Same old, same old. Healthy, healthy, healthy. Blah. Everybody seems to be chasing the same brass ring and releasing product that duplicates something else in the market without any improved bells and whistles (if you don’t count ghost peppers or superfruits). I want to enjoy my food, not have my senses assaulted. Manufacturers have seemed to have forgotten that their mandate is to sell product and have the customer binge eat that entire bag of chips or box of cookies. Having one chip and sealing up the bag or a single sip of that decadent beverage and putting it in the refrigerator doesn’t help the bottom line.
Don’t get me started on the massive number of atrocious package designs. Outside of what seems like all the nut companies using squirrels on their packaging or in their ad copy, it doesn’t look like many of the brands have someone on staff who studied marketing in college. I mention David Ogilvy (the ‘father of advertising’) or Edward L. Bernays (the ‘father of PR’) — they died four years apart, 1999 and 1995 (Bernays’ uncle was Sigmund Freud), all I receive is a look of bewilderment. When I brought up Bernays with Ogilvy when I met him in the early 1980’s he laughed and said, “My employees don’t know who he is anymore.” Hitler’s Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels cribbed everything he did from Bernays. First comes taste, then comes package design. Americans who have been inundated by package design for 100 years will buy almost anything with great packaging. If it tastes good, they’ll keep buying it. Make a memorable print campaign or commercial, they’ll be loyal to the brand for life.
Enough about business, time for pleasure. My favorites from the Summer Fancy Food Show this year are:
Selma’s Cookies Triple Chocolate Brownie
www.Selmas.com/our-brownies/triple-chocolate-brownie/
Blue Monkey 100% Watermelon Juice
www.BlueMonkeyTropical.com/tropicals
Les Trois Petits Cochons Organic Mousse Basque
https://3pigs.com/products/mousses/organic-mousse-basque
Safe Catch Seasoned Elite Wild Tuna – Garlic Herb
www.SafeCatch.com
Mojo Desserts Artisanal Chocolate Mousse Dark Chocolate
www.MojoDesserts.com
Afri Cola
www.afri.de/USA/
Blissimo Brazilian Blood Orange Smoothie
www.Blissimo.it
Stachowski Bacon Bratwurst
www.StachowskiBrand.com/cooked/bacon-brats.phg
Beetnik Organic Shepherd’s Pie With Grass Fed Beef
www.BeetnikFoods.com/organic-frozen-meals/shepherds-pie-grass-fed-beef/
Gavioli Peach Sparkling Grape Juice
www.Gaviolivini.com