NCIFT Luncheon at CLFP and Food Processing Expo
February 12, 2020
11:45 - 1:00 p.m.
Location: Santa Clara Convention Center
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Speaking at NCIFT Luncheon
2019 Milestones Lead to 2020
2019 was a great year … for our company, our custom research methods and our communities. While we’re envisioning a great 2020, we thought we’d take a minute to reflect on this past year. Why? Because reflection helps us inventory our accomplishments, honor goals reached and re-focus on those still ahead. And we’re sharing these with you because you were a huge part of all we achieved this past year!
Were you at our Open House in Chicago last January?
Without a hinderance from typical Windy City winter weather, we were able to showcase PlayFULL Insights® at our offices in Chicago with a series of public and private 90-minute demonstrations. In case you don’t know, PlayFULL Insights® is our play-based research method, ideal for capturing prospective thinking and perfectly suited for front-end-of-innovation exploratory as part of consumer co-design. Since several colleagues weren’t able to attend our Open House, we brought the demonstrations to them – making the day a great experience for those who weren’t able to attend as well. (Please let us know if you want us to do that for you … we’re happy to schedule something appropriate for your organization. Click here to contact us to schedule something in 2020.)
Did you see or meet us at a conference?
In 2019, we covered a lot of ground as we:
- Presented two different PlayFULL Insights® Case Studies with client-side colleagues at Quirks New York and Quirk Chicago.
- Collaborated with client-side colleagues on a workshop on Clean Labeling at the GMA Science Forum in Washington, D.C.
- Shared knowledge and tools to capture Implicit, Explicit and Prospective Thinking at Pangborn Sensory Science Symposium in Edinburgh, U.K.
- Led sessions on Behavioral KPIs and our Clean Label research at IFT Annual Meeting and Food Expo in New Orleans.
- Hosted a Clean Label breakfast at the New Products Conference in Chicago.
- Talked about Behavioral KPIs at Back End of Innovation Conference in Las Vegas
- Attended and/or exhibited at IIex in Austin, TMRE in Las Vegas, Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, and QRCA in Savannah.
Have you heard how our company developed in 2019?
First, 2019 has been a year of internal growth and celebrations: Kristen Dale, VP Client Partnerships, celebrated ten years with InsightsNow; Karen Lynch was brought onto the Management Team as is now Senior Director, Innovation Research and Insights; Jaclyn LaPoma was promoted to Senior Research Director; and Kayte Hamilton joined InsightsNow as a Client Partner Director.
Second, we launched our Behavioral App Store™ -- featuring product development and marketing research tools to nudge and disrupt consumers. In our store, you can purchase Clean Label reports from our Behavior Knowledge Center; generate ingredient reports to learn more about Clean Label Enthusiast consumer perceptions; order standard research studies to re-focus your product testing, category exploratory, concept evaluation and brand research. (Contact us to learn more about our store!)
What milestones will we celebrate in 2020?
As we anticipate what the year ahead will bring, we look forward to more internal anniversaries! This Spring, Kimberley Greenwood, Senior Research Director, and Jeff Christianson, Senior Research Analyst, will mark ten years with InsightsNow. Additionally, many of our valued employees will mark five years with us during 2020: Jim Smith, CFO; Sri Kankarla, VP Operations; Daniel Johnson, Accounting Clerk; and, Oscar Munarriz, Software Developer.
As you focus on the year ahead … the DECADE ahead … what will you be celebrating? Sharing? Learning? How will you be growing? Please let us know, as we look forward to experiencing it all with you. Meanwhile, we’re focused on providing behavioral insights to help you respond to the biggest industry changes in consumer behavior.
Ingredient statements, brand trust and past trial impact product choice for Clean Label Enthusiasts
Clean Label Report from InsightsNow explores impact of ingredient statements, brand trust and past trial on product choice
Using plant-based burger category for context, this study delves into Behavioral Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to determine factors influencing consumer decision making.
6 November 2019 – Chicago, IL – InsightsNow, a behavioral research firm, has released their October Clean Label behavioral Report that further reviews the plant-based burger category. This study looked into the choices among Clean Label Enthusiasts™ (CLE), a primary shopping group identified to be driving the clean label movement and growth in plant-based food choices.
The research examined CLE shopper consideration of the front label (with product brand and claims) and back label (with product ingredient statements) among 14 plant-based burgers, and the impact of these aspects on choice. These SKUs included recent additions to the category, such as The Beyond Burger® and Impossible™ Burger.
