VICTORIA – Consumers are keen to hear the canola industry’s heart healthy message.
But don’t trot out a boring PhD in a lab coat to convince them. They’d rather hear Oprah or Dr. Phil – and they’re more likely to believe them.
“That’s who consumers trust and where they get a lot of their information about a lot of things,” said U.S. consumer research expert Laurie Demeritt of the Hartman Group at the recent Canola Council of Canada meeting in Victoria.
U.S. consumers know what canola oil is and some are aware that it is a healthier oil than other vegetable oil mainstays, Demeritt said. However, the canola industry needs to incorporate that message more often and draw attention to it.
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“The positive fat story is one that they’re very open to right now, and they’re looking for more information,” she said.
“If (the health benefit of canola) comes across as something that’s a natural part of the product, that’s especially appealing. If a whole bunch of heart healthy supplements are dumped into their food, they don’t particularly like that. But if it’s a product that contains oil anyway, and it’s switched to canola oil, and they know it’s heart healthy, they’re a lot more open to it.”
Canola oil’s healthy benefits have been widely broadcasted in the United States since canola oil won U.S. government approval to make a qualified health claim on retail canola packaging in 2006.
During the canola council’s annual convention, where Demeritt spoke, a number of U.S. TV news and information pieces about canola’s healthy qualities were played between sessions, including a cooking session with U.S. home and lifestyles heavyweight Martha Stewart.
Angela Dansby of the U.S. Canola Association said the qualified health claim has given canola much wider exposure to the American consumer than it has previously had.
“There was huge impact in the media,” said Dansby, who has noted thousands of news reports and references since the claim was allowed.
While overall vegetable oil consumption in the U.S. was down slightly in the past year, canola has held stable, suggesting it is becoming stronger than its competitors.
Dansby said she was happy to hear that 90 percent of U.S. consumers know what canola oil is, which is equal to their overall knowledge of what vegetable oil is.
“That’s fantastic.”
However, only 50 percent of consumers buy the oil, so “clearly there’s room to grow.”
Demeritt said consumers are willing to pay premium prices for certain products, including healthy food, food with “authenticity” and those that seem to convey a vital lifestyle.
“Certainly canola can fit into that.”
Dansby said the U.S. market is nowhere near being saturated with canola oil, so there’s still a story to sell to the consumer.
“We still have a job to do in explaining the benefits,” Dansby said.
