Consumers Want Healthy Foods--And Will Pay More For Them

Consumers’ health is front and center for those who churn out the food products that will line supermarket shelves in the next year. At Campbell’s, organic and all natural are the buzzwords as the company prepares to launch a variety of soups using USDA-certified organic ingredients and shelf-stable fruit and vegetable juices with no added sugar or artificial ingredients. At the 2015 Consumer Analyst Group of NY conference this week, many of the major food industry representatives echoed the health theme. Executives from Mondelez, for example, spoke about their recent acquisition of healthy lifestyle brand Enjoy Life Foods (which includes products for consumers who have allergies or want gluten-free and non-GMO fare), citing 30% growth of the US allergen-free segment. General Mills GIS +0.69% execs are betting on gluten-free, too:  They cite the category as a bright spot with an estimated $8.8 billion in US retail sales in 2014 with predicted growth of $10.6 billion in 2015. The company is launching varieties of gluten-free Cheerios this July. Read More...