2021 Trend Focus: Immunity - Graceland Fruit
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2021 Trend Focus: Immunity
Consumers seek foods and ingredients that support
personal health
The pandemic has spurred new focus on health, personalized
nutrition, and the role food plays in building a strong immune
system that helps protect and fight against disease. Demand
for nutrient-dense foods with natural ingredients that deliver
pre-, pro-, and post-biotics, antioxidants, vitamins, and
other functional benefits is skyrocketing. In addition, sensory
factors like color and flavor play an increasingly important
role in signaling immunity benefits: think bright colors, bold
flavors, and distinctive textures. This accelerated demand for
immunity-boosting foods is expected to accelerate through
In This Issue 2021 and beyond.
Consumers immediately recognize the superfruit status of
PAGE 1 cherries, cranberries, and blueberries. Dried or fresh, they
2021 Trend Focus: are whole food ingredients that deliver antioxidant, anti-
Immunity inflammatory, and bioactive compounds that strengthen
immunity, promote cardiovascular and cognitive health, aid
PAGE 2
Ingredient Spotlight: post-workout recovery, and promote better sleep. Graceland
Cherries Fruit infused dried fruit ingredients contribute delicious nutrition,
flavor, and texture, as well as important visual health cues, to a
PAGE 2
wide variety of food applications that support immune health,
Nutrition Spotlight:
Cherries
longevity, and well-being.
PAGE 3
Application Inspiration:
Snacks
PAGE 3
Grower Spotlight: Lutz
Farms
PAGE 4
What’s New at
Graceland Fruit
PAGE 4
Upcoming Industry
Events
PAGE 5
2021: The Year of Fruits &
Vegetables
February 2021 • Volume 1 • Issue 1
Ingredient Spotlight*:
Cherries
February is National Cherry Month. Celebrate this boldly tart,
deep red, on-trend superfruit!
Consistent with the growing demand for immunity boosting
foods is heightened interest in more tart, less sweet flavors.
Dubbed “sophisticated sour” by flavor house Virginia Dare,
consumers connect tart flavor profiles with health and
wellness. This is where delicious Montmorency cherries shine.
Nutrition These superfruits offer a multi-faceted sweet-tart flavor
Spotlight*: profile to a wide variety of foods and beverages sought out by
today’s health-conscious consumer. Versatile and nutritious,
Cherries consumers enjoy the distinctively delicious flavor of tart
Montmorecny cherries cherries in products that range from functional to permissibly
are packed with indulgent, from sweet to savory, and from appetizers to
natural antioxidants desserts.
and bioactive The distinctive sweet-tart flavor, bold color, and delightful
compounds texture of dried Montmorency cherries check all the food
• Are a good source of innovation boxes:
vitamin C, vitamin A
and copper • Flavor versatility: Pairs well with sweet, savory, and spicy
notes. Adds complexity and balance to sauces, dairy products,
• Provide 3g of fiber 56
trail mixes, nutrition bars/bites, breakfast cereals, confectionery,
mg of flavonoids
and even meat snacks.
• Are one of the few
natural food sources of • Functional: Tart cherries are recognized as a superfruit. The
melatonin scientific evidence supporting the health benefits of these
• Are emerging as deeply hued gems is immense and additional research is
meaningful aid in post- currently underway, especially related to sleep and exercise
exercise recovery recovery.
• Soothe symptoms of • Premium Appeal: Tart cherries help elevate the eating
arthritis and gout
experience, adding a touch of elegance to a recipe or
• Support heart heath processed product and enhancing its perceived quality.
and blood pressure
regulations • Pop of Color: The distinctive bold, bright red of tart cherries
*Per 1-cup serving; See
is due to their high concentration of natural anthocyanins.
ChooseCherries.com/ Consumers associate bright colors with high nutrition content,
Our Nutrition Story and as well as visual interest and Instagram-worthy appeal. Red
ChooseCherries.com/The is also a top color trend in food, evoking vitality, passion, and
Trend of the Tart for more positive energy.
details
• Michigan-grown: Consumers increasingly care about food
origins, with US-grown and connection to specific geographic
regions increasingly preferred.
2 February 2021 • Volume 1 • Issue 1
Application Inspiration: Did you
Snacks know?
• 85% of Americans
Consumers are snacking more than ever and looking for made changes in how
healthy options they eat due to the
pandemic (IFIC)
Snack category growth continues to outpace other food • 31% of consumers are
segments. With work and school from home still the norm, buying more products
consumers are increasingly shifting from the traditional “3 tailored for their health
meals a day” to more frequent “mini meals” throughout the (ADM)
day that can provide essential vitamins, minerals, nutrients, • 50% of consumers
and satisfaction. As many as 26% of US consumers snack prefer foods and
multiple times a day, and another third snack once a day; 38% beverages that
replace meals (usually lunch) with snacks at least occasionally naturally contain
beneficial ingredients
(IFIC). According to NPD, consumption of snack foods as meals
(ADM)
grew to 26% in 2020, and The Hartman Group research reports
that 48% of all food and beverage occasions are snacking • 48% of consumers plan
to purchase more
occasions.
health and wellness
Delicious, healthy snacks that support immunity and overall products (Softengine)
health and well-being are top choices. Consumers want • Immunity-boosting
snacks that provide real health benefits, especially parents food sales are
purchasing snacks for their children. Formulations that prioritize projected to reach $1
real, simple, whole food, and wholesome ingredients lead the trillion by 2023 (The
Food Institute)
pack. Nutrition bars, snack bars, and trail mixes fit the bill. They
can be personalized for functionality, taste, variety, and format. • February is National
Dried superfruits, like cherries, cranberries, and blueberries, Snack Food month
add nutritional value, along with bold pops of color, deliciously • 2/3 of adults are
intense flavor, and moist, chewy texture. Also trending: snack snacking at home
clusters and bites, and dried fruit jerky. more often (Harris Poll)
• 3/5 of adults are
Achieving balanced bar and trail mix blends requires ounce- choosing better-for-
perfect mixes, piece integrity, size precision, and flowability. you snacks; 56% buy
Graceland Fruit infused dried fruit ingredients deliver that and trail mixes; 55% buy
more: vibrant color throughout processing, snack bars
easy handling and storage, and extended shelf (Harris Poll)
life. Not to mention exceptional flavor, texture,
and nutrition.
