Emma Gill, Marketing Advisor USA, Bord Bia – Irish Food Board
As technology continues to become an increasingly important part of our lives, new food apps are emerging to make consumers’ lives easier. From greater transparency to lifestyle to food delivery, soon there will be an app for every consumer need.
Transparency
Consumers are increasingly interested in authenticity and keeping it real (Bord Bia’s Consumer lifestyle trends). Food brands trading in the US can now team up with HowGood, an organisation that rates how good a food company is based on almost 70 criteria, including purity of ingredients, processing practices and environmental and social sustainability.
Consumers use the app to scan labels in-store, to discover which are ranked Good, Better or Best, with Best representing the top 5% of food brands currently available. This provides an opportunity for Irish food and drink producers to communicate their sustainability message to consumers at store level.
Lifestyle
Consumers today, particularly millennials, are more engaged with their food and where it comes from. Apps such as Tastemade host millions of videos from foodies across the world, including recipes, travel videos and local recommendations for food and drink.
Alongside more traditional social media tools such as Facebook and Instagram, platforms such as this can offer producers other ways to share their story with people online.
Food Delivery
As food delivery apps become more prolific, companies are seeking to differentiate themselves by targeting increasingly niche segments. New York now has a food delivery app to cater to every whim, from frozen superfoods to your favourite pizza slice, delivered straight to your door. Foodkick, a sister service to established e-commerce player Fresh Direct, aims to deliver groceries in the city in under an hour.
Food apps represent an opportunity for Irish food and drink producers, offering more potential routes to market and further ways to communicate their story and brand values to consumers. It’s worth keeping an eye on this rapidly developing space.
For more information please contact emma.gill1@ucdconnect.ie
