Menu Suicide.... a phrase that has stuck with me and has altered the way I shop. I have paid more attention to packaging and the tactics used by companies to grasp the consumer's attention (especially in the GF section). I recently traveled to the great Windy City in hopes of gaining some insight into my career goals during the final weeks of my dietetic internship. The last three weeks were up to me to decide, and I spent seven enlightening days there with a chef (also an RD), known for submerging herself more and more in the gluten free world.
After my eyes dropped out of my head at the NRA show, and I experienced the life of a culinary student at one of the local schools, the Chef and I spoke a lot about nutrition marketing. The first thing I look for on a menu are the healthy options - calories and fat grams, even better! But what about the every day consumer? Do the hearts, stars, asterisk, and smiley faces next to the healthy options say eat me or leave me? Do consumers still feel they are compromising flavor if they choose the healthy option? If this is the aura surrouding healthy items I can only imagine how the everyday consumer views GF. So the next question is how do we go about marketing GF items? Do we hide the claim on GF and have it as some kind of "bonus feature" or do we shout it from the rooftops and hope that the local Celiac group will take the product and run with it?
I would love to hear your thoughts as consumers or manufacturers. What will happen with the GF entrepreneurs ? Will they decide to take on the GF pros with the cons?
