IDM | Interview Strengthen innovation and communication Ways to counteract the media's denigration of milk Stephan Karl, CEO Tetra Pak Mid Europe, at a major dairy industry conference in Germany recently held an interesting presentation on how the global milk market can find its revival. IDM took the opportunity to ask Mr Karl how the dairy industry should handle innovation and communication. IDM: What can the industry do to escape the vortex of constant negative headlines about the alleged detrimental effects on health of milk consumption? Karl: There are no easy answers to that. In my view, however, innovation and communication have to be intensified. Compared with other foods, milk has one significant advantage. A survey by Tetra Pak among 1,200 consumers in six countries found that 82% of respondents had no doubts about milk being healthy and wholesome. Despite the scaremongering in some media reports, 61% of this sample population do not see any negative characteristics associated with milk. 30% do not even believe the negative reviews. You can build on that using innovation and communication. IDM: A survey is only ever as good as the way it is constructed. Where exactly did the interviews take place? Were there big differences in how milk is perceived in individual regions? Karl: We included both developed countries as well as emerging markets. Specifically, the survey was conducted in Spain, Germany, the US, China, Thailand and Brazil. There were, of course, differences in perception. While, on average, 43% of consumers viewed milk spontaneously as healthy, this percentage 28 · 4-5 2016 | international-dairy.com was at 70% in China. In the United States, Germany and Brazil, milk is enjoyed mainly for its taste whereas health aspects were rather in the foreground in other regions, to cite only some conclusions of our study. IDM: You just mentioned innovation as the key to the future market success of dairy products. What would you recommend to dairies? Karl: At Tetra Pak, we identify four major trends in dairy product innovation. Milk 2.0 stands for personalised products in which ingredients are omitted or enriched. Designer dairy products subsume a variety of different products to be used as a meal replacement, as a snack, for use "on the go" or for recovery after sports. Alongside this, milk products enter a market that subscribes to a special kind of purity, almost purism; here the environment, health or the motto "back to nature" are the focus. We classify everyday culinary delights as the fourth trend, meaning the absolute enjoyment you can get especially from dairy products. IDM: There aren't many of those types of products on display ... Karl: In terms of innovation, Europe is a more traditional market. Companies are aware of the risks, and perhaps don't experiment enough. Though one doesn't always have to come up with radical innovations. It may be enough to re-position existing products, for example, by placing a greater emphasis on the refreshing effect of buttermilk. In each case we can clearly demonstrate the four major trends of the dairy product innovation with numerous examples from a diverse range of countries. IDM: Let's now look at communication. What ought to be done there? Karl: Communication has to be positive and based on facts, using an emotional approach and above all a language the consumer is familiar with. As well as the emotion, naturally a scientific background also has to be offered. In this way, the industry should make every effort to populate the media with positive stories about milk. Opinion leaders must not be forgotten either and they should be integrated into the communication. Social media here does not yet play the role it does in the US, for example, but a concerted collective industry communication has to commence here as well. Stephan Karl, CEO Tetra Pak Mid Europe: One doesn’t need to develop radical innovation always. It can be sufficient to reposition existing products (photo: LZ)
IDM_04_05_2016
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