Just before Xmas I had lunch with the retired MD of one of the UK’s largest advertising agencies. I rambled on about my interest in 50+ marketing and why I thought it was going to become such an important issue. My hosted politely nodded and when I had finished said “Dick, this is all fascinating stuff but what does it mean to a marketing, communications or brand manger. What concrete steps should they take as a result of the aging population? Having sat through countless presentations about this subject, I am still left with the question – so what!”
He has a very good point. So, I have decided my New Year resolution will be to concentrate on the ‘so what’ and less on the ‘did you know’ issues. This brings me to the first ever National Bread Summit, organised by the National Bread Leadership Council, to discuss the decline in bread sales. This event brought together the great and good of the bread industry to get to grips with these unpalatable facts. 40 percent of Americans are eating less bread, compared with a year ago since over 32 million Americans are now on low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets. Wheat flour production is down 6 percent during the past three years, resulting in a reducing market for bread and pasta.
The main culprit of this change in eating habits is the boomer generation who have embraced the Atkins diet with a vengeance.
Who knows if this change in eating habits may be a permanent? What it does show is how the attitudes of a large group of people can have a radical effect on an industry in a very short space of time. Classical marketing wisdom would tell us that the 40-50s year olds had purchasing habits set in concrete. Tell that to the marketing, product and brand managers of US bread and pasta companies.
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