Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/654717
& A look at the events, issues, and innovations shaping specialty food, plus industry news, trends, and more. trends happenings Loyalty Can Hinge on E-Commerce Experience Loyal customers are gold. To keep them that way, a solid e-commerce experience—from sales process to post-purchase—is impera- tive to 90 percent of consumers, according to a survey by consumer engagement firm Contact Solutions. Here's what consum- ers want most: Nearly 60 percent of online shoppers expect a phone call to provide the best assistance, but fewer than 30 percent want to start there. In fact, 75 per- cent of consumers would prefer customer services to be accessible through apps. In addition, 53 percent of shoppers say they'd spend more on a brand if they could switch e-commerce channels or devices to continue a customer service conversation instead of having to start over and repeat information. With this in mind, companies can offer more robust messaging programs, like web chat, which is more cost-effective than options such as phone or email. Nutritional Yeast Breaks Out It may be old news to vegans and vegetarians, but nutritional yeast, which is being referred to as "nooch" of late, is a simple way to add nutty, cheese-like flavoring to food—without add- ing dairy. It's a supreme source of essential vitamins and miner- als, protein, folic acid, and B vitamins. Quentin Navia, owner of San Francisco's Pachamama Raw, adds it to her Original Kale Chips: "It's amazing because people taste the chips and say, 'oh no, there's cheese in here,' but there's not." HELPING CHEFS WITH ISSUES A new website, chefswithissues.com, created by Kat Kinsman, current editor-at-large of Tasting Table, hopes to ease the stigma of mental illness in the culinary industry and help those affected. She created an ongoing anonymous survey that has already yielded 1,000 responses. "I'm stunned by how many people have revealed that the reason they haven't been more open about their emotional struggles—many of which were brought on by work—and sought help was because they didn't want to be thought of as weak," Kinsman says. "The person working right next to them on the line could be dealing with the exact same issues and neither would ever know." The site is loaded with essential resources, live message boards, a blog, and a link to participate in the survey. She aims to add a hotline service in the near future. of restaurant diners aren't game to ban tipping, according to Horizon Media, claiming it will result in a subpar service experience. 81% BY DENISE SHOUKAS 14 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com