Want to brainstorm ideas for new snack
products? Have a new snack concept you
want to explore? Need help with process
improvements? Our innovation team is here to
help.
3 February 2021 • Volume 1 • Issue 1
Upcoming
Industry
What’s New at
Events Graceland Fruit
We look forward Graceland Fruit® Starts 2021 with Renewed Focus, Brand,
to connecting with and Website
food manufacturers,
providers, and Welcome to the fresh new look of Graceland Fruit® Exceptional
innovators around Ingredients, and to the first edition of our monthly newsletter,
the world. Will you be Bits ‘n Pieces! We’re excited to unveil our updated brand identity,
there? We’d love to website, newsletter, and more, all created to better reflect our
set up a meeting. Let’s renewed focus on the commercial ingredient market and our
connect! heritage of exceptional product and service performance.
Refocused: In 2020, we ceased selling Graceland Fruit
branded consumer products at retail. We are once again
• Taipei Internatioal 100% laser-focused on delivering delightTM by supplying
Bakery Show exceptional ingredients to innovative consumer packaged
Taipei City Taiwan food, foodservice, and other food companies who develop,
March 26-29, 2021 manufacture, and market their own products and brands.
• Bakery China
Rebranded: With renewed channel and customer focus, we
Shanghai China
April 27-30, 2021 undertook a rigorous and comprehensive review of our brand
positioning and visual identity. The Graceland Fruit logo had
• IFT Nor-Cal Section
not changed since the company was founded in 1973. Our new
Suppliers Night Expo
Pleasonton, CA brand identity features a more contemporary logo that pays
May 11, 2021 homage to our Company’s heritage while adding prominence
to the brand name, better communicating our expertise,
• SIAL China
Shanghai, China and providing a design architecture and visual system that
May 18-20, 2021 supports future growth and innovation. Coupled with our new
tagline, We deliver delight™, the new Graceland Fruit brand
• Northeast Section
IFT Supplier Expo identity now serves as the foundation for all our touchpoints.
Worcester, MA
Renewed website: We are excited to have you explore our
May 19, 2021
completely reimagined, redesigned, and restructured digital
home base, GracelandFruit.com! We’ve enhanced functionality
to make it easy for you to learn more about our products,
our process, our growers, and our services. It also serves
as an on-demand resource center for product information,
industry trends and insights, and other tools to help you delight
your consumers and profitably grow your business. Most
importantly, we hope you find it is a source of inspiration for
use applications and innovation. We invite you to explore our
new site and learn more about how we deliver delight™ through
exceptional product and service performance.
Learn more about Graceland Fruit and our new brand identity
here.
4 February 2021 • Volume 1 • Issue 1
Grower
2021: The Spotlight: Lutz
Year of Farms
Fruits & Located in Northwest Mich-
igan, Lutz Farms has sup-
Vegetables
plied Graceland Fruit with
high-quality Montmorency
cherries since 1988. Lutz
Farms serves the commu-
United Nations Designation nity with the best in freshly
Recognizes Importance to farmed fruits and vegeta-
Human Nutrition, Health, bles, along with Christmas
Food Security trees and wreaths. The
Lutz Farms cherry orchard
The United Nations has designated 2021 the International Year is Michigan Agriculture
of Fruits and Vegetables (#IYFV), a year-long celebration to Environment Assurance
raise awareness around the globe of the importance of fruits Program (MAEAP) verified.
A fourth-generation family
and vegetables to both human and planetary health. The
farm, Lutz Farms was found-
objectives of IYFV 2021 include: ed in 1895 as a cattle ranch
• Raising awareness of and directing policy attention to by Matthew Lutz when
he moved to the US from
the nutrition and health benefits of fruit and vegetable
Germany. Today, Lutz Farms
consumption covers 975 acres and grows
cherries, strawberries,
• Promoting diversified, balanced, and healthy diets and pumpkins, other assorted
lifestyles through fruit and vegetable consumption garden vegetables,
and Christmas
• Reducing losses and waste in the fruit and vegetable
trees. The
food system operation
is run by
• Sharing best practices on promotion of
Calvin
consumption, sustainable production and supply II and
chains, integration of small farm holders, and food his wife
waste reduction Julie,
with help
Fruit and vegetable ingredients play an important from
role in this global initiative. They’re nutrient-dense, their three
versatile, and offer extended shelf life. Learn more children.
about #IYFV and how you can participate here.
Graceland Fruit, Inc. is a leading producer and global distributor of premium quality
dried fruit ingredients for the food industry. Our exceptional product and service
performance make it easy for innovative food manufacturers and providers to create
delicious, on-trend products to surprise and delight their consumers.
GracelandFruit.com © Graceland Fruit, Inc. All Rights Reserved
5 February 2021 • Volume 1 • Issue 1
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