New Food Development in the Age of Crisis Experiences from Italy and Romania

Abstract

In the last decade, many experts in nutrition and wellness have anticipated the key role of innovative foods in helping consumers to have a healthy lifestyle. This study analyzes a series of complex key drivers that influence the food business, taking into account experiences of agri-food producers from Italy and Romania. There have been identified a series of operational flows that slow down the development of this industry, mitigating the synergy among research and development (R&D), sales and marketing functions. One of the findings of this research is that the identified communication barriers among food technologists/engineers and marketing experts could evolve into business unethical approaches (e.g. deceptive packaging, creation of "false needs”, etc.) that could mislead consumers, hinder their knowledge and freedom of choice, thus driving health risks. A smooth integration of traditional values in the food design is essential to assure the proper balance between scientific research, cultural background and values in order to enhance consumers’ health. This paper concludes that food companies should integrate local/traditional recipes into their new products to assure superior communication and consumer understanding of the newly discovered bio-active ingredients and to drive consumers’ acceptance, positive attitudes and receptivity towards the new aliments.