Taking the Pulse of America's Leading Dietary Trends

Pulses are perfectly positioned to profit handsomely in today's emerging food landscape. This column explores how and why. Consumers today live in an age in which they can obtain and exchange ideas, discuss issues, and purchase products using the Internet. Thus, the Internet represents the world's largest consumer and customer database. Data-mining information from the Internet enables consumer trends to be tracked on a nearly real-time basis: when interest in an issue rises, Internet chatter rises; if interest falls off, Internet chatter declines. The challenge is to separate the relevant signals from the background “noise.” Internet chatter velocity and a VIC TrendAlert™ volatility index are nearly real-time indicators of trend stability versus impending change. These tools are applied to the analysis of leading consumer dietary trends to reveal how well aligned these trends are with the benefits provided by pulse ingredients.