TORONTO – Canola has done an admirable job of convincing consumers it is one of the healthiest oils on the market but it needs to ramp up its efforts on another front, says a food industry expert.
“I don’t think that canola is doing as well as it should from a manufacturing standpoint, getting companies to switch to canola and using it in processing,” said Phil Lempert, food trends editor with NBC television’s Today Show.
In his job, Lempert sees about 200 to 300 new food products a week. He is impressed by the canola industry’s ability to stand out in that crowd, making people take notice of the health benefits it offers.
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He can tell the message is taking hold based on the number of fast food and white tablecloth restaurants in the U.S. that boast on their menus that they use canola oil.
But looking at the ingredients on pre-packaged goods, he doesn’t think canola has been making adequate inroads at the processing level.
“This is a low-hanging opportunity that they really should be going after,” said Lempert.
The industry needs to convince manufacturers that consumers are hungry for canola oil and want to see it incorporated into the packaged goods they are purchasing at grocery stores.
The canola industry has taken steps in that direction. A survey of 1,004 U.S. consumers completed in December 2008 shows that 63 percent used canola in the last three months and 59 percent perceive canola to be healthier than other types of cooking oils except for olive oil.
JoAnne Buth, president of the Canola Council of Canada, said the association has purposely adopted a pull marketing strategy targeted at consumers, rather than a push strategy focused on food manufacturers.
She recognized there is a need to boost sales at the processing level, but noted that there are a number of obstacles to overcome, in part due to the product being priced at a premium to soy oil.
“A food manufacturer looking for a cheap oil has a tendency to choose something like soy,” said Buth.
There are also functionality issues. Many processors need a solid oil and the only products that fit the bill are partially hydrogenated soybean oil and palm oil.
The canola industry is still recovering from the drought of 2002, which restricted supplies and gave the industry a reputation as an unreliable supplier.
“It takes a long time to recover some of those markets,” said Buth.
That’s why she wants canola customers to know that growers produced a record 12.6 million tonnes of the crop last year and that the industry is well on the way to meeting its goal of producing 15 million tonnes of the oilseed by 2015.
