While scarcely any expert would criticize parents for paying attention to children’s diets, many doctors, dietitians and eating disorder specialists worry that some parents are becoming overzealous, even obsessive, in efforts to engender good eating habits in children. With the best of intentions, these parents may be creating an unhealthy aura around food. “We’re seeing a lot of anxiety in these kids,” said Cynthia Bulik, the director of the eating disorders program at theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “They go to birthday parties, and if it’s not a granola cake they feel like they can’t eat it. The culture has led both them and their parents to take the public health messages to an extreme.” (more…)

The food at Kogi Korean BBQ-To-Go, the taco vendor that has overtaken Los Angeles, does not fit into any known culinary category. One man overheard on his cellphone as he waited in line on a recent night said it best: “It’s like this Korean Mexican fusion thing of crazy deliciousness.” The truck is a clear cult hit in Los Angeles, drawing more buzz than any new restaurant. A sister vehicle and a taco stand within a Culver City bar were recently added to quell the crowds, which Kogi’s owner put at about 400 customers a night. Korean food has blipped on the radar of culinary trend watchers before, but it never seems to gain momentum. In part, Mr. Benson, the executive chef of Gyenari in Culver City said: “It is because there is a misconception about Korean food. Japanese food is high protein, low in fat and is this very clean cuisine, where Korean food has reputation as being not healthy. So it has not taken off like it should, but I think it is going to. I can feel the groundswell.”  (more…)

Makers of household goods and food are paying more attention to the “paycheck cycle” as cash-strapped consumers are showing a tendency to make their largest purchases when their salaries first come in and to cut back as that money runs out. With more consumers living from paycheck to paycheck, some companies have looked at ways to time their promotions around periods when consumers’ wallets are likely to be well cushioned. Reaching consumers at the right time and stocking store shelves with the right package size can be key for makers of branded consumer goods, which are pushing to drive sales at a time when consumers are cutting back on even daily basics. Companies like Pepsi, Kimberly-Clark, and Heinz are all looking at this trend and making adjustments. (more…)

The PepsiCo Americas Beverages division of PepsiCo is bowing to public demand and scrapping the changes made to a flagship product, Tropicana Pure Premium orange juice. Redesigned packaging that was introduced in early January is being discontinued, executives plan to announce on Monday, and the previous version will be brought back in the next month. (more…)

Package-goods brands face their greatest crisis and strongest threat from private label since at least the early 1990s. All in all, private-label market shares grew 0.8 percentage points to 21.9% of volume and 0.7 points to 17.1% of dollars in all package-goods categories and retail channels last year including Walmart, according to Information Resources Inc. More troubling for marketers, the pace accelerated over the course of the year and reached all income ranges. For example, private-label grew only 0.1 point in the first quarter but 1.3 points in the fourth quarter among households earning more than $100,000 annually, according to IRI. Clearly, the marketing and pricing decisions marketers make now could go a long way toward shaping how their brands fare for the balance of a difficult recession. “One thing you don’t want to do is create a consumer who shifted to private label and then have to spend a lot to get them back,” said Kimberly-Clark Corp. Chairman-CEO Tom Falk at the Consumer Analysts Group of New York last week. Some major marketers are finding ways to work with — rather than against — private-label products, with store displays that showcase their offerings side by side. (more…)

Just in time for a little weekend dreaming. 36 Hours in North Lake Tahoe (more…)

It all started with a strip-mall doughnut in Los Angeles in 1991.Out of work, with failed ventures on both coasts just behind him, the chef Thomas Keller needed a fix: a new dessert for a private dinner that could pave the way to the next job. “What could I possibly make that’s better than this doughnut and coffee?” he remembers thinking as he ate breakfast out of a paper bag. “Nothing.” When Mr. Keller opened the French Laundry in the Napa Valley in 1994, warm cinnamon-sugar doughnuts served with cappuccino semifreddo were an instant hit. Other top kitchens followed suit, starting with doughnuts and then strip-mining the entire breakfast menu, transforming greasy-spoon staples into minutely detailed desserts. Now, the familiar flavors of granola, scones, bacon, waffles, pancakes and even soggy cornflakes have become materials for the artists at the very top of the inventive and competitive pastry world.  (more…)

“The iPhone/smartphone is the new tween-teen killer app,” says Rodney Mason, CMO of the digital-branding agency Moosylvania. “It’s the remote control for the next generation, because in one single device they play games and text, do Facebook and MySpace, tweet on Twitter, surf the web, watch movies and TV shows like ‘The Office,’ and, oh yeah, occasionally listen to music and actually talk on it, which is now at the bottom of their list.” We think of phones as a communication tool, but the truth is they may be just the opposite. “A year ago, 40% of 9- to 11-year-olds had their own cells,” says George Carey, president of the consulting company Just Kid Inc. “It’s got to be 50% by now. They roll out of bed and you can’t talk to them, or get them to focus when they come home. The kids are bleary.”  (more…)

In the single worse labeling redesign I have ever seen, Tropicana has taken an easily identifiable and branded carton and turned it into something that looks generic and past its’ best buy date. It’s all part of a plan to turn around sales in the OJ category. “Tropicana is looking forward to helping people re-discover the functional and emotional ‘squeeze’ they get from drinking an 8-ounce glass of Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Juice every morning,” said Neil Campbell, president of Tropicana, in a statement. “Our consumers trust the Tropicana brand to bring them a healthy all-natural, great-tasting product and we’re confident the new marketing campaign and new packaging will really get their juices going.” Well that is all fine and good but now you can’t find Tropicana on the shelf. Good luck with that. (more…)

Hulu is a new website that is giving Youtube some serious competition.  It offers commercial-supported streaming video of TV shows and movies from NBC, Fox and many other networks and studios. The big lesson from Hulu’s success is that supporting streamed video with advertising, rather than charging for downloads, turns out to work very well. Hulu’s ads are few and short, with a subtle countdown timer that makes them even more bearable. In some cases viewers can even choose which ad to watch, so it is more likely to be relevant to their interests. And people tend to remember the advertisements they see on Hulu much better than they recall television ads so advertisers are pleased. Plus, any company that uses Alec Baldwin as an evil alien bent on taking over the world can’t possibly go wrong.  (more…)