Back in 1953 when Swanson added its then-avant-garde TV dinners to America’s collective menu, consumers were unaware – and most undoubtedly unconcerned – about the heart-stopping sodium levels concealed in its partitioned plate. Case in point: customers grabbed ten million of the trayed dinners in the product’s first full year of production in 1954.

But now Americans are aware that high sodium is bad, food dyes can cause ADD, and their wheat bread may contain wood particles…or maybe they just found out.

Regardless if those facts are new or known, consumers are becoming more cognizant and concerned that many of their packaged foods are full of unhealthy additives.

What’s in the Box?

As consumers read food labels and literature and learn food facts, the calls for foods without harmful ingredients and unnecessary fillers are at an all-time high. But are the big guys doing it quickly enough?

This craving for healthier food has also turned buyers’ heads away from the mainstream, mass-production manufacturers and turned them towards smaller companies and organic brands that promise to serve up more natural, less additive-laden edibles.

Buyers care a bit more about what’s in their food and who’s dishing it out.

A food and beverage research company confirmed that “consumers continue to gravitate toward smaller artisan and craft labels with appealing health and wellness claims. American consumers, she added, are more interested in healthier foods and authentic brands than they were 15 years ago.”¹

The convenience-focused, ingredient-indifference of the 50s has been substituted for the health-conscious, discerning palette of the new millennium.

It’s evident in many of the current food trends today: meatless meat (that’s right), coconut and almond flour instead of wheat, coconut and almond milk instead of cow, cauliflower swapped for rice, pesticide-free fruits and vegetables, hormone-free meats, and gluten-free beer.

And even the convenience-conscious are seeking out healthier alternatives than their fathers’ Hungry Man meals, such as fresh, refrigerated ‘grab and go’ meals.

And today’s buyers are also concerned with how it originated and what environmental impacts it imposes. Free-range poultry and still-in-development-phase editable food packaging are two examples.

Please Sir, I Want Some More

In just four years, between 2011 and 2015, smaller, independent companies swallowed $18 billion of the big mainstream brands’ market share – and now account for almost half of retail grocery dollars.¹

Consumers are putting their money where their mouth is, so to speak.

They’re redefining an industry and changing its collective menu. As the small food producers use their innovation, research, and development powers to appeal to the new millennium palette, the big guys should pay heed. If they don’t start adapting to buyers’ new requests, they stand to lose even greater market share.

Savings Side Dish

And regardless of the size company, independent or corporate, food and beverage manufacturers can accumulate valuable tax savings for their research and development (R&D) efforts with R&D tax credits. This tax incentive delivers a dollar-for-dollar tax credit when businesses conduct eligible R&D activities.

To find out more about how food producers can leverage R&D tax credits to satisfy the modern consumer’s tastes, contact a tax specialist.

1. Clean, green & lean flavors to meet changing consumer expectations, NAFFS,