Nine different Behavioral Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that marketers and/or product developers can utilize to help improve share of this expanding category were researched. Consumer choices, along with these Behavioral KPIs, were built into a predictive model that was used to generate a Behavioral Scorecarding tool for strategic decision making.
“Behavioral Scorecards based on Behavioral KPIs are changing the way companies make decisions about product development and innovation.” said Dave Lundahl, Founder and CEO of InsightsNow. “This methodology allows product developers and marketers to quickly make strategic product decisions, in areas such as chosen ingredient statements, ingredient inclusion or exclusion, and brand awareness and trust. And these decisions directly impact purchasing behavior in their target markets.”
Results show a category undergoing great change in response to the introductions of new plant-based burger choices.
- Amy’s All American Veggie Burger ranked highest in choice—chosen 36% more frequently over either The Beyond Burger® or Impossible™ Burger.
- Brand awareness—and an implicit measure of brand trust—were found to be important Behavioral KPIs driving choice decisions.
- For example, only 41% of CLE shoppers polled were aware of either The Beyond Burger® or the Impossible™ Burger—suggesting their choice positions can be increased through promotions.
- Also, those aware of the brand scored the Impossible™ Burger low in implicit trust, possibly in response to recent media coverage that its colorant is not GMO-Free.
- The category overall was found to be fairly fragmented with past trial, giving most SKUs a significant lift in ranked choice.
Clean Label Subscription Research Reports
This subscription-based monthly report from InsightsNow provides insights on consumer-driven demand for natural and plant-based foods, as well as for the incorporation of ingredients that consumers perceive to contribute to a clean label. It compiles behavioral data collected from the company’s proprietary research community of Clean Label Enthusiasts™—primary shoppers with a specific set of behaviors around the clean living movement that influence their buying decisions.
To learn more about the report and enquire about upcoming research topics, reach out to InsightsNow at michelle.andre@insightsnow.com
About InsightsNow
InsightsNow, an agile behavioral research firm, partners with clients across a wide array of industry verticals to grow marketing, branding and product development through custom, cutting-edge research technologies and innovative techniques. The company specializes in finding answers faster, improving speed-to and success-in market, and changing the way we all look at humans and human behavior. InsightsNow was named one of the most innovative market research firms in the world by Greenbook’s 2018 Grit Report. www.insightsnow.com
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Media contact: Michelle Andre, 415-577-8634, michelle.andre@insightsnow.com
Clean Label Research shows plant-based burgers bringing new users to the category
Products such as Impossible Burger and Beyond Beef are gaining in awareness, but still reaching to compete in delivering a clean label addressing consumer health concerns.
9 October 2019 – Chicago, IL – InsightsNow, a behavioral research firm, has released their September report on the Clean Label movement exploring perceptions of ingredients, claims, and brands in the plant-based meat patty category. This release of the “Clean Label Research Community Behavior Report” specifically uncovered key ingredients to include and avoid in formulations for plant-based burgers.
“Interest in plant-based foods is creating a tectonic shift in clean eating among many shopper audiences.” said Dave Lundahl, Founder and CEO of InsightsNow. “We are closely watching this category in anticipation of how plant-based foods will impact other categories.”
This subscription-based monthly report from InsightsNow provides insights on consumer-driven demand for elimination of allergens and other ingredients from food and non-food products. It compiles behavioral data collected from the company’s proprietary research community of Clean Label Enthusiasts™ (CLE)—primary shoppers with a specific set of behaviors around the clean living movement that influence their buying decisions. The research uses a Clean Label Scoring system based on implicit behavioral science techniques to gauge avoidance or acceptance reactions to ingredients.
The report uncovers that:
- In head-to-head competition among the key brands within the plant-based burgers category, Amy’s All American Veggie Burger and Dr. Praeger’s® All American Veggie Burger ranked the highest in choice and scored the most clean.
- Only 42% of CLE shoppers are aware of relative newcomers Beyond Beef® and Impossible Burger. Both products show high lift in choice from awareness among CLE consumers, suggesting these brands have the greatest capacity to grow through marketing to boost awareness.
- Products were ranked higher in choice when the average ingredient Clean Label Score™ was high (positive), the ingredient statement was simple, and the low scoring ingredients appeared near the bottom of the list.
- Beyond Beef and Impossible Burger were also found to be delivering on taste needs of the audience.
