Innovations in Food, Part One
“I know I can’t trust what’s written on the labels, and that if I don’t put all my attention into it, I’ll end up eating something that’s not good for me.”
It’s no surprise that there’s a deep trust crisis in the Big Food industry. For decades, we’ve been bombarded with messages about what we should and shouldn’t eat. Our understanding of the economic interests that fuel our decisions around health weren’t in our hands, but in others’. Our favorite childhood brands now opt to tap into our nostalgia for the old times to find new footholds in the market (insert your favorite cookie brand here!). Meanwhile, food startups are literally transforming the industry, and setting a pace that big companies can’t keep up with. Most importantly, they’re doing it through products and services that are connecting with values that people are beginning to think more deeply about.
The food industry faces huge challenges. For starters, it’s considered a key player in the new global generation. It aspires to be a sustainable model that ensures food security for all, while reducing food-related health issues around the world. As designers, we’re given the opportunity to take a part in this but, where should we start?
Looking at the Big Picture
After years of exploring this industry and talking with people about their relationship with food, there’s one thing that stands out above everything else: Our relationship with food is based on habits which form, not with one specific moment, but by repeating actions over time. They are based on cycles which can be easily tracked.
As a former industrial designer, I was always asked to design packaging that was appealing and beautiful enough so people would want to touch it and buy it. Working with clients across different industries I’ve also learned to understand the importance they give to commercial strategies that translate, among others, into offers. I won’t say those aspects aren’t important, but I’ve always felt there was too much focus on one specific moment: the moment of sale. As complex as people are, why are we focusing on only a few seconds of their lives? Aren’t we missing the whole picture? How about we explore a more holistic approach that includes every interaction that happens before, during and after the purchase? That’s when we really go from product to experience, from a business-centered approach to a human-centered one.
How do we do it? We add Service Design to the mix.
Service Design, meet Food Industry. Food Industry, meet Service Design.
When visualizing food habits through a user journey, we’re defining all the touch-points, from grocery stores to e-commerce webpages and artifacts like the packaging, labels or the food itself. All of them play a role in the experience people live when discovering, purchasing and eating their food so we can better understand how these habits are created. Nevertheless, the story doesn’t end here. We still need to find a way to connect the user’s experience with the food industry business. First, let me share some thoughts about what we discovered when talking to people about this.
When making decisions around food, more and more people want to know what went into the creation of it. Where did my food grow? How were animals treated? Are workers’ labor rights being respected? Consumers will no longer deal with lack of transparency around what they eat and are already requesting Big Food retail players to change. In other cases, they are completely changing their buying habits and turning towards more traditional markets, such as farmer’s markets, neighborhood stores or online business. This is changing the way people access their food, where they buy it, and how they interact with products themselves in order to make a decision (beginning with the packaging and its labeling).
“When I was diagnosed with celiac disease, I went to the supermarket and spent an entire afternoon looking at the labels. There was nothing I could safely eat there.”
Escarlata, 36-years-old, Spain
Food’s impact on health is now a well-known subject consumers care about.
There’s nowhere to hide. People know their choices around food will impact their health, and expect food brands to make their lives easier around their new habits. That means convenience is still at the top of the list,
“I was never worried about food and health until I had my first child. Then I realized how little I knew about it, and how big of an impact it has.”
— Natalia, 32-years-old, Spain
Environmental awareness is increasing. Consumers expect food brands to take the lead.
Food waste is one of the most urgent global problems that needs solving. Every step of the production chain, from farming to packaging, deeply influences people’s choices. The more solutions food brands offer around these issues, the better appreciated they are by those who care about the future of the planet.
“I have a couple brands I trust. I don’t even need to read their labels, which saves me a lot of time. Whatever new product they bring, I’m willing to try it.”
— Mari, 27-years-old, Mexico
Finding like-minded community.
Decisions around where to buy and what to eat are, more than ever, a deeply impactful lifestyle choice that people make from day to day. These choices, in turn, are proliferated through social media, and build community around those value systems. Be it around tradition or technology, food has a strong capacity to generate community. People understand that their food habits define a big part of their overall lifestyle and mindset, and connect them with others that share the same interests and values.
“I’ve never talked about food with people this much. I ask friends and follow bloggers that I feel can help me on my journey.”
— Juan, 36-years-old, Spain
Four critical conversations:
These insights summarize, in four different categories, what we call the universe of food, which allows us to grasp the very complex ecosystem of food and turn it into something we can work with.
- Access to food
- Consumption and health
- Environmental Impact
- Connections with others
Using these as an index, we brainstormed all the different dimensions we could explore around the food industry and used them to create a map. It may vary with time, but they define a good starting point for those who want to transform and help the industry move towards a new, more aware, and sustainable direction.
In following articles, we will explore how this map can help us change the way we approach our customer’s understanding in a different way, as well as the business strategy itself. For now, I’ll leave you with a little exercise. Look at the map and think “as a designer, big company, startup…where am I now? Where do I see myself?”
