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hi i'm angela gardner with the local foods and produce safety department at cooperative extension service i'll be talking today about trends and value-added foods in arkansas this webinar is for clients who are interested in making food products at the share grounds facilities in cleveland county cersei county and woodruff county so we'll get started today by going over different types of value-added foods and different food trends that we're seeing in 2020 and then we'll look at different examples of these trending food items from whole foods market in little rock so types of value-added foods the first one that we're all very familiar with is packaged foods so these are food products that are canned in a jar such as salsa a item that is sealed in a pouch such as chips something that is bagged as well this could be dried fruits and then something that is jarred so this would be honey honey is a product that is not canned because it's not heated for the sealing process of the canned product refrigerated items you'll see these in the cold case areas of the grocery store and these types of food items are dips such as your hummus and guacamole this can also be fermented items such as sauerkraut and pickled items that are stored in the cooler case fresh cut value-added food items are a relatively newer product that we're seeing in grocery stores now these are fruits and vegetables that have been prepared and processed either at the store where it is being sold or at a facility that is permitted to process fresh cut fruits and vegetables and we have some examples of those and the last one we'll go over is frozen items so these are ready to eat meals that need to be heated up either through a microwave or an oven ice cream frozen vegetables and fruit as well as frozen breads so these will be found in the freezer section of your grocery store so packaged food items here we have an example of bagged items such as the dried apple chips we have dried banana chips sweet rice chips coconut products and crispy crunchy chickpeas so just looking at this aisle which this picture was taken from whole foods most of these pictures are taken from that market these are just examples of the different packaging when we're talking about packaged bagged products i just want you to look at the different colors and the different marketing that's going on there what is catching your eye and this can also help you decide how you want to package your food products as well another example here is fruit paste and this is in a plastic container that is sealed around the edges with a thin plastic strip and then we have some packaged pasta products and these are in boxes refrigerated food examples so these are your cold pickles in the lower part of the cabinet there is fermented cabbage products such as spicy kimchi and sauerkraut this has been a trending food item in the states a lot of interest in probiotics and the difference between the refrigerated pickles and the canned pickles that you find on the shelf is that the refrigerated refrigerated products have not been heat treated therefore they have more of the beneficial probiotic properties than the canned counterparts fresh cut food these will be your bagged vegetables that have been shaved or trimmed or cut in some way that they're ready to go into your frying pan these are great convenience items for families who are needing to reduce their time prepping fruit and vegetables at the home so we also see veggie noodles and riced vegetables such as riced cauliflower which is a meat alternative that consumers are using in their meals at whole foods they also have a fresh cut department which processes their own fruit and vegetables in a refrigerated processing room there at the store and they make these items that are in the plastic containers such as the potatoes and asparagus that are ready to go on your sheet tray with the sauce already there prepared ready to go and also in the bottom you can see some specialty items such as cheese that is covered with a date paste and cheese stuffed peppers and vegetable and fruit trays and again at whole foods they have pre-cut fruits ready to go for convenience and snacking frozen food items we're seeing a lot of alternative flour products in the market and this was taken at trader joe's so we see here we have frozen cauliflower pizza crust and another veggie pizza crust ready for toppings to go into the oven and this picture from whole foods is just an example of the trending plant-based frozen food products that are is growing in that market here in this slide is a quote from andrea graves she is a business planning and marketing specialist with the oklahoma state university robert n kerr food and agricultural product center i chose this quote because it is very good advice for our food companies that are wanting to be successful in the food market her quote is businesses need to pay attention to trends in order to find new growth opportunities in their target audiences understanding these trends helps businesses stay ahead of upcoming change whether it is regulatory or a new flavor profile also in most cases consumers drive the trends and are looking for products and companies that are meeting their needs and lifestyles so to reiterate what ms graves is saying is that in order to maximize your market potential in the food processing industry you really need to dial down to who your target audience is and what types of products are they looking for for their consumption habits and lifestyles the robert incur food and agricultural product center release food trends each year around the end of december and this year for 2020 they are forecasting that protein is still going to be a big trend for consumers so having um things such as cookies and other convenience items that have added protein in them and also a shift from meat-based protein to plant and other plant-based protein sources i'm thinking uh beyond burger and that alternative protein source is actually a yeast protein also probiotic foods are still trending this year they were on the list the past two years and probiotic foods you can find them in fermented vegetables like the refrigerated pickles we looked at earlier as well as beverages such as kombucha and kefir which you'll find in the refrigerated section again to maintain that probiotic levels also consumers are wanting flavor variation in lieu of sugar they're wanting more spice and flavor profiles and less sugar for their palate and also again the shift from meat proteins and having more veggie focused snacks and carb alternatives we saw in the example of the different pizza crusts that were made with cauliflower and broccoli and kale and also the veggie noodles in the fresh cut produce section whole foods market also releases food trends and that is more from the consumption side whereas the oklahoma state university trends are more from a manufacturing business growth trend so the consumer consumption trends for at whole foods market for 2020 are listing as well alternative protein snacks and one thing that they called out was having ready-to-eat hard-boiled eggs with toppings a savory topping such as bacon and mustard dipping sauces are already ready to eat in one package unique