Food is the New Healthcare, US Professor Predicts
Food is now "essentially free" and it is the qualities added to food that we now pay for, Professor Lowell Catlett of New Mexico State University in the United States, told delegates to the 52nd International Conference on Meat Science and Technology (ICoMST) in Dublin today (Monday, August 14th, 2006).
And he predicted that "Prescription Food" is the food of the future.
Professor Catlett, who is Regents Professor and Dean of the University's College of Agriculture and Home Economics, said that if all that can be offered by food producers, wholesalers and retailers is a basic calorie-rich diet, then they are operating with a production world mentality that has not existed for at least 30 years. A consumer mentality world, however, would concentrate on the value-added components of food. The big four are convenience, variety, health and safety (CVHS).
"Coffee that is brewed at home costs approximately 6c per cup and is, for all intents and purposes, 'free'. A latte, cappuccino or a Starbucks is not. Consumers pay for the value-added of convenience/variety."
"Wine became the most popular alcoholic beverage in the US in 2005, in part because of the value added health/safety component. Ditto the assault by policy makers on snack foods and soft drinks sold in schools in North America and Europe as childhood obesity soared from 13 per cent in 1960 to 31 per cent in 2000."
Drawing a comparison with the telecommunications industry, he said that today, voice was free on most wireless systems worldwide. "If all a wireless company can offer is voice, then it is obsolete. What most wireless companies today do is offer free talk time essentially via numerous minutes, but charge for the other wireless services that each individual customer wants."
And the Starbucks mentality applies to meat also. "Just as Starbucks is not about coffee but a lifestyle, the same is true for meat. Quantity and quality are moving targets that have to adjust to changes in lifestyles worldwide. To be sure we consume more coffee thanks to Starbucks, but only because we can get it 'skinny', 'with a twist', 'to go', 'no foam'."
Professor Catlett said the world's meat industry faces two great opportunities for unbelievable growth: the first involved the greatest tonnage, the second the largest investment in human capital.
Big Market One is the scenario where, as the world becomes richer, the demand for meat would increase in all emerging economies. Yet it would not be as in the past. Consumers are "savvy" and via the Internet and mobile phones, information would be readily available. "Therefore merely providing calories and/or protein via commodity meat will not pass muster in a world where food is free. Even in emerging societies, meat producers, wholesalers and retailers must increasingly be aware of convenience, variety, health and safety," he said.
Big Market Two is where "Prescription Food" comes in. Healthcare in the developed world is a major issue and food an integral part of it. Eighty-five per cent of healthcare issues are behaviour-related. Human choices concerning lifestyles are the most important attributes about health - hence the focus that food is healthcare.
"The future is not so distant whereby every individual will have a daily prescription broken down by the quarter hour on what micronutrients/vitamins/minerals are necessary for optimum health and likewise what quantities and types of foods are necessary to achieve the balance. Meat isn't meat in this world, but 'smart meat'. Human capital and human capital development is necessary," he predicted.
Professor Catlett said that two new fields of study, nutragenomics – the study of how food reacts biochemically with each individual's DNA – and micro nutrient isolation - which looks for specific elements and/or molecules that impart either a benefit or a non-benefit to an individual's health - point to the future of food. In the new world of food where convenience, variety, health and safety (CVHS) and a "market of one" dominate, broad studies suggesting that a particular food may be either bad or good for humans hold little value, he cautioned.
"Retailers worldwide are looking for ways to differentiate the marketplace by any means possible whether it is via income, age, race or the latest rage, 'a market of one'. The idea behind 'a market of one' is that the generation of young people that were born in the mid- to late 1980s is the most consumer driven 'have it your way' group in history. For the food industry, the concept of 'a market of one' leads to three natural organisational changes," he said.
These are "big box super stores" such as Wal Mart, Tesco and ASDA; special narrowly-focused stores catering for neighbourhoods, cultural or ethnic groups or other characteristics, with the emphasis on convenience, and the Internet. "The convenience of ordering special food items via the Internet allows consumers to be more selective and certainly high-end in terms of quality, as the meat industry has learned in the last five years. High-end special meats and meat products lend themselves to Internet sales as customers pick holiday and special event products."
Professor Catlett said that in May, 2006, IGD, the food and grocery research organisation, listed among its "Ten to Watch" outstanding food retailers eBay and Whole Foods in the US and Pantaloon in India. "It is interesting to note that the list includes the world auction market eBay, which is not a food retailer per se but certainly has revolutionised the way consumers shop. Pantaloon in India has in-store kitchens so that customers can dine in or have the chef prepare their food for take away. Many of the other retailers in the 'Ten to Watch' list have in-store kitchens as well. Whole Foods concentrates on the organic market as well as the high-end customer and thus has the nickname 'Whole Paycheck'. Whole Foods' customers may have fun with the nickname but they are loyal and the company is setting a blistering pace in store openings and earnings," he added.
