Clean Oil Crew seizes on rising consumer interest in good fat to promote awareness

Debuting at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim last week, the Clean Oil Crew, spearheaded by snack brand LesserEvil and including A Dozen Cousins, Cappello’s, Primal Kitchen and RIND Snacks, wants to educate consumers about products made with “good fats including butter, ghee, olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil and nut oils instead of vegetable and seed oils​ [although nutritionists might take issue with the characterization of ghee, butter, and coconut oil - which are all high in saturated fat - as good fats]."

The idea for the coalition came to LesserEvil CEO Charles Coristine when he saw an uptick in the natural foods industry of use of sunflower oil, vegetable oil, linseed oil and other seed oils that he does not consider as “clean​” or beneficial to human health.

“While we are not going to go out and say one oil is better than the other oil,”​ the coalition plans to educate consumers about the profiles of different fats and oils, he said.

For example, Coristine noted the coalition is “going after first”​ vegetable oil, which he claimed “badly skews”​ the omega-3 and -6 ratio. He explained, an ideal ratio of omega-3 to -6 is between one to one and one to four, but the American diet more typically fosters a ratio of one to 17 for omega-3 to -6. According to mainstream health organizations this imbalance is associated with inflammation and a higher risk of chronic diseases.

The campaign also will highlight how different fats and oils are processed, including the use of hexane for chemical extraction, and the potential impact of those processes on consumers’ health, added Caitlin Mack, director of brand marketing for LesserEvil.

Much of this information will be conveyed via the campaign’s new landing page​, which also includes direct links to purchase products from participating brands, and through social media, she said.

“This campaign really aims to build awareness among consumers to check the back of your packaging and really look at what is going into these products, and … from there share why we use coconut oil, why we use avocado oil and education more on the benefits and whys of that versus demonizing any type of food,”​ added Mack.

Raising awareness and increasing access to better-for-you products​

In addition to educating consumers about different fats and oils, Mack said the coalition wants to make better-for-you products made with “good fats​” more accessible, which is why for a limited time it is selling for $17 a starter pack of select products from participating brands worth $50 at retail.

“We know that sometimes a barrier is the cost of some of these better-for-you products. So, we wanted to offer this starter kit for sale on our website, which features all the brands, as a place to start,”​ Mack said.

The starter pack includes A Dozen Cousins’ Cuban Black Beans, vouchers for Cappello’s keto and almond flour pizzas, LesserEvil’s Himalayan Pink Salt Sun Poppers, Primal Kitchen’s Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil and RIND Snacks’ Straw-Peary Chewy and Apple Chips.

Why now?​

The campaign comes at a time when consumer interest in healthy fats is on the rise, fueled in part by the popular keto diet.

According to ingredient supplier Cargill’s most recent 2021 FATitudes survey, 54% of consumers closely monitor fats and oils in food purchases, with 64% looking to avoid certain fats and oils and 28% seeking specific fats and oils.

Olive, fish and avocado oil are among the options that consumers perceive as healthiest with 62% of consumers believing olive oil is healthy, 56% believing fish oil is healthy and 51% believing avocado oil is healthy, according to Cargill.

The survey​ also found that when evaluating fats and oils, 41% of consumers also look for non-GMO and 42% look for organic options, while about a third weigh the sustainability of oil in their purchase decision and 37% are more likely to purchase a product that uses sustainable options.

What’s next?​

Given consumer interest in and confusion around fats and oils, the Clean Oil Crew is actively recruiting more brands to participate in its education efforts.

Mack said at Expo West at least 10 additional brands expressed an interested in joining the coalition – a promising development that she said she hopes will lead to the development of a summit down the line.

The Clean Oil Crew is also encouraging more companies to use healthy fats, although Coristine acknowledges that they will need to overcome some challenges, including price, sourcing, and manufacturing.

He explained that inflation is driving up the cost of some of the oils used by the crew, which already were more expensive compared to some vegetable and seed oils. He also noted that many co-manufacturers will not work with coconut oil as it is considered an allergen and there are cross contamination concerns.

The rising price and potential scarcity of sunflower oil due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, where much of the world’s sunflowers are grown, could spur some brands to reformulate with different oils and fats, but again, Coristine said that comes with challenges around establishing supply chains, reformulating and amending packaging and marketing.