Blog

It is often said that you should go to Japan to look for new innovations and trends. But it may be a misconception. What you will see may be new and innovative to you but for the Japanese market it is only variations on an already existing idea. Japanese companies are experts in fast copying and rapid renovations but real

There's nothing like a World Record to grab a headline! What could you learn from this record breaking creation in Indonesia? I was just in Bali at the 8th SE Asia Soy Food Seminar where I saw this picture of the longest Tempe Bar ever… At 2.1km in length … This was unsurprisingly a World Record!

What is common between Sabra, Chobani and Athenos? All three are very successful brands that have delivered traditional goodness of Middle Eastern/Mediterranean foods to Americans. Chobani, the branded yogurt that promises the authentic taste and goodness of Greek yoghurt has become a favourite not just of

If you are designing your brand or NPD for the middle ground, think again. It's life will be short lived! The rise of the so-called "Hybrid Consumer" has significant implications for food companies, food retailers and food services companies according to Rabobank on 28th April… You can read the article here on IngredientsNetwork.com Yes, agrees HMT Senior Partner Sam Waterfall, this

This month, HMT's Rukmini Gupte writes for Beverage Innovation on healthy marketing strategies for emerging markets. You can download the full article by clicking HERE

Do you need inspiration for your next innovation? HMT are always happy to help when one of our clients are in town on the hunt for the latest trends in healthy food and beverages. Whatever they're looking for, we know just the place to start the search and can offer them invaluable trends advice from years of experience along the

You've heard of "going viral". This one's "going off-the-charts-crazy!!!" In less than four days it's been viewed nearly 13 million times. What could that do for your brand awareness? What could that do for your brand image? Chances are, you've already seen it. When you watch it again here, make sure you enjoy the

Discover how to accelerate your food & beverage innovation and stay ahead at the ever-popular FourFactors® of Success Masterclass. The FourFactors® is today the globally leading best practice based model for success in food and health marketing and branding. HMT have applied the FourFactors® in 50 countries across all relevant food and beverages categories in five years. The strength of

Products are re-branded everyday. Why are we writing a blog post about this one? Because this simple move takes a product and – with the addition of 1 word – makes it more relevant to the consumer. This image shows the 'before and after' versions of a near water drink from Coca Cola owned Innocent.

Are you benefiting from the free boost the right trends can offer your business? If your inbox is anything like mine, Mondays and Thursdays bring a weekly influx of (supposedly) 'new' trends. Call it "trend spotting" or "Cool Hunting" or anything you like, but how can you actually apply trends to accelerate your brand growth? At HMT, we are privileged to

Troubled times such as economic crisis, ecological unbalance and fears and confusions have never been greater to re-engage with your consumers and be clear on what role you want to play in their lives and the society. Meaningful brands would seek what matters most to their consumers to gain greater relevance

"Are you using "Trend Flow" to build brand success?" These days the world is a connected place. If something is a good idea in one place, it rapidly becomes popular somewhere else. Put simply, ideas travel fast. Good ideas and bad ideas. This is how "Trend Flow" happens. And it's surprisingly predictable. You just need to know where your brands most relevant

Opposing approaches to branding the food of love. In Brighton UK’s New York Coffee Shop we discovered the following challenge to EFSA’s latest stifling rulings: OHSO Good for you chocolate – not only delicious dark 53% Belgian but also “Probiotic to keep your digestive system healthy”…. Chocolate is accepted as

Inspired by IKEA and a bendy straw. Yes that's what it took to come up with this moment of genius that you'll going to start seeing a lot more of in the years ahead. The "Hopper Pot" as it's called is 'pocket sized and perfect'. When you are on the move

“Waka waka …This time for Africa” is what Shakira crooned in 2010… which pioneering brand dares to realize that the time may have come for Sports nutrition to create relevant music for African consumers? When Tirunesh Dibaba successfully defended her 10000m Gold in London last summer, she created a world record. East Africa’s prowess in middle and long

An exciting new article on Digest Innovation has just been published. The article gives an overview of the project being run by Peter, HMT and Skane Food Innovation Network and outlines how Digest Innovation can help break down barriers caused by cultural differences, hierarchies and the constant search for cost reduction- thus making companies better at innovation You can read the full

