Baby boomers will control 52% of the total dollars spent on groceries, making them the largest food influencers and making iconic brands like Orville Redenbacher and Reddi-wip even more important, according to Phil Lempert, founder of Food Nutrition & Science and CEO of The Lempert Report and SupermarketGuru.com. Lempert’s Top 10 Food Trends for 2012 is featured in an article in the December issue of Food Nutrition & Science.

For more than 30 years, Lempert has predicted the top 10 food trends for the upcoming year. In 2012, Lempert says to expect farmers to become the next big food-celebrities and for mobile phones to become the new way to check out at a market.

“2012 is going to be an interesting year,” says Lempert. “Food prices will continue to increase, but more people – including dads – will cook at home. While technology in the store will move us forward, resurrected nostalgic brands will remind us of the past.”

Also in this month’s Food Nutrition & Science, an article on fat with results from a study that explain how good fats are actually essential to a person’s diet, and an update with Frito Lay’s Senior Director of Sustainability, Al Halvorsen, who discusses the company’s sustainability efforts – including completing a ‘Near Net Zero’ plant in Arizona and moving on to creating the most fuel-efficient transportation fleet in the country.

December’s Food Nutrition & Science includes information about a recent report that concludes a majority of people are concerned about the amount of food being discarded daily. According to Unilever’s World Menu Report Global Research Findings 2011, 84% of respondents are worried about the amount of food being thrown away at home and in restaurants.

Unilever talked to 3,500 people – from eight countries representing both the developed and developing world – who eat out at least once a week. Their first key concern is that there is too much professional food-waste. The second key concern is making sure that food-waste disposal is environmentally-friendly.

Other research results include a study from the University of Minnesota that examines if nutrition-facts labels are optimally designed to help consumers make healthier food-choices.

“The study shows that consumers have a limited attention span when it comes to reading nutrition-facts labels,” says Lempert. “Since they stick to the top few lines, they may miss important nutrition information that could be stored lower on the list that is important to their health and wellness. This is an opportunity for grocers to connect with their clients by educating them on labels and improving merchandising.”

Food Nutrition & Science also includes a video tour with St. Paul, Minnesota sheep Farmer Malissa Schentzel, and an article about ‘School Dudes,’ an innovative cafeteria ambassador-program in Forest City, Pennsylvania,  where students create and promote menu items.

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Unilever Food Solutions’ latest World Menu Report, “Sustainable Kitchens: Reducing Food Waste” demonstrates the issue of food waste hits a nerve with U.S. consumers who eat out at least once a week. Nearly 80 percent of U.S. diners surveyed express concern about the amount of food thrown away every day in restaurants, cafeterias and other out-of-home venues.

A single restaurant in the U.S. can produce approximately 25,000-75,000 pounds of food waste in a year depending on the size of the establishment, according to an extensive analysis of restaurants by the Green Restaurant Association (GRA).

The global report, commissioned by Unilever Food Solutions, surveyed 4,000 diners in the United States,United Kingdom, Germany, China, Russia, Poland, Brazil and Turkey to measure consumers’ attitudes toward the food service industry’s food waste disposal methods and sustainability practices.

The report’s focus on sustainability highlights one of the fundamental initiatives that Unilever Food Solutions is dedicated to addressing through its enhanced consultation services, specifically its “Your Kitchen” service. Through this service area, Unilever Food Solutions works with restaurant chefs and operators and provides tools to help chefs run efficient kitchens that help them work smarter rather than harder.

“The findings of the World Menu Report demonstrate that the spotlight on food waste is extending from in home to out of home,” said Kara Phillips, channel marketing manager at Unilever Food Solutions. “Research has shown that a high proportion of food wasted in professional kitchens is generated at the preparation stage, so we have a role to play in helping chefs and operators to reduce these waste levels.”

Food waste comprises about half of a restaurant’s waste stream and is the largest component of landfills(1). The World Menu Report findings noted that 72 percent are concerned with the environmentally friendly disposal of food waste and more than 60 percent felt that there should be more transparency about the sustainable practices of restaurants.

The World Menu Report also noted that reducing food waste can provide financial benefits for operators, including a reduction in disposal costs and increased kitchen efficiency. In addition, nearly half of the surveyed U.S. diners say they would spend more for meals at restaurants and food service locations that are taking steps to limit food waste.

With Americans spending 49 percent of their food budget in the restaurant community, the impact restaurant chefs, operators and their guests can make on reducing food waste is very significant.

As part of a global effort, Unilever Food Solutions North America is kicking off a nationwide program, “United Against Waste,” designed to help the foodservice industry tackle the issue of food waste by creating awareness, providing tools and resources and sharing best practices with operators in all sectors of the industry.

“Small, incremental steps can result in big differences – and we need to do more than simply spark debate about this topic,” said Steven Jilleba, CMC executive chef, Unilever Food Solutions North America. “As an industry, we need to look at stock management, menu flexibility, portion sizes and many other elements involved in the journey from farm to fork in order to be able to begin tackling this problem.”

Chefs and operators looking to improve their sustainability practices and reduce food waste at their restaurants can visit www.unileverfoodsolutions.us/reducewaste. Through this website, interested operators will be able to:

• View the full World Menu Report: “Sustainable Kitchens: Reducing Food Waste”
• Access tips and best practices for reducing food waste
• Join the “United Against Waste” campaign and receive an informational packet.  It includes campaign decals for restaurant entrance doors or windows and back-of-house food waste receptacles to show participation and a commitment to tackling the issue.
• Request a one-on-one consultation with a Unilever Food Solutions representative to help pinpoint specific sustainability practices they can implement in their restaurants
• Submit their food waste reduction best practices and success stories

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