Healthy oils are good for business

The quarter's record sales were attributed to the growing awareness - by consumers and the food industry - in the US of the need to include healthy oils in a diet. Spectrum Organic produces and sells a wide range of industrial oils, vinegar and nutritional ingredients, which are free from hydrogenation and genetically modified organisms.

The company reported net sales for the three months ending 31 March 2005 of $13,243,000 compared to $12,733,100 for the same period last year, a growth rate of 4 percent.

Moreover, Spectrum reported net income for the quarter of $29,800 versus a net loss of $109,000 for the first quarter of 2004.

"Our first quarter sales were an all-time record, with moderate growth delivered in all three of the company's business segments,"​ said Neil Blomquist, the firm's CEO. "We also managed to deliver a small profit for the quarter, despite heavy sales and marketing expenses associated with the Expo-West trade show held in March and the shutdown of our Iowa manufacturing facility for equipment upgrades during March."​

Organic and low/no sugar are the tags food manufacturers should be looking at adding to their packaging if they want their products to enjoy strong and sustained growth, AC Nielsen announced last week.

The market research company said that organic and no-/low-sugar "magic bullets"​ stand out from the rest for their ability to generate especially strong and sustained growth.

"Clearly, many consumers want to lose weight and eat more healthily overall,"​ said Alice Fawver, senior vice president of marketing for ACNielsen US.

"The sales numbers show that people will flock toward diets that promise results. However, keeping people on such diets has proven more challenging. The good-for-you product segments that are enjoying the most sustained success are those that offer health benefits without requiring a whole new way of eating."​