SugarCreek: Brandworthy Food Solutions

In the food industry, there's always a new "enemy" that consumers want us to dispatch. In the 1980s, it was fat. In the 1990s, it was sugar. In the last decade, we have at various times been tasked with getting rid of trans-fats, carbs, gluten and now preservatives.

So in the face of constantly shifting consumer demands, how can food companies develop innovative foods that stay ahead of expectations? We have one word for you: research.

Retailers' shift toward incorporating of more innovative "smart" technologies figures to be a hot trend in the food market in 2015.

According to Food Production Daily's Jenni Spinner, the race is on for retailers to realize more efficiencies and better returns on investment by employing active and intelligent packaging features, such as radio frequency identification (RFID) sensors, nanotech, 3-D printed packaging, organic packaging, printed electronics and even bioelectronics.

In the food industry, the temptation to cut corners and increase profits is always strong. Most of us are already operating on slim margins, so anything we can do to get a leg up and squeeze out a few more pennies is a positive.

Except when it's not. Just ask Steve Ells, the founder of innovative, "fast and fresh" food industry trendsetter Chipotle.

We've talked a lot on this blog about how the consumer habits of the Millennial generation are reshaping the food market. Food marketers are increasingly seeking new ways to attract Millennial dollars: designing new, innovative food packaging, marketing via social media and revamping menus.

Younger Americans are more health-conscious than their Baby Boomer parents. They value things like organic produce, exotic tastes and locally-sourced ingredients. But why? What informs this generational shift?

Organic. Gluten free. Cupcakes. Bacon on everything.

These days, when a new food trend first rises to popularity, there’s no telling if the innovation will flame out quickly or catch on and become not just a trend but a permanent addition to restaurant menus, packaged meals and dinners eaten at home.

Packaging is not just a way to contain a product or to ship it. It is a marketing strategy that glamorizes each item, and how something looks is a key selling point for food brands and with consumers.

As the rest of the world looks back at what was in 2014, the smart product developer or marketing firm is already considering innovative food packaging designs for the new year. Consider the following trends that will influence the success of packaging design in 2015.

There's no question that humanity is going to have to rely on the food industry to continue to come up with new ways of feeding the world's growing population. From increasing agricultural efficiency to finding different ways of achieving the same nutritional goals, the need for innovation is critical and ever increasing.

But this year, we may have seen the advent of what may end up being the most promising new food technology in human history: 3D food printing. And already, the technology is changing the way food producers and food entrepreneurs are thinking about business.

In 2010, DuPont formed an advisory committee to address the growth of the world's population— projected to exceed 9 billion individuals by 2050— and the potential challenges that growth poses for the security of the global food supply.

"The confluence of changing demographics, and consumer food preferences, substantial increases in population, scarcity of resources and climate change presents the human race with one of its most substantial challenges to date," the committee advised. "Increasing rates of malnutrition will not just require more calories, but more nutritious food."

Without a doubt, one of the hottest new trends in food service over the past decade has been the shift away from casual dining (think Applebee's and Chili's) and fast food, toward the hybridized "fast casual" concept (i.e., Chipotle, Five Guys and Panera).

But that's not where the story ends.

Innovation can often come from unexpected sources of inspiration. Take, for example, ColaLife— a United Kingdom-based charity which noticed that deliveries of Coca-Cola, made to virtually every corner of the globe, included quite a bit of empty, unused space between bottles.

Taking a page from the Internet and web-based packet switching— which delivers small groupings of information, using dynamic bandwidth allocation techniques, in response to changing data loads— ColaLife packages much-needed medical supplies, like oral rehydration salts and nutritional supplements, to developing countries by piggybacking shipments and leveraging the empty, inter-bottle spaces on Coca-Cola palettes.