Debunking food fads leads to a balanced diet
It didn’t help the Atkins cause when it emerged the good man himself died of a heart attack and was overweight when he popped his clogs.
Since his untimely demise his diet plan has run rapidly out of favour.
And the stuff-yourself-to-the-gills-mentality while avoiding the bread and potatoes form of dieting looks to be dead and gone.
Bear in mind that studies were done on the diet which allowed people to eat greasy food in large quantities and some claimed it lowered cholesterol.
This proves the consumer is susceptible and can change at a whim. Recently a new book called The Tipping Point dealt with such phenomenon where suddenly an unknown becomes the new thing.
The demise of Atkins is good news for the Irish food sector gearing itself up to meet the increasing demands for convenience and health benefits people require of their food and drink products.
Irish firms like IAWS and others who have a strong carb base in many of their convenience food offerings breathed a sigh of relief.
Taking the totally cynical view the claim that eating McDonald’s has helped people lose weight beggars belief.
But the claim is out there in the public domain. Merab Morgan says she lost 37lb in three months by eating nothing more than Big Macs, ice cream and salads.
Even if she lost weight the diet content hardly inspires confidence and McDonald’s is unlikely to become the next diet rage anytime soon unless people have gone totally off the wall.
Walt Riker, vice president corporate communications for McDonald’s was reported as “pleased, but not surprised” at the phenomenon.
First the Atkins Diet, now it’s Big Macs. What’s next?
Bord Bia has been pressing home the message for some time that serious research is required to break into markets where big multiples have become increasingly demanding and where margin erosion is on the rise.
It is not a sector for the faint hearted but it is also hugely rewarding for those who deliver the wining product.
The duo who came up with Cuisine de France walked away with €50m in their back pockets from IAWS Plc which in its own right has gone on to make the par baked bread product an international phenomenon.
From an Irish perspective the market has a few very strong points going for it. We still have the green image despite our best efforts to destroy it and Irish food has a good reputation for flavour and quality.
The big players like Kerry and IAWS have shown that beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Others in much smaller niches are having an impact in its own quiet way.
The failure rate is quite high and obstacles can abound.
At the one end of spectrum Kerry Foods now has close to 20% of a £1.4bn (€2.05bn) ready meals market in Britain.
Greencore is plugging away with its ambient sauces, quiches and its enormous sandwich range.
One well paced industry source reckons that with so few surprises kin the sandwich market the decision of Greencore to buy Hazlewoods in that market will stand it in good stead even if the multiples are continuing to dig away at margins.
David Dilger, the boss of Greencore reckons that in the past four years up to 20% has been knocked off the margin the group was getting for its Quiche range as the multiples put increasing pressure on their suppliers to lower their charges.
The word is it’s tough out there and getting tougher but increasingly Irish firms , not all owned by the major players, are beginning to make inroads into the highly competitive food sector despite all the vagaries it continues to display.