nut butters and spreads consumers love new flavors and are willing to try unique novel products and they're they're willing to to pay that for that unique product so unique nut butter that we're seeing is pecan which is not as common as peanuts and almonds but pecans are a a nut that grows very well here in arkansas also watermelon seed that is a new spread that we're seeing in the market alternative flowers made from fruit and vegetables so you are seeing again that shift from carb heavy meat heavy food products to alternative plant-based food items so flowers that customers are demanding are cauliflower flowers and also banana flower which i have not seen banana flower in the market yet but i have seen cauliflower and other nut-based flour such as almond flour and cashew flour unique syrups for glazes so again people opting for flavor instead of pure sugar so you a unique syrup that i have seen in the store has been the sweet potato syrup and sweet potatoes grow very well here in arkansas and they can be reduced down into a syrup-like consistency and bottled for the market sorghum is another syrup sorghum is a little bit more trickier to grow in arkansas but it there there are plenty of farmers that that do grow this product as well the processing is just a little bit different to get the syrup from this organ i conducted a survey of local markets in arkansas me and mcgee in north little rock bramble market in little rock cersei natural health food and cersei good measure market and cersei the truck patch market in mountain home and natural bliss in whitehall and what they have been saying is that raw honey is their biggest biggest demand for from customers and they also see a potential market for infused honey and other honey based products such as whipped honey honey with nuts creamed honey honey sticks so there is a huge potential for raw honey food products in our local market high quality meat and eggs more consumers are wanting to know where their food comes from and by sourcing from local farmers they can know what the growing standards are for their meat and eggs elderberry products elderberry grows very well in arkansas and elderberry is used as a supplement during the flu season for some consumers swear by it i'm not making any claims here but elderberry is a product that consumers are asking for at these stores elderberry juice elderberry syrup there are ways that you can reduce it down to a shelf-stable product very easily pickled vegetables that is another high demand item especially for me and mcgee marketplace they sell a lot of pickled vegetable products and they are looking for suppliers for pickled vegetable products now these are your canned pickled vegetable products and i will say that making a pickle product that is canned that goes through a heat process is going to be a there's going to be more stringent requirements to maintain food safety for this particular product fruit and nut bars people like convenient ready to go ready to eat items and fruit and nut bars the local markets here believe there is a potential market for these types of food products now we've gone over the different examples of food products as well as the trends that we are seeing in the marketplace for 2020. now i want to pivot our conversation to how we think about marketing our food what makes our food products stand out from competitors so there's two things to think about when we market food or just market anything in general your product has two values the first one is the use value so what is the product what is the function of this product the function is to be consumed so when you label your product you label what it is these are this is a bag of granola a customer is going to walk by they're wanting granola they're going to look at your product and decide whether or not they're going to consume that product the other value that your that your food product conveys to a consumer is its sign value its sign value is what is the meaning of the product to the customer how is this product connected to the consumer what's the association the consumer have to your product and how does that product give the consumer identity and so let's look at the value trends so earlier we talked about the actual consumption trends of consumers so now we'll take a look at the value trends of food products what consumers are looking for in food products beyond the actual consumption of it consumers are more likely to purchase a product that has a story behind it was it great grandma's recipe is it a young girl who is making lemonade what is some sort of connective story that gives the consumer a little bit of entertainment as they're looking at the product purchases that give back you are seeing on some food products that they have a label that says pro 10 of proceeds goes to xyz charity people may want to purchase those items that give back to a cause that they are connected to another value we have to consider is the generational values millennials are raising children right now and so we're looking at a shift of food present preferences for families as millennials raise the next generation of consumers millennials are looking for convenience that's the biggest one we have to think about when we are considering millennials as our target audience supporting regenerative agriculture regenerative agriculture is a buzzword not only for farmers and producers but also in the food processing industry we're wanting to support measures that help retain the health and viability of our natural resources and that is what regenerative agriculture is trying to do and some food processing companies will tout that they support farmers and producers that use regenerative agriculture practices in their operations especially for the raising of meat products another big one that's popped onto the radar for 2020 is deforestation due to the production of palm oil in the amazon there has been a lot of issues this past summer with forest fires in the amazon basin and it is linked to the need to remove these forested lands for palm oil production so some food processors are combating that by labeling their product as being made without palm oil or if it is made with palm oil palm oil that is produced in a sustainable manner so we've talked about different food products to consider we also talked about ways that you could market it to add value to the con to the consumer through connection and now if you have a food concept in mind what is the next step you can't just invest millions of dollars into a food processing plant without vetting your food concept first there are different ways that you can go about testing your food product without breaking the bank the arkansas department of health has a list of food items that can be sold direct to consumer at a farmer's market or pop-up event that have a lesser food safety standards than other food products these items would be baked good products and some jams and jellies made with real sugar extension has a fact sheet developed by the public policy center which helps consumers walk through what items are allowed under cottage food to be produced in your home the usda offers farmers the opportunity to apply for a value-added producer grant and this grant could be used to help farmers test a food