These aspects of awareness and taste are helping to bring new users into the plant-based burger category. However, the research shows brands still must work to deliver a clean label product that addresses the health concerns of Clean Label Enthusiasts™.
To learn more about the report and enquire about upcoming research topics, reach out to InsightsNow at michelle.andre@insightsnow.com. For more on the research surrounding plant-based burgers, join InsightsNow for a short 30-minute webinar on this topic Thursday, October 10: https://www.insightsnow.com/wbnr-plant-burger-behav-kpis/.
About InsightsNow
InsightsNow, an agile behavioral research firm, partners with clients across a wide array of industry verticals to grow marketing, branding and product development through custom, cutting-edge research technologies and innovative techniques. The company specializes in finding answers faster, improving speed-to and success-in market, and changing the way we all look at humans and human behavior. InsightsNow was named one of the most innovative market research firms in the world by Greenbook’s 2018 Grit Report. www.insightsnow.com
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Media contact: Michelle Andre, 415-577-8634, michelle.andre@insightsnow.com
InsightsNow’s New Wave of Clean Label Research Uncovers Consumer Misperceptions about Functional Ingredients
Latest release of syndicated report focuses on ingredients that claim health-promoting benefits
29 August 2019 – Chicago, IL – InsightsNow, a behavioral research firm, has released their latest report on the Clean Label movement (consumer-driven demand for elimination of allergens and other ingredients from food and non-food products). The August issue of their “Clean Label Research Community Behavior Report” has identified consumer misperceptions around food, beverage and supplement ingredient claims regarding health-promoting benefits.
“This long-term research initiative at InsightsNow applies behavioral science to generate insights for more informed Clean Label product decisions for our clients,” said Dave Lundahl, Founder and CEO of InsightsNow, and recent recipient of the NGMR award for “Industry Change Agent of the Year” based on the company’s work with Clean Label research. “One identified trend is concern around and attention to functional ingredients in products, so this past wave of the study looked at attitudes and lifestyle behaviors driving consumer choice in this area.”
The report compiles data collected from the InsightsNow proprietary research community of Clean Label Enthusiasts (CLE), and this issue looks at attitudes surrounding functional ingredients. CLE are primary shoppers with a specific set of behaviors around clean living movement that influence their buying decisions. In this latest report, InsightsNow used an Implicit/Explicit association testing technique to collect data on consumer associations regarding functional ingredients claiming benefits such as: heart health, bone and joint health, digestive health, anti-inflammatory ingredients, immune support and other health topics.
This research showed consumers may be well-informed around the functional benefits of ingredients, but hold misperceptions and misunderstandings regarding some ingredients. For example:
- Respondents held misperceptions about olive oil and coconut oil, indicating belief that both ingredients promote heart health—although scientifically neither of those ingredients can be linked that benefit.
- The study found the respondents believed that Omega 6 increases energy, even though it actually does not have that effect in proven scientific studies.
This subscription-based report is released monthly on a variety of consumer-driven clean label topics and trends. To learn more about the report and enquire about upcoming research topics, reach out to InsightsNow at michelle.andre@insightsnow.com
About InsightsNow
InsightsNow, an agile behavioral research firm, partners with clients across a wide array of industry verticals to grow marketing, branding and product development through custom, cutting-edge research technologies and innovative techniques. The company specializes in finding answers faster, improving speed-to and success-in market, and changing the way we all look at humans and human behavior. InsightsNow was named one of the most innovative market research firms in the world by Greenbook’s 2018 Grit Report. www.insightsnow.com
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Media contact: Michelle Andre, 415-577-8634, michelle.andre@insightsnow.com
Clean Label – for Pets, too!
Pet Foods - A Clean Label Deep Dive
Headlines tell the story. “Human food trends driving pet food product innovation” —PETFOOD INDUSTRY.COM
Who are these Clean Label pet owners? How does the industry understand and deliver specifically what they want?
We asked pet owners in our Clean Label Enthusiast Community about their attitudes, habits, and priorities for providing their pets with "Clean" foods and treats. We found many insights to share regarding what they regard as safe, natural, and high quality.
Find the Case Study here
Also, view the webinar where you’ll learn:
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- Thoughts and beliefs of Clean Label pet owners
- Attributes that are most important in products and Clean Labels
- Why they trust and mistrust products/brands
- Ingredients seen as Clean or Not Clean
- Claims that resonate well or are suspect to buyers
- Trends to watch in the future
Webinar- February 2019 Hopes, Dreams and Resolutions of Clean Label Enthusiasts
Hopes, Dreams, and New Year’s Resolutions from Clean Label Enthusiasts
How are they changing going into 2019?
