trend consumers like to see, even if taste is said to diminish a little when sodium is reduced.

Thomas J. Lipton Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J., is pursuing the growing Asian market with new Green Tea Blends, which extend its basic Green Tea entry from last year. The newest flavors include orange, passionfruit and jasmine. That is aimed at creating wider interest among non-Asians.

Meanwhile, Constant Comment from R.C. Bigelow, Fairfield, Conn., has added "an original iced tea blend with oranges and sweet spice" in quart-size iced tea bags. Iced tea may be slowing down in consumption growth, but there remains plenty of interest in the category and a consumer search for just the "right" iced tea in convenient form, sources said.