Keep It Simple
The attributes that make a product label "clean" are open for debate, but many consumers desire familiar, easy-to-pronounce ingredients — and fewer ingredients overall.
Back in December, Chicago-based Avery Innovations LLC released a list of the top 10 food trends it expected to break through or continue in 2012. Among the trends the culinary consulting firm projected to continue was that toward clean ingredient labels.
And last November, a report from Leatherhead Food Research called the clean label trend "one of the biggest trends affecting the food and drink sector" in the United States and Europe.
Definition not clear
But what, exactly, makes for a clean label? Although no "official" definition exists, Denise Brown, director of operations for Intermountain Natural (doing business as Golden Valley Natural), Idaho Falls, Idaho, believes such a label would include only a few ingredients — ingredients with which consumers are familiar and able to pronounce.
Mike Runion, director of sales for Anaheim, Calif.-based 180 Snacks, agrees.
"They want to be able to pronounce everything they see on it and not need a Ph.D. to interpret it," he says.
But other industry players go a bit beyond the limited-ingredient list/easy-to-pronounce description.
Jeff Roberts, marketing manager for Snak King Corp., City of Industry, Calif., adds no preservatives or anything artificial to that list, as well as any ingredients "that may imply extra processing."
And Nima Fotovat, general manager of Markham, Ontario-based Shandiz Natural Foods, says in his company's view, such labels also exclude MSG, high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), hydrolyzed vegetable protein and hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils.
Interpretation of the phrase, however, sometimes depends on "what side of the fence" a company or organization is on in connection to the very closely related — and also not well-defined — term "natural,"
states Mike Hackbarth, vice president, private label for the Fremont Co., Fremont, Ohio.
"I believe most people refer to 'natural' products as being free of starches, gums and preservatives," he says. "However, there is a great debate on sweeteners used to call a product natural."
The corn industry maintains that HFCS is a natural derivate of corn, Hackbarth says, and therefore, is natural. On the other hand, the sugar industry, certain marketing organizations and health groups have waged what he terms "a fairly successful public relations campaign" that suggests HFCS is a major factor in childhood obesity.
"With the introduction of Hunt's ketchup conversion to sugar and negative press of HFCS, most brands only state 'natural' if sugar is used instead of HFCS nowadays," he notes.
But retailers should also understand that products (such as ketchup) made with sugar tend to have a much sweeter profile, Hackbarth adds.
A matter of tweaking
Although a standard definition for a clean ingredient label might never come, perhaps celebrity chef Tyler Florence summed up the concept best during a press briefing at the Natural Products West Expo, which took place this past March in Anaheim, Calif. More and more consumers want "real food," he asserted.
And retailers could appease them by simplifying the ingredient lists for store brand products and removing any ingredients many folks deem unacceptable.
Retailers looking to tweak their ingredient labels really should look at three main types of ingredients, Fotovat believes.
"First, they should evaluate replacing ingredients that have received substantial negative media attention since these become specific ingredients that consumers will try to avoid," he says. "A second group of ingredients to consider [comprises] anything that must be called artificial such as artificial flavors. The third group to evaluate replacing includes ingredients that sound like chemicals."
Runion also recommends the removal of synthetic dyes such as red 40, yellow 5 and the like.
And tweaks do not necessarily have to result in a high-priced proposition such as an organic product.
"What's important to the consumer is a healthy, low-cost, good-tasting product," Brown maintains. "Simply eliminating preservatives and packaging the products in an air-tight, zero-oxygen package would make a big difference for a minimal cost."
Of course, the ingredients that remain also are important. Some products — for example, whole grains — already are viewed as healthful and fit in well here, Roberts suggests. For products consumers view as less healthful such as candy and certain other snacks, retailers could focus on better ingredients and healthier production techniques that some of their competitors are using.
"For example, if you need to use a sweetener in the product, instead of using refined white sugar or high-fructose corn syrup, you could use agave, honey or a non-refined cane sugar in its place," he says. "With almost all ingredients, there usually is a healthier alternative beyond just all-natural or organic."
And although front-of-pack (FOP) claims can be helpful to nutrition-conscious consumers, don't mislead consumers here. They likely will check the Nutrition Facts panel and ingredient list, too, to confirm the FOP claims, says Liz Housman, director of marketing at the Dakota Growers Pasta Co. arm of Regina, Saskatchewan-based Viterra.
She notes that many of today's new products claim to have a serving of vegetables. But a glance at the product's back panel reveals nothing in the way of vegetables, or minimal nutrients.
"We are introducing a new vegetable [pasta] product that does contain the nutrients of vegetables," Housman says. "It's an excellent source of vitamins A, C, D, E, B1 [and] B6 and is rich in antioxidants."
The new product, enriched to include essential nutrients such as folic acid, gets its vegetable boost from natural whole vegetable powder, she adds, which retains the natural phytonutrients and vitamins from the vegetables.
Get the message out
Whether a retailer is revamping existing products or introducing new ones, it must communicate the clean label message effectively to shoppers. And that process begins with the product's packaging.
Here, a cleaner design also helps to communicate a cleaner label, Roberts says. Retailers also might want to call out on packaging the companies that make a particular product and the processing methods and ingredients that make that product preferable over others.
For products replacing HFCS with costlier sugar, Hackbarth advises retailers to feature the word "Natural" or the statement "No High-Fructose Corn Syrup" prominently on the package front, neck (if applicable) and/or back — not only to communicate the ingredient swap, but also to explain the higher price. But doing so could draw negative attention to any other items in the line that still contain HFCS, he cautions.
"Clear, direct FOP claims are necessary, backed up by a strong nutritional panel," Housman adds. "It's also important that when the retailer is introducing new products into their private label line, that they do so under an umbrella program of products throughout the store, supported by education from their dietitian and marketing vehicles [such as] circulars [and] online or in-store shippers and shelf-talkers."
Point-of-purchase materials and shelf signs could help get the message across in such an effort, Roberts says.
"Of course, these changes should be highlighted on the retailer's website," he says. "Also, if the retailer can offer some educational tools on their website concerning ingredients, it would be helpful for the consumer. Some ingredients sound worse than they are just by their name."
Finally, retailers should understand that the requisite attributes making for a clean label vary from consumer to consumer. What's acceptable to one consumer could be unacceptable to another. More and more consumers, however, are reading and scrutinizing labels.
"My 8-year-old daughter has already been taught in her school to read the labels," Runion says. "She is already is looking at sugar and fat percentages. The next generation is, for sure, going to [consist of] smarter shoppers." PGSB