Date: Thursday, February 7, 2 pm ET
Presenters: Dave Lundahl, President and Julie Quante, Research Director
It’s January and everyone is still trying to dive into their new resolutions. As we move into 2019, we are curious about how the behavior of "free-from" consumers will manifest in the New Year and how it differs from their intentions and behavior last year. These Clean Label Enthusiasts consumers look for food and personal care products with simple, healthy, "clean-label" ingredients.
Join us for a view of how Clean Label Enthusiasts in our custom community are changing and how they envision their future – their hopes, fears, and resolutions. As this vocal, passionate consumer base is shaping general expectations for clean product labels, we want to help future-proof your business in light of these insights.
In this webinar, you'll learn about:
- Changes in "Clean Label Enthusiasts" (CLEs) urban/rural consumer trends
- Differences in emotional and behavioral frameworks between CLE's and non-CLE's
- Upcoming and current purchasing behaviors toward product categories
- Research approaches to learn what trade-offs these consumers will accept
Please join us for 30 minutes to learn ways to keep your business ahead of the trends. InsightsNow CEO, Dave Lundahl, will share some of the newest insights into this leading-edge segment's behavior and how you can apply this research approach to your innovation and marketing challenges.
We hope to see you there,
The Team at InsightsNow
Webinar 14 – November 2018- Clean Label – for Pets, too!
Pet Foods - A Clean Label Deep Dive
Presented by: Karen Lynch, Sr. Director Qualitative Insights and Amy Mahony, Sr. Researcher Qualitative Insights.
Presented Thursday, November 15, 2 pm ET
Headlines tell the story. “Human food trends driving pet food product innovation” —PETFOOD INDUSTRY.COM
Who are these Clean Label pet owners? How does the industry understand and deliver specifically what they want?
We asked pet owners in our Clean Label Enthusiast Community about their attitudes, habits, and priorities for providing their pets with "Clean" foods and treats. We found many insights to share regarding what they regard as safe, natural, and high quality.
Through this webinar, you’ll learn:
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- Thoughts and beliefs of Clean Label pet owners
- Attributes that are most important in products and Clean Labels
- Why they trust and mistrust products/brands
- Ingredients seen as Clean or Not Clean
- Claims that resonate well or are suspect to buyers
- Trends to watch in the future
Get more information on research with Clean Label Enthusiasts on Pet Care.
Webinar 11 – July 2018- “Don’t Use That! Clean Label Movement: Non-Food Personal and Home Care Product Impact”
Presented Thursday, July 12, 2 pm ET
Clean label consumer decisions extend beyond food and beverage industry… Today’s shoppers—and the Clean Label Enthusiasts (CLE) in our online research community—are also looking for clean labels on the products they use for personal care and in their home. We are now conducting deep dives with consumers in specific non-food categories to uncover deeper, faster insights for product innovation and development in these sectors.
In the context of non-food categories, during this webinar we’ll share with you:
- How CLEs define a clean label
- Brands that are doing a great job of meeting CLE needs
- Ingredients manufacturers should avoid to maintain a positive perception among this growing segment of the population.
Please join us for a webinar which will highlight some of the key findings from our research with Clean Label Enthusiasts in five non-food categories: Oral Care, Home Care, Hair Care, Fabric Care and Body Care.
Hope to see you there!
Webinar 10 – June 2018- “Sea Salt or Sodium Chloride? Ingredient Scoring Insights for a Perceived Cleaner Label”
Presented by InsightsNow: Dave Lundahl, CEO and Sarah Kirkmeyer, Sr. Director, Client Partnerships
As the free-from movement continues to gain momentum, product developers and marketers are challenged to know how to design products to have a perceived cleaner label. As an example, does paying a higher premium for sea salt vs regular salt matter? Does your target consumer care whether an ingredient is listed as natural or organic?
Join us as we introduce the “Clean Label Ingredient Score” and a new industry database being built in partnership with forward thinking ingredient suppliers. Users gain a deeper understanding into how consumers react to different ingredients in different contexts, and provide direction into the impact on their product choice behavior.
This webinar will highlight how using different ingredients or ingredient terminology can impact consumer behavior.
Learn ways to keep your business ahead of the trends.