Seven trends explain the future of food

A RESEARCH BY SDA BOCCONI ON THE PREVAILING TRENDS IN THE ITALIAN FOOD AND BEVERAGE INDUSTRY HIGHLIGHTS HOW COMPANIES APPROACH THE CONSUMER BY INCREASING PRODUCTS' SERVICE CONTENT. FOOD PRODUCTS WILL BE EASIER TO USE, TAILORED TO SPECIFIC CONSUMPTION OCCASIONS AND CREATED WITH OUR HELP

Food & Beverage companies that obtain the best economic results are the most active in adding service content to their products. That’s the key result of a SDA Bocconi School of Management study on servitization in the Food & Beverage industry by Guia Beatrice Pirotti, Massimiliano Bruni, SDA Professors of Strategic and Entrepreneurial Management Department
and Matteo Vizzaccaro, SDA Fellow Accounting, Control, Corporate and Real Estate Finance, presented in SDA Bocconi.

Scholars have collected the data and analyzed the performance of the sector over the past 10 years. For each company were identified revenues’ and market share’s growth, market share and the differentials in operational and financial performance with respect to their segments. A number of “champions” have thus been identified and their business models and strategic choices have been analyzed. In order to compare comparables, taking into account the average size of individual segments (generally with revenues between €50mln and €300mln) it was decided to exclude micro-enterprises and diversified giants such as Barilla and Ferrero, characterized by peculiar dynamics.

Pirotti, Bruni and Vizzaccaro have thus identified some Italian "champions" in seven sectors, including: processed meat and seafood (Callipo, Bofrost), pasta, rice and noodles (Dr. Shaer, La Molisana), bottled water (Acqua Sant’Anna Fonti di Vinadio), baked food (Dr. Shaer, Morato Pane), processed food and vegetables (Bonduelle, Orogel, Mutti), dairy (Latteria Merano, Arborea, Valsoia, Parmareggio), coffee (Caffè Vergnano).

According to the identified trends, the food that we are going to buy at the grocery store tomorrow:

• Will be easy to use and tailored to each consumption occasion. Bonduelle produces match-shaped carrots, diced beets, shake-and-serve salads. Fruttagel has devised a mix of vegetables that can be cooked in the microwave. Morato offers a sweet bread for the morning, the bruschetta for a quick meal, the Spuntinelle as canapes appetizer, the American Sandwich for stuffed panini.  
•  Will be the result of long and natural production processes, but with a shorter and shorter time-to-market. Parmareggio has introduced premium products aged 30 or 40 months. Caffè Vergnano anticipated competitors introducing compostable pods.    
• Will be co-created by consumers. Acqua Sant’Anna has chosen six new flavors of well-being tea listening to consumers’ opinion, going even to some yoga centers to understand the "taste of well-being". Bofrost periodically introduces recipes created by consumers.
• Will be the product of a more integrated supply chain. Mutti has been assigning the Pomordorino D'Oro Award for 17 years, thus acknowledging farmers engaged in the pursuit of quality in tomato production. Furthermore, Mutti took over the nineteenth century tradition of itinerant professorships of agriculture, working with its agronomists and experts alongside the growers. 
• Will be produced by focused firms, rather than by large conglomerates. Dr. Shaer presents itself as a specialist in gluten-free products. Arborea specializes in milk and its derivatives.
• Will be commuicated through information on provenance, traceability and territory. La Molisana reassures the consumer through information on the provenance of the ingredients. Callipo uses its website to allow you to trace the products. 
• Will be produced by companies that combine long-term strategy and entrepreneurship. Balocco, whose brand coincides with the name of the founding family, is a family company that knows how to look to the future but at the same time keeps alive the relationship with its origins and the entrepreneurial spirit of the founder.

Source: ViaSarfatti25