Continuing our Q&A sessions with our 2017 HPP Summit speakers, below is a session with Barb Stuckey, President and Chief Innovation Officer at Mattson, on Flexitarian eating. Barb is known as a food trend, innovation, consumer insights, and product development expert. You can read more about Barb on our HPP Summit speakers page.
Q: Many people view flexitarian eating as being “vegetarian light,” meaning that it provides a diet alternative for people who generally eat vegetarian, but occasionally want to cheat. Yet, it’s been ranked as the fourth most formidable diet option of all by U.S. News? Is it misunderstood?
A: Yes, Flexitarian is misunderstood! First of all, it isn’t a formal “diet” in the traditional sense of the word. We approach Flexitarian eating from the opposite direction. Instead of thinking of it as “Vegetarian Light,” we think of it as “Omnivore Less.” Only about 6 percent of the population eats vegetarian, so that’s not a significant segment of the population, but if you look at omnivores who are trying to eat less beef, chicken, pork, and dairy, that represents almost one-third of the population: a formidable opportunity for the food industry!
Q: What’s the most interesting thing consumer insights tell you about flexitarian eating?
A: The most interesting thing about flexitarian eating is how many people are doing it… with and without their own knowledge!
Q: How are CPG companies conceiving and developing products with the flexitarian diet in mind?
A: Our CPG clients are just now discovering how big this behavior is. They are hiring us to take a look at their brand, consumer, and product portfolio and figure out what the best opportunity is for them. It really differs significantly from company to company.
Q: How has HPP enabled companies to develop interesting products that appeal to flexitarian eaters?
A: HPP has been a great boon to the beverage category, from juices to almond milks, but it really hasn’t been properly leveraged into other categories, which is another topic I’ll address in my talk.
More on this subject will be available in the HPP Summit speaker presentations, which will be posted to our website this week. Stay tuned for other Q&A sessions with Summit speakers over the next few weeks.