Peter has been interviewed by BeverageDaily.com on the importance of co-creation for healthy beverage and brand development: 'Consumer co-creation' key to healthy drinks development Consumer 'co-creaton' is essential when developing nutritious and functional beverage brand concepts, a healthy food and beverage marketing expert told BeverageDaily.com According to Peter Wennstrom, consumer involvement is vital from start to finish when attempting to develop, improve, or

Peter's article on iNutrition for the Nutrition Business Journal is now available to read online! This article was particularly poignant for HMT as is marked the 10 year anniversary of the Food & Health Marketing Handbook that was published in 2003... Ten years ago, I wrote the Food & Health Handbook together with Julian Mellentin. Back then—way back in 2003—we named the

Mutate to Innovate! Mutation: When a DNA gene is changed in such a way as to alter the genetic message carried by that gene. (Def. from Internet) As the Healthy Marketing Team travels around the globe, we are increasingly finding that when it comes to foods, brands are often “forced” to mutate in order to better satisfy consumers’ needs across different cultures.

Interested in knowing what is happening in LATAM and why is that so? Join us at Vitafoods South America in March! HMT will be speaking at Vitafoods SA this March and the team will be on the ground discussing and analysing What is happening in

HMT are joining forces with DSM in 2013 to accelerate innovation success. In an exciting partnership the two companies will work together to accelerate customer success by combining the power of DSM's Health Benefit Solutions with HMT's FourFactors. This collaboration will deliver a truly

Peter Wennström will present the first results of the Digest Innovation project at Food Vision in Cannes 20 March. If culture eats strategy for breakfast - then how shall you be able to Digest Innovation successfully? Just like the Higgs particle the Innovation Culture cannot be seen

“I am hungry enough to eat a horse!” This English colloquialism that so evocatively conjured up the picture of a ravenous hunger has rather unfortunate connotations in this island nowadays. The recent “scandal” over mislabeling of certain grocery brands of meat products has not only left many red faces along the supply chain but also a bitter taste in

"Digest Innovation" is a Joint Venture project between HMT and SFIN (Swedish Food Innovation Network) with the mission to identify and remove growth/innovation barriers in the food and nutrition industry. The project aims to stimulate system innovation by doing full scale pilot projects to develop new business models, best practices and applicable results. The problem definition phase is sponsored

"Why I'd Choose Obvious Marketing Over Clever Marketing Every Time" Smart Marketers and Innovators are choosing obvious over clever. Consumers' lives are getting ever-busier. They don't have time to think about and analyse new launches. The ones they notice and buy are the ones which already make sense to them. Whether you

In Brazil, anthropophagy was proclaimed a cultural movement and described in an Anthropophagic Manifesto by poets and artists, who wanted to frame Brazilians’ ability to ‘eat and digest’ external influences by re-interpreting them in accordance to its own local heritage of indigenes, afro-descent, euro-descendants, etc as a cultural phenomenon. The movement states local modern culture should be inspired by foreign culture,

Why you need to "Seize The Position" first in emerging markets On a recent client engagement in Algeria, HMT Senior Partner Sam Waterfall was reminded of the importance of taking a strong brand position – and taking it first!

Last week Peter Wennström was interviewed by strategic publication Nutrition Business Journal for an article on McDonald's gives the people what they want and the power of transparency. McDonalds, not the fast food bad guy you may think. A company who's only purpose is to serve happy meals must keep customers happy." Peter Wennström You can read the full article

By Martina Oxling On the 1st of March, HMT will be in Sweden to talk about "How to build brands for the future and engage the future consumer within food, health and lifestyle?” and “How to connect strategy to brand to be able to find your way in the future market?” Peter Wennström says: In practise it means we will take a

This was HMT's first Masterclass training in 2013 but the 16th FourFactors Masterclass delivered by the HMT for marketers around the world. Additional HMT Masterclasses are planned for later in 2013 in Sweden, Jakarta, Geneva, Singapore, Dubai and London. On 29 January HMT Senior Partner Sam