Healthy mindset

Health-conscious consumers driving change in Scotland’s food and drink sector

SCOTLAND is very well-placed to tap into growing consumer demand for healthier food and drink products, the conference was told. Roz Cuschieri, Chair of fruit snack company Emily Crisps, said more than two million decisions were being made every day in the UK to choose healthier products. With younger consumers making more impulsive purchases and choosing more snacks, products like healthier ice cream and savoury snacks were growing in popularity.

“The savoury snack market has benefited from the demonization of sugar,” she said, “and the UK veg snacks market is growing at the fastest rate in Europe – up 24 per cent in value and 29 per cent in volume in the last year.”

Individual decisions about healthier products might include looking for lower salt and sugar content, choosing products which ‘look more natural’, increasing regular fruit and veg intake - or choosing products which people believe can deliver specific health benefits.

“More than ever, consumers are conscious of the impact of food on their health,” said Cuschieri, the former CEO of gluten-free business Genius Foods who previously worked for Scottish & Newcastle and Warburtons.

She said around 50 per cent of healthconscious consumers were prepared to pay more for products they perceived to be healthier. Research has shown that more than a third of people motivated by healthier food choices were choosing more fruit and vegetables and reducing sugar, with around a quarter trying to cut their fat intake.

This trend would only pick up, Cuschieri suggested, with the rise in obesity and the impact of social media (especially brands being able to speak directly to customers) driving further change. Retailers were responding with a range of initiatives, including personalised allergen information, much more focus on the food journey and even personalised nutritionists.

Cuschieri said: “Scotland is very well-placed to ride the healthy food wave. There is an increasing need to understand what is in a product, so the cleaner and more natural products and the provenance of Scotland can deliver real benefits.”

Cuschieri said food and drink businesses also had to understand that the motivation of millennials and post-millennials was very different to previous generations. “When I was in my 20s, I was driven by my next pay rise and my next company car. Now younger staff are much more interested in the values and culture of a business and it is important to understand that, because their mindset is that they will probably only stay with a business for a couple of years.”

Emily Crisps had tackled this with a ‘reverse mentoring’ scheme, where younger employees gave older staff and board members insight into the millennial and post-millennial mindset.

“We were losing great skills and spending a fortune bringing new people in, so we decided to be brave and try it,” said Cuschieri.

“As Chairman, I am mentored by the much younger head of sales,” she said. “I was very keen to understand what was driving people into the company – and out of it.

“I have learned loads which has really helped the business, in terms of recruitment and retention of staff and the development of our culture. I was highly materialistic but my experience is that younger people are now more driven by the values and culture of the business.

“There is also a desire for more immediate reward and recognition – so we made our annual bonus scheme a six-monthly scheme.” n

ATRADE MARK expert warned that there was still very little certainty on post-brexit arrangements for food and drink businesses seeking to protect their intellectual property.

Eleanor Coates, Director of Trade Marks for Murgitroyd, said in the event of a hard Brexit, current EU trade mark registrations would no longer cover the UK. The UK Government had stated its intention to register and clone existing EU trade marks if there was no agreement, but there was no certainty on this.

In the event of a Brexit deal and a transition period to the end of December 2020, EU registrations would automatically get a ‘cloned’ UK registration. However, Coates added: “The stated intent [of the UK Government] is for this to happen automatically and at no cost – but again, nothing has been formalised.”

She also warned holders of EU trade marks that they could be vulnerable if they only used their mark in the UK and not anywhere else in Europe.

Murgitroyd’s Eleanor Coates

Coates also spoke about Protected Geographical Indications (PGIS) for key products like Scotch whisky, Scottish Salmon, Scotch beef and Scotch lamb [and, for example, Champagne].

“We do not have to be in theeutohaveapgi–but they will not cover the UK unless the UK Government acts on it. In July, the UK Government said it intends to establish its own PGI/PDO [Protected Designation of Origin] scheme on exit, but it has not yet been agreed.” Coates said she could not see why this couldn’t be done quickly as it was a straightforward piece of legislation. n