SEATTLE, Jan. 5, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital connectivity may be driving stress rates up, but it's also helping to bring us together over food and drink. Whether around the dining table or in social media conversations, food has emerged as a way to come together around matters of taste, ethics, culture and sociability.

These insights emerge from the MSLGROUP's annual list of top food trends compiled by its highly specialized food marketing and PR team, appearing as a sharable infographic. Last year, the agency's forecast was viewed more than 100,000 times. Past forecasts have spotted the emergence of major marketplace successes, including turmeric, coconut, ugly produce, urban gardens and coffee as an ingredient.

MSLGROUP's food and beverage experts monitor trends and industry research, and counsel America's food industry from farm to fork. Each year the expert team collectively synthesizes insights from extensive reviews of industry developments, attendance at a dozen industry meetings, and analysis of sector sales data.

"Following a year of discord and division over the politics of governance, consumers in 2017 will turn to something we can all agree on; namely, food and drink," said Steve Bryant, Director, North America Food & Beverage Marketing & PR, MSLGROUP.

"Shared food will bring us together with a greater force than ever before, aided in many ways by technology. Think of it as a powerful glue that is binding us in new and different ways."

Joy Blakeslee, the registered dietitian who directs the MSLGROUP's North America Culinary & Nutrition Center, part of the prediction team, pointed to five ways in which our interconnected food culture will drive conversations:


    --  Technology Will Radically Remake Food Acquisition - Paradoxically, we
        will increasingly depend on technology to provide "all natural" food and
        drink - exactly when, where and how we want it. Food delivery and meal
        kit services will continue to change our food ways...and yet continue to
        face profitability questions. In 2017, SmartLabel technology will also
        allow us to know practically anything about the foods we eat and drink.
        The resulting "extreme transparency" will challenge foodmakers, delight
        some consumers and overwhelm others.
    --  Consumers Will Act to Limit Food Waste - Sustainability experts have
        gotten their message across: Our society is wasting food to a shameful
        degree. Consumers feel this at an emotional level, and will respond in
        2017 with thoughtful food waste reduction efforts - from zero-waste
        recipes, such as carrot-top pesto, to snout-to-tail butchery. The
        associated cost savings will make this a trend that sticks.
    --  Food Will Pervade Social Media Conversations of All Kind - With food
        emerging as the leading topic of conversation on social platforms, food
        bloggers have become powerful social influencers with four times the
        following of other bloggers. That's only natural - food is a common
        interest with endless variety and frequent consumption. Food attracts
        clicks in huge numbers. That's why in 2017, every consumer brand manager
        will be asking: How can we use food to start a conversation about our
        brand?
    --  Consumers Will Rely More on Nourishment for Healing - As the
        pharmaceutical industry's reputation continues to suffer, life
        expectancy declines and the health insurance landscape faces
        destabilization, consumers will invest differently in their health. In
        2017, food will increasingly become their favored "medicine," in both
        meals and food-based supplements. Even doctors will increasingly get on
        board.
    --  Brands will become Hyper-responsive to Consumers - Reviews and ratings
        have reached a high art, and consumers - especially younger ones - won't
        even think about buying a product or meal without them, even if the
        expense is modest. Knowing this, marketers will be going all out to
        rapidly craft and evolve food and beverage products to win raves and
        thereby consumption. Products debuting to bad reviews may be withdrawn
        as quickly as a panned Broadway show. Online food shopping will continue
        to thrive, in part because the reviews are baked in.

"Smart marketers will tap into these trends as an opportunity for growth," said Blakeslee. "They all have the potential to drive consumer engagement through product development and promotion, social media engagement, and media and influencer engagement."

About MSLGROUP's Food & Beverage Team
 A category leader, the Food & Beverage team of MSLGROUP is devoted to creating economic value for the nation's food and beverage industry. It operates in offices throughout North America, representing leading food and beverage brands, and manages a state-of-the-art Culinary & Nutrition Center in Seattle.

About MSLGROUP
 MSLGROUP is Publicis Groupe's strategic communications and engagement group, advisors in all aspects of communication strategy: from consumer PR to financial communications, from public affairs to reputation management and from crisis communications to experiential marketing and events. With more than 3,000 people across more than 110 offices worldwide, MSLGROUP is also the largest PR network in Europe, fast-growing China and India. The group offers strategic planning and counsel, insight-guided thinking and big, compelling ideas - followed by thorough execution.
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About Publicis Groupe- The Power of One
 Publicis Groupe [Euronext Paris FR0000130577, CAC 40] is a global leader in marketing, communication, and digital transformation. Active across the entire value chain, from consulting to creation, and production, Publicis Groupe offers its clients a transversal, unified and fluid model allowing them access to all the Groupe's tools and expertise around the world. Publicis Groupe is organized across four Solutions hubs: Publicis Communications, Publicis Media, Publicis.Sapient and Publicis Health. These 4 Solutions hubs operate across principle markets and are carried across all others by Publicis One. Publicis One is a fully-integrated services offering making the Groupe's expertise available to all clients under one roof. Present in over 100 countries, Publicis Groupe employs nearly 80,000 professionals.

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SOURCE MSLGROUP