Mintel in the Media – this week's highlights

It was non-stop coverage for Mintel this week, starting in the UK with the organic report which hit the headlines at the beginning of the week. Mintel’s Alex Beckett was called upon to comment on sales of organic food in Reuters “Organic is not a top priority for the majority of consumers at the moment, who are more likely to reach for products bearing Fairtrade, locally-sourced or animal welfare claims…the irony is of course that organic food must comply by the strictest animal welfare standards – people don’t seem to realise this,” comments Beckett. The story then went on to gain some impressive coverage in the Guardian and Yahoo both of which quoted Alex.

Still with food, Mintel’s David Jago was quoted in Food Manufacture talking about how confectioners have more to do after the Nestle ‘no ads’ claim. Our offal research was also quoted on BBC Breakfast.

Meanwhile, our “Kinetique” trend continues to hit the headlines, this time in Skininc which talks about how Mintel forecasts “Kinetique” as Key Trend for 2012 and also in Cosmetic Business and Cosmetic Design.

Onto travel, we achieved some impressive coverage showing the strength of Mintel’s research which was highlighted in The Independent in an article titled – the price is right on an all-inclusive holiday. The article cited “The increase in interest in paying for everything up front – up 32 per cent from 2004 to 2009, according to Mintel – was enough to persuade First Choice to reconsider its business model.”

In addition, Mintel’s Jane Westgarth, was quoted in The Sun talking about opticians saying: “Much of the true cost of dispensing a pair of spectacles is tied up with the operating costs associated with running an optician business”. Our recent underwear report was also featured in The Sun this week in an article titled “Lidl helps ladies tighten belts.” One in ten women has worn shape wear to improve her figure, according to market research Mintel.

Last week’s booming nail bar story also continues to thrive, this week Mintel was quoted in the Herald Scotland in Barry Didcock’s Diary in an article titled – Why nails? Because having them done is an “affordable treat” in these straitened economic times, says Vivienne Rudd of market research company Mintel.

The Financial Times used Mintel’s precious metal jewellery data in an article titled “Scrap metal: Think twice before putting your heirlooms up for sale”. The piece referenced how a recent Mintel report claimed 14.5m British adults own precious metal jewellery they never wear.

Our senior Financial Analyst Toby Clark featured on BBC Look East discussing Aviva (see 19.15) the piece also featured Mintel’s insurance data. While our freshly published “The Consumer & Economic Outlook” report was quoted in AOL Money in an article titled “Celebrity trivia makes a mess of money” and The Drum.

Retail expert Richard Perks was quoted in The Telegraph talking about John Lewis saying “They really are a brilliant and consistent operator. And they are firing on all cylinders.” Meanwhile, news of our new packaging specialist Benjamin Punchard made it to Daily Research News Online and Beauty Packaging. Finally, our coffee research hit the headlines in the Irish Independent in an article titled “Better late than never: how caffeine fix boosts recovery”

Over in the rest of Europe we had some amazing coverage for our latest Stevia data which featured on Ansa and Informazione.it in Italy and in the Spanish beronews , WWD.de in Switzerland and in Germany DGAP-Medien Treff. Commenting on the figures provided by the leading global supplier of consumer product and media intelligence, Mintel, Hans Heezen Chairman of the ISA said: “These figures are extremely encouraging and show that around the world, food and drink manufacturers are responding to growing consumer demands for more lower calorie options.”

Meanwhile, our Inspire trend “Slow it all Down” was featured in La Nueva Espagna and other Spanish regionals including Diario de Maiorca, La Opinion de Tenerife and La Opinion de Zamora, where our Richard Cope was extensively quoted.

Paul was also quoted in Adelaide Now in an article titled “Miners warping the China dialogue”. The same story also made it in to News.com.

And over in the Chicago press office, our press release on the Ethnic Foods industry that quoted David Browne and included trend insights from Alex Smith, continued to be a hot topic amongst journalists. It was picked up by Food Technology, Grocery Headquarters and FoodNavigator USA. Other boast-worthy coverage included a story in The New York Times that used our nutrition and energy bar data to beef up a profile of a new energy bar campaign.

This was also a great week for Mintel Comperemedia, as their direct mail data and keen insight from Andrew Davidson appeared in Chief Marketer,CardRatings.com, MarketWatch and The Wall Street Journal.

Next up, our knowledge of the natural and organic personal care industry was referenced by New Hope 360° for a story about trends to watch at this week’s Expo West Conference, while The Minneapolis Star-Tribune included commentary from Marcia Mogelonsky, global food analyst for a piece about sugar content in new breakfast cereals.

Yet another Mintel expert was quoted in Crain’s Chicago Business. Eric Giandelone, director of foodservice research suggested that Giordano’s revamp their menu to attract new customers in light of their restructuring efforts. Also of note, Lynn Dornblaser was interviewed by another Chicago favorite, The Chicago Tribune for an article about the popularity of pouch packaging that also included product launch numbers from our Global New Products Database (GNPD).

Keeping up the coverage, Vivienne Rudd, head of beauty and personal care was quoted in a Daily Finance story about nail art trends and expertise from Sebastian Concha, global drink analyst was sought out by Convenience Store News for an overview of the private label bottled water market.

Closing out the week, HispanicMPR referenced some data from our Teens and Tweens Beauty Market report that discussed the cosmetic habits of young girls while Happi utilized our insight for a piece about the skincare industry.