SpecialtyFood.com

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Purchases of carbonated soft drinks are decreasing, leaving rising market share for ready-to-drink teas, which account for 75 percent of the tea market.

According to research firm Packaged Facts, this category had $7.4 billion in retail sales in 2007--up from $4.6 billion in 2003--and is expected to reach nearly $15 billion by 2012. Big and small companies are brewing with ideas to take advantage of this trend. This summer Coca-Cola's doubling its media spending for tea, PepsiCo is honing in on target customers and up-and-coming labels such as Honest Tea and Sweet Leaf Tea are blanketing the country with field-marketing teams.

Other specialty manufacturers have jumped on board as well. Revolution Tea introduced Revolution 3D, a combination of antioxidant-rich superfruits, multi-vitamins and premium white tea. It is available in 
four flavors--Green Apple, Blueberry, Mango and Pome-granate--in trendy 12-ounce cans and four-packs. Getting consumers to try a particular brand is the key, according to Packaged Facts, as competition has increased dramatically in this segment. Between July 2006 and June 2007 alone, 957 new tea products were introduced in the U.S. n Thirsty for Change
Even with the multitude of new and improved bottled waters continuing to saturate the market, there's an equally strong effort to reduce the amount of plastic water bottles discarded each year. San Francisco, Austin, Texas, and Salt Lake City, Utah, are leading the effort with bans on purchasing plastic water bottles for city offices, and cities like New York and Madison, Wisc., are following close behind. There were 38 billion plastic water bottles thrown away last year, amounting to enormous waste that doesn't break down in landfills, and has an even greater negative environmental impact because of the energy and resources used to make the plastic.

There are campaigns that individuals and organizations can get involved with, like Think Outside the Bottle (stopcorporateabuse.org), whose goals are to protect and ensure public funding for public water systems, challenge corporations who undermine public confidence in tap water and inspire individuals and communities to choose tap over bottled water. Go to the website to purchase a reusable water bottle. Or jump onboard a celebrity-centered effort. Supermodel, and mother, Cindy Crawford is determined to make a difference by pledging to cut back on her bottled water consumption and pairing up with Water Filtration to create a limited-edition, reusable bottle called Thirsty for Change (thirstyforchange.com). By decreasing plastic bottle consumption, she hopes she and other moms can help create a healthier environment for themselves and their children. All proceeds from the sale of the bottle will benefit the Children's Safe Drinking Water program (csdw.org), which has provided more than 900 million liters of clean water to needy children and their families around the world.

For those who do purchase bottled water, there are options that give back in some way, such as Ethos Water sold at Starbucks. For each bottle purchase, five cents is donated to help solve the world water crisis. So far, they've contributed $6.2 million, benefiting more than 420,000 people across Africa, Asia and Latin America. N

Better Boomer Marketing
S eventy-five percent of the nation's wealth is in the hands of the more than 78 million Baby Boomers. Yet according to Paul Murray, creative director for the Varsity marketing consultancy, during his keynote address at the recent FMI Show, many retailers overlook the needs of this powerful group of shoppers. Through focus groups, a nationwide study and polls of manufacturers, Varsity discovered that shoppers in this aging demographic are finding that items are difficult to reach (54 percent); products are hard to find (27 percent); crowds are difficult to navigate (27 percent); and prices are hard to read (22 percent). Other preliminary findings reveal that previously successful marketing strategies--such as buy-one, get-one-free offers--don't appeal to members of the group because they prioritize smaller portions over bulk pricing. Other ways to service this demographic include increasing the font size on packaging to facilitate reading as well as evaluating your store layout to see what improvements can be made to cater to these key customers. n

Move Over Mr. Softie...
When you're in New York City this summer for the Fancy Food Show, keep an eye out for new ice cream trucks from Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream. Having had experience driving a Good Humor ice cream truck during college, recent graduate Ben Van Leeuwen, decided to go into the business himself. He offers ice cream connoisseurs ten flavors of Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream, all-natural ice cream with an environmental bent. The ice cream is made with egg yolks, sugar cane, hormone-free milk and sweet cream from a farm in upstate New York, as well as imported ingredients such as organic Bourbon and Tahitian vanilla beans from Papua, New Guinea and pistachio nuts from Sicily. When ordered without a cone, it is scooped into biodegradable bowls made from sugar cane with spoons made from corn. Toppings are high end too, such as homemade fudge made from Michel Cluizel chocolate. Cones start at $3.50; sundaes start at $6.50. The trucks will be located near Wall Street on Beaver and Broadway during the day, and on the Lower East Side and Upper West Side at night. Check out the website for updates at vanleeuwenicecream.com. n

Shifting Shopping Trends
Women have been the primary food shoppers for as long as research has been taken. Finally, there's a change--several surveys indicate that men are doing a greater share of grocery shopping. A Men's Health magazine study reports that 65 percent of men are active weekly shoppers while WSL Strategic Retail reported an increase from 41 percent in 2002 to 61 percent in 2004 of men doing some portion of the grocery shopping.

Marketing to men is a good strategy for boosting business and customer loyalty. The reason why more men are shopping is twofold--there are more two-career families, and consumers are stopping at multiple locations to find their products, causing the couple to split up the tasks. In addition, more men are watching cooking shows with 67 percent of males enjoying some aspect of cooking, according to the study. When focusing on male shoppers, it's wise to include those men not married, such as single and divorced men, who are looking for easy shopping and meal preparation solutions. n

Longer Lasting Ice Cream
New research suggests that a byproduct of winemaking may make your favorite ice cream more summer-friendly and even a little healthier for you. A study published in the journal LWT--Food Science and Technology found that grape wine lees, the sediment left in the bottom of the barrel after winemaking, could not only boost the antioxidant profile of ice cream but slow the melting time by as much as 80 percent. n

Seen at Alimentaria
At the international food and beverage trade fair in Barcelona, Spain this spring, more than 5,000 vendors came together to offer everything from microwavable potato chips to frozen duck lasagna to a sparkling wine bottle that turns into a drinking cup. Here are 15 of the innovative products spotted there.
1. 
5 Product Appetizer Trays: The Serra & Mota Apertivos come in a multi-celled tray/plate with each compartment holding a different appetizer. One version includes Iberian chorizo sausage, semi-mature cheese, olive biscuits, sausage slices and salted almonds. www.serramota.com.
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