Manufacturers' new offerings need to fit their customers' menu trends and operational demands. Those two requirements are standard. And then there's a third dimension—the true reason that makes a new item stand out for customer and consumer.

Remember when dairy products were sexy and on-trend? Food executives and consumers might recall the "Got Milk?" and the "Milk Mustache" campaigns in the early and mid-90s.

Among many processors addressing this need is General Mills Foodservice. The past 12 months have seen this Minneapolis-based company launch a range of Pillsbury frozen baked goods that can be baked fresh on site to give restaurants, retail bakeries and foodservice operations added versatility and creativity.

I’m equally excited to tell you even more about another Prepared Foods “state of the industry” (SOI) offering—this time one designed to be the ultimate interactive, in-person event. I’ll note, however that this SOI stands for much more than “state of the industry.” In fact, it’s better billed as the “state of innovation” in food and beverage.  

Traceability and wholesome, better-for-you attributes represent just one of several key themes across today's retail meat, poultry and seafood categories. Other dominant trends involve snacking, flavor and convenience.

When you're talking about the dairy category, there's a seemingly endless array of opportunities—dairy and non-dairy alike—stretching across the refrigerated dairy case to the freezer case.

A majority of grocery shoppers believe that packaging can leave undesirable chemicals in their foods and beverages.

There’s no better way to introduce Prepared Foods’ upcoming 17th annual Spirit of Innovation Awards. These distinctive awards recognize new foods and beverages in retail, foodservice and alternative channels—all those items introduced from January 2018 through March 2019.

I realize you already may be in the middle of fiscal 2019, yet I believe there’s something noteworthy in turning the page on a calendar year. Perhaps it’s simply that holidays and vacations (hopefully) offer respite, a moment to downshift, an opportunity to pause and hit “refresh.”

Our Prepared Foods team recently shared the same experience when we deconstructed and recast our annual New Products Conference (now in its 36th year). We hired an outside meetings and marketing specialist who challenged us to re-examine every aspect of our conference goals, planning and decision making.