Pasta products are redesigned to be made with minimal effort
Implications - Staying competitive in the ready-to-eat category, CPG brands are eliminating mundane tasks from consumer lifestyles, to the point where boiling water to cook pasta is becoming passé. With increasingly busy schedules, the modern consumer has come to expect instant gratification in all areas, resulting in innovative noodles that are fast, portable and most of all, convenient.
Workshop Question - What are some steps in your consumers' journey that could be easily eliminated?
Trend Themes
1. Convenient Pasta Options - As consumers demand increasingly time-saving solutions, pasta products continue to evolve to be ready-to-eat or quick-cooking.
2. Improved Nutritional Value of Instant Noodles - As the instant noodle market faces negative publicity for being high in sodium and unhealthy, new developments in fortified flavors and healthy ingredients are emerging.
3. Alternative Cooking Methods - As consumers seek out time-saving cooking solutions, alternative cooking methods like microwaving and dehydrating gain popularity.
Industry Implications
1. Food and Beverage Industry - In order to keep up with the demands of busy consumers, businesses within the food and beverage industry need to stay innovative in producing quick and healthy meal options.
2. Packaging Industry - As more companies move towards on-the-go meal options, packaging solutions that are compostable, recyclable or biodegradable are becoming increasingly important.
3. Kitchen Appliance Industry - As consumers require quicker and easier meal preparation methods, innovations in kitchen appliances like microwaves and small portable stoves may become more popular.
