Interesting that both major Chicago newspapers over the weekend used ink to focus on the nature of food choices in America’s supermarkets…
The Chicago Tribune reported on the decline of the low-carb craze, while noting that even though many consumers have ceased believing that the Atkins or South Beach Diet is a cure for all their ills, manufacturers continue to introduce low-carb items, apparently in the hope that they can capture lightning in a bottle one more time.
And the Chicago Sun Times reported on the greater availability of healthier foods, writing that “whether or not it lasts longer than a New Year's resolution, that commitment to healthier foods should soon be more evident in the marketplace. Faced with childhood obesity concerns and changing dietary guidelines, packaged-foods makers and fast-food companies are responding with products and initiatives that will surface on store shelves and menus and in vending machines and TV ads.”
The Chicago Tribune reported on the decline of the low-carb craze, while noting that even though many consumers have ceased believing that the Atkins or South Beach Diet is a cure for all their ills, manufacturers continue to introduce low-carb items, apparently in the hope that they can capture lightning in a bottle one more time.
And the Chicago Sun Times reported on the greater availability of healthier foods, writing that “whether or not it lasts longer than a New Year's resolution, that commitment to healthier foods should soon be more evident in the marketplace. Faced with childhood obesity concerns and changing dietary guidelines, packaged-foods makers and fast-food companies are responding with products and initiatives that will surface on store shelves and menus and in vending machines and TV ads.”
- KC's View:
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They’re both right. But more importantly, these two stories signal the ever-growing attention that we believe the food industry is going to be getting from the mainstream media.
The story of how America eats - and how the food industry feeds Americans – isn’t just an interesting story, but one that tends to garner ratings because it is relevant to virtually every viewer and reader.
That put a lot of pressure on the industry, because both retailers and manufacturers have to operate under a kind of media microscope…which may not be fair, may not be ideal, but certainly is reality.
