Surviving food fads & fad diets: food fads are like hurricanes. They come in rather violently, stay for a while and then pass on leaving behind a marketing mess and a big hole in the budget. Here are some innovative ideas on how to survive in the long run.

Many of you will remember when oat bran was the hot food fad in the 1980s. It would lower your cholesterol promised the ads and, as a result, oat bran was going into everything. It was already in cereals, but because of the "good news," it went into pretzels, specialty breads, muffins, bagels and a host of other bakery products. After a while, its efficacy in controlling cholesterol was deflated, and many of the new-kids-on-the-block started to outlive their codes and began disappearing from the store shelves.

Then came the low-fat craze in the '90s based on the Surgeon General's nutrition study that warned Americans to reduce the amount of fat in their diets. Suddenly, 20% of all new food products were positioned as "low-fat" entries. It wasn't very long before the low-fat trend began sliding, until only a few major weight-reducing brands survived. Low-fat products also had the handicap of not tasting as good as the original product from which the fat was degreased. The idea was great, but the taste was not, and that was obvious on the first bite.

As we travel the nation and evaluate store shelves, it is evident that the carb craze has peaked and is now in the decline stage of the product life cycle. We have seen a number of low-carbohydrate food products fall prey to de-listing in the past six months due to poor turns and inadequate margin contribution to the category. Look for more to come soon.

Certainly, that trend toward delisting is evident in the bakery section. Let's put it bluntly. The bulk of these low-carb attempts at product innovation by the baking industry flat out taste bad. After the investment in trial-generating tactics dry up, consumers are not making repeat purchases, and as a result, there is no franchise.

Rather, consumers are saying things like, "I may as well have eaten the package." Unfortunately, we agree. The consumer is making the decision for the marketers. Bottom line? They will not give up taste in exchange for lower levels of carbs.

More Cost, Less Taste

Some sweet baked goods manufacturers are now trying less sugar or sugar-free products to breathe life into declining brand franchises. Unless consumers suffer from diabetes, why would they buy and consume these products? They cost more and have less taste. Think about it. When you investigate the sugar substitutes being used, you'll find that, from a health standpoint, they are worse for you than full-sugar products.