Changing habits

I have written it down quite a few times – just like others did – that life consistently proves: apart from death, the only other certainty in life is change. What is more, this applies not just to one component, but to dozens at once – the economy, regulations, business practices, the climate, epidemics, consumer habits, nutrition, trends that we consider good or bad and even ourselves.

The world and the events in our lives are accelerating, so change is also speeding up, trends are becoming shorter and just like in the world of animals, the ability to adapt becomes fundamental in our civilisation. This is difficult, of course. As individuals, we can turn right or left relatively quickly, but the larger an organisation or company is, the slower it is able to do so, even though consumers can quickly decide to do something differently today than they did yesterday, and their habits change if they do something differently often enough and soon these new habits become natural. So people quickly switch from butter to margarine, then back to butter and then again back to margarine…

This year I was fortunate enough to be there at the world’s biggest food industry show, the Anuga in Cologne. It was the biggest Anuga ever: nearly 8,300 exhibitors on almost 300,000 square metres, and about 150,000 visitors in 5 days. These are incomprehensible numbers and dimensions, as is the feeling of being a single point in such a huge crowd.

But it was just as surreal when I found myself confronted with my impressions from roughly 20-25 years ago: once again, the meat pavilions attracted the biggest interest and the most visitors this year. Enormous stands with giant meat displays, large refrigerators and maturing rooms, and a plethora of real products, stands filled with crowds of people and queues waiting for a negotiation… In contrast, two-thirds of one of the largest pavilions advertised as offering alternatives were occupied by companies that didn’t showcase alternatives, while the remaining area had a wonderful selection, with lots of innovative product presentations…

One starts to wonder: could it be that so many respected company leaders are wrong? Or do they know something that, interestingly, they haven’t been vocal about until now? Where are the giant meat substitute stands and the hybrid innovations offering meat and alternatives? How can the innovation showcases be missing so many animal product substitute solutions…?

Well, times are changing, as are trends, consumers, the economy, wallets, needs… and indeed, all over the world corporate decision-makers are sitting in their chairs because they know which trends are worth jumping on and what is worth investing in – and the formula comes together every two years at Anuga. Companies show where they are headed and which way consumers are going, what is worth focusing on as a business. That is really all there is to it. Oh, and what is the new direction? Quality, not free-from!

The change will appear on store shelves already tomorrow and then in the refrigerators at home. The sustainability of the world must be put together differently, found in other things, while innovation remains at the forefront, but the cornerstone of change is always being able to think in new directions. It seems that the trend is changing again, we are turning in other directions and this is already woven into the fabric of our everyday lives today – and it will continue to be so tomorrow.

Best regards,

Zsuzsanna Hermann, Editor in Chief