concept for instance a tomato farmer is wanting to diversify their farms offerings they could take some of their tomatoes that they didn't sell at the market and come up with a food product to have income during the off season so that is an opportunity for our farmers and in little rock we have access to a commercial kitchen facility called ar kitchen and that is a kitchen it's a privately owned kitchen that clients can rent in fayetteville there's the arkansas food innovation center which is housed in the food science department at the fayetteville campus and they've been providing commercial kitchen services for about eight years now and in west memphis the delta cuisine kitchen incubator is a partnership with asu mid-south and they provide a commercial kitchen facility for clients to rent as well here at our office and extension we are launching three certified kitchen centers throughout the state called the share grounds we are reinventing what the fairgrounds can do in these spaces so the cleveland county fairgrounds the cersei county fairgrounds and the three county fairgrounds in woodruff county we are converting their concession stand facilities into commercial kitchen spaces for clients to test food concepts and then to grow their food business so before go out and spend a lot of money trying to scale up a recipe take your test food concept and go out in the marketplace and understand what it takes to be a player in this highly competitive field first build relationships with potential buyers sample your products at retail facilities at farm stands at the farmers market visit grocery stores and pick your food concept idea and just see how receptive your local market is to your particular prod ct and again you can stay local or you can go national if you have a very unique food product consider attending a national food expo i heard a story of a extension employee in florida who was helping small business small food businesses grow and took one of her more unique vendors to a national food expo it was a popped sorghum snack and this woman was picked up by a national hotel chain and sells her bagged sorghum snack in the grocery store of these hotel uh chains throughout the nation so if you have a unique market you may want to consider expanding outside of the local market as well again i'm going to keep repeating this get to know your market and the consumer for some folks you're going to have direct consumers face-to-face consumers others may want to just completely go online and have an e-commerce platform just understand your target audience and the market that you're working in again there's a typical commercial marketplace that you can sell to such as a grocery store or if you have a really unique product that is more suitable to institutions such as schools and day cares and hospitals you may want to reach out to the buyers in those facilities to see what kind of products would they consider to buy locally so that was the end of the slides and these next the slides of the contact content and the next slides are just additional examples for you to consider as you're testing out what particular product you want to make as well as how you're going to market that product so here are the unique nut butters so we have sprouted almonds turned into a butter sprouted pumpkin seeds and hazelnut so all very unique and again i want to reiterate that as you go and do research in the marketplace look at the price points of all the products in the same category that you're considering for your food product as we can see these unique butters are very high price point we already have a local supplier of peanut butter they make their product in northwest arkansas and their price price point is a little bit more reasonable than the other ones but again they're not as unique as the sprouted nut butters elderberry again the middle shelf is all elderberry products this is at whole foods and when i spoke with the supplements buyer she told me that if you look at the price tag for these products the items with a green dot sticker on them are their top 10 moving items so on this shelf we have one to about three of the top ten moving items in their whole supplement category and here we see an example of bagged popcorn that has collagen added to it so a lot of folks are looking at having supplements added to their food products because of perceived health benefits that's another thing to maybe think of is your is your target audience looking for ways to supplement nutrients into their diet here we see the assortment of sauces in the whole foods international aisle lots of different tomato based products here and if you want to compete in the sauce market just be prepared a lot of competition you really need a unique product just looking at these different items there's a lot of different flavor profiles going here and a lot of different price points as well again back to the whole flavor profile this is all the hot sauces and hot spreads in the international market aisle this was in the specialty eye aisle on the left are pepper infused honeys so again the spice flavor profile and in the middle are the sized jams strawberry ancho preserves and blueberry jalapeno preserves and the specialty buyer told me these were fast selling items for her section and this was a food item i saw in the atlanta airport larry joe's southern pecan jalapeno pepper jelly very unique i've never seen anything like that that is screaming out the south to me and here in this uh section i just wanted to call out i've been noticing a lot of fig big balsamic vinegar i i don't know why but i i guess just the combination of the balsamic and the fig goes very nicely together but that was just something i noticed and i do know figs grow really well here in arkansas price points very expensive probably due to where they source their figs and where they source their balsamic glaze or balsamic vinegar in this last slide i just wanted to call out that value that companies use for purchases that give back so here newman's own 100 profits to charity if i was looking at a cookie aisle and i had to decide between regular oreos and newman's own i'm probably going to go with newman's own because 100 of profits go to charity it's just giving back something more than the oreos are and this uh sign here the red whole food whole kids foundation signed a little torn it was the bottom of the aisle but what it's calling out is that a portion of the proceeds from bitsies good cookies snack packs go to the whole kids foundation which is a foundation that grants funds for kid-based garden learning so again i was walking down the aisle and i wanted a snack i'm going to go with the item that's calling out that it's giving back to a cause that i connect with and i love gardening and i love that they're teaching kids how to garden so they got me on that one if you would like more information about the share grounds and ways to start your small food company please reach out my contact information is listed here my office number and my email and also visit our website we have additional presentations available there talking about different aspects to consider for your food company www.uaex.edu sharegrounds thank you for your time and i look forward to working with you in the future