ConAgra's Alexia Foods brand puts industry trends into perspective

By Carolyn Heneghan | March 17, 2016

Dive Brief:

• ConAgra's Alexia Foods brand is embracing trends in all angles of product development, including shifting its portfolio to only non-GMO ingredients.
• With one new product, organic sweet potato fries, Alexia demonstrates its commitment to sourcing more organic ingredients. But in the company's experience, those ingredients, such as organic dairy, are not always readily available. Alexia may have to reformulate because of it.
• Another new product, crispy rosemary fries, shows Alexia's inspirations taken from current restaurant industry trends and the company's emphasis on finding the best flavors.

Dive Insight:

It's common for food companies to look to restaurant trends for ideas for what flavors are resonating with consumers, particularly those that haven't reached the mainstream yet.

Restaurant menu trends have been responsible for food industry trends like Sriracha and other bold, spicy flavors. As Alexia executives noticed restaurants dressing up their poutine with rosemary and other spices, the company set out to enable customers to bring home these flavors.

Sourcing healthy ingredients are top of mind for manufacturers, but they are still just as concerned about maintaining, if not innovating, flavors. Kraft Heinz recently showed that, despite manufacturers' concerns about reformulating legacy products, integrating both is possible. Kraft Heinz quietly removed certain artificial ingredients from its flagship macaroni and cheese brand. Consumers continued buying the product without much notice for months before the company revealed the reformulation to the public earlier this month.