Enhancing our Products
Innovating with New Products
The industry recognizes that there is an overall trend toward healthier lifestyles and an increased focus on health prevention. And we know that consumers are looking for products that offer convenience and help them live a healthy active life. Food manufacturers are delivering to address a wide range of consumer dietary needs. Manufacturers offer alternative options within each product category such as reduced fat, sugar and salt. As well, manufacturers offer a breadth of products from vegetarian fare to basic staples to special indulgences.
In order to keep pace with scientific advancement and respond to consumer preferences food manufacturers are reviewing all aspects of their products including nutrient profiles, especially fat, trans fat and salt, and portion sizes. Manufacturers are introducing products such as salad in a bag, yogurt in tubes and fruit and energy bars, one of the fastest growing product categories. Consumers are buying products that save time and promote nutrition and health. Some of the fastest growing product categories include energy bars and drinks (81%), diet meal replacements (44%), water (36%) and soya drinks (28%).
In the future, the food manufacturing industry wants to continue providing innovative products that meet consumers' dietary needs. In order to keep pace with product research and consumer demands, we need to modernize Canada's regulations so we can better serve Canadians' needs tomorrow. We've already made significant progress with regard to providing more nutrition information to consumers on food packages. Further progress in areas such as fortifying foods with vitamins and minerals would provide consumers with even more innovative products, for example, orange juice that is fortified with calcium.