All consumers have a purpose, whether it’s the type of person they want to be or the goals they want to obtain. Recent consumer trends show people buying products that are marketed as healthier food options.
In response to these trends, Cargill has recently developed a patent pending snack known as a high protein egg chip. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) recently published the patent application that was filed in July of 2017.
The patent says, “Snacking has expanded to occur at all times in the day and is often looked upon as a meal replacement. The demand for healthier snacks continues to grow with an emphasis on products bearing claims for protein, absence of gluten, and being made from a simple list of ingredients.”
The product would consist of 99.95 percent egg white and be in the form of a chip.
The quickest the patent is likely to be approved would be around July 2020, so a Cargill spokesman was unable to share further information, a FoodNavigator report explained.
According to WATTAgNet Top Poultry Companies Database, Cargill Protein is the third largest turkey company in the United States, having slaughtered 1 million pounds of live turkeys in 2017. Its key brands are Honeysuckle White and Shady Brook Farms.
Strong is the new skinny
Google has looked at different analytics based on consumers' buying decisions. While many producers understand that consumers’ wants have changed, determining those needs is the challenge. Statistics from Google offer some interesting perspectives.
Google has been studying what people see as their purpose and how marketers can appeal to people through that.
"Strong is the new skinny" is one purpose. People are no longer as worried about being skinny as they are about being healthy and strong. Between 2011 and 2015, Google saw a 29 percent increase in searches related to becoming fit. For the first time, they saw a 6 percent decrease in searches related to weight loss methods. “That is really significant and should change the way we talk to consumers about reaching their goals,” said Steve Lerch, account executive for government, agriculture and industry associations with Google, at the 2018 World Pork Expo held in Des Moines, Iowa in June.
Lerch explained that one in three people say physical activity is important to their identity or purpose. Sixty three percent of people who exercise pay attention to how much protein they eat, he added. For producers who make a living supplying protein to consumers, this is good news because these producers can market to those who see fitness as their purpose.
The problem is people lack accurate knowledge about the best sources of protein. “Forty percent of people think there is more protein in peanut butter than in eggs; 42 percent of people think there is more protein in soy and almond milk than there is in dairy milk,” Lerch said.
