Coming soon to a store near you

©Associated Press, published June 13, 2001

What's new in food, set out in colorful variety, vied for the attention of visitors to the Food Marketing Institute's recent show in Chicago. There were also forecasts of new ways of shopping.

The meeting, an annual event, drew 35,000 food manufacturers and retail buyers from the United States and around the world to Chicago. Here's a preview of some of the products seen there that manufacturers hope may take their place among the 34,000 items stocked by the typical American supermarket, along with an update on developments in shopping technology.

No-fuss cooking

Meal kits, complete packages of ingredients ready to heat and eat, are a more than $350-million business, according to Tyson, one of the manufacturers.

Among this year's new products is a line of Prego's Pasta Bake Sauces. You take five minutes to mix the sauce with uncooked pasta, water and cheese, then bake 40 minutes. Campbell's Supper Bakes consist of a canned sauce; seasoning packet; rice, pasta or stuffing; and a crumb topping. Simply add fresh meat and bake 30 minutes.

Also widely seen at the show were precooked beef, chicken, pork and turkey products, ready to heat and eat. Even raw meats are being made more convenient by premarinating or preseasoning.

On the gourmet front

With more exposure to restaurant dining and widespread travel, Americans are acquiring a taste for bigger, bolder flavors.

McCormick's new Gourmet Collection features 22 new herbs, spices and blends, including garam masala (an Indian spice blend), lemon grass, wasabi powder, chipotle chili pepper and red curry seasoning.

Bell-Carter Foods, makers of Lindsay olives, is breaking new ground with Lindsay Olivada (olive spreads) in three flavors: Taste of Tuscany, Taste of Sicily and Taste of Greece. Not as intense as European tapenades, these spreads are designed for mass market appeal.

Just in time to capitalize on the current interest in exotic fruits, papayas from Hawaii are back in supermarkets. A new variety called Rainbow has been genetically modified to resist a virus that nearly wiped out the papaya industry in Hawaii.

The papaya is sweet, with a pleasing texture, and is now the preferred variety in Hawaii, making up 50 percent of the crop. The original Kapoho Solo variety also is available, making up the other half of production. Hawaiian papayas are available year-round, with peak shipments from September to November.

Ukuva iAfrica is introducing a line of four authentic African sauces: Zulu Fire Sauce, Swazi Mamma Mamba, Malawi Gold and Xhosa Umsobo Iyababa. The sauces, sold in handsome bottles with handcrafted stoppers, can be used for dipping, in marinades and in salad dressings.

Functional foods

Drinks enhanced with ginseng, echinacea, yerba mate and other supplements are many and diverse, with a wide range of brands, flavors and supplements available.

Soybeans were found in many forms. Several suppliers offer edamame, boiled soybeans in the pod, a popular Japanese bar snack. Other forms of soybeans at the show included shelled soybeans, roasted soy nuts and soy butter, which tastes quite like peanut butter.

Spectrum Foods Inc. introduced a collection of new soy products under the brand name Premier Harvest. The collection includes breakfast cereals, meatless meal kits, soy-enriched baking mixes and unrefined soybean cooking oil and non-stick spray.

Natural foods

Fran's Healthy Helpings produces frozen meals for children. The packaging is colorful, and foods come in whimsical shapes. Designed for kids ages 2 to 8, the microwavable meals adhere to the Food and Drug Administration's strict definition of healthy. New at the show was Dino Chicken Chompers Nuggets, breaded, baked chicken nuggets shaped like dinosaurs.

Amy's Kitchen, maker of frozen natural and organic vegetarian meals, introduced Toaster Pops, frozen pastries in four varieties: strawberry, apple, cheese pizza and grilled cheese. They go from freezer to toaster in minutes.

The new supermarket

New technology has the potential to transform the shopping experience.

The basis for many innovative ideas is the "loyalty card," the card issued by supermarkets that triggers specific product discounts at the register. The cards also collect data about individual shopping habits that enable stores to customize special offers based on purchasing habits.

Among the ideas is an electronic personal shopping assistant, or PSA, a touch-screen device from Unipower Solutions. It has a global positioning system of the kind used in some automobiles to guide you to your destination.

Clip the device to your shopping cart. Through your loyalty card, as you traverse the aisles the PSA reminds you of the foods you normally buy. It points out specials and offers coupons for products, aisle by aisle. The device has a product locator and deli ordering system, so you can order your deli meats remotely, without waiting in line. It notifies you when your order is ready.

The PSA also provides news, weather, sports, business and entertainment news. Customers can scan in items for themselves as they shop, allowing for a speedy checkout.

Unipower Solutions also produces a Web-based ordering system that enables consumers to shop from anywhere, at any time, using a personal computer, PDA (personal digital assistant, like the hand-held Palm), bar-code scanner, kiosk, game console and digital TV.

Meals.com provides retailer-branded kiosks to retailers such as Ukrop's. Shoppers swipe their loyalty card, and the screen displays items on sale based on the consumer's shopping history.

Shoppers also can download a shopping list created on the supermarket's Web site and check their shopping points status to see how close they are to qualifying for giveaway programs offered by the store. The kiosk provides meal solutions and recipes, based on the consumer's shopping preferences.

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