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There is a better way to boost shopper engagement and grow sales. It begins with building a connected community. Let your customers know that you appreciate and value them.

Most brands spend more time trying to repeatedly re-acquire the same customer as opposed to nurturing their existing shoppers – why promotions are so expensive and ineffective. It’s a lot more effective to convert your existing customers into loyal evangelists. It’s also how you add rocket fuel to your growth while you future proof your brand.

Everyone is overwhelmed by the pandemic. There is so much noise and confusion. We all want to return to our lives. This creates a unique opportunity for you to differentiate your brand from others and stand out from the crowd. You now have the ability to let shoppers know how much you appreciate them. Let them know that you value their input about your brand. Invite them to belong to your connected community.

I couldn't agree with you more on that one, Dan. Basically, what we're seeing now, especially in the days of COVID, is that consumers are increasingly reaching towards things that will, foods that will help support their immune system. If anything that we're able to see out of COVID is, I think, a lot more attention being paid to health and wellness, and the importance of preventative measures and staying healthy.

And I think that's where the natural products industry definitely has a natural fit. You and I have had plenty of conversations about some of the macro trends that at least I'm seeing is this growing divide between the court of law and the court of public opinion when it comes to trust. And so it's one where so oftentimes we hear brands that say we comply with federal law, but it's kind of like, well, what exactly is it that the consumer expects of this product?

What we see is that there's different populations, different segments of consumers that are really focused on things that are currently either not regulated by the federal government or things that are kind of on the periphery that have not yet been promulgated into regulation.

This is at Ripple, Nippon that I keep talking about. It's where the consumers that know, like, and trust your brand, that understand the value of your brand, they're the ones that are driving these trends. Are you ready to hear more?

Now here's Jackie to tell you what your customers really want to know.

Hey everybody, thank you for being here. Today I've got a special treat for you. We're going to learn about trust and transparency and why that matters.

So today's webinar is how to increase sales with trust and transparency. But before we go any further, please take a look at all the brands that are partnering with me on this project, helping me raise the bar in the industry. Do me a favor, reach out to them and tell them how much you appreciate this opportunity to get this additional learnings and how to leverage this.

So I've got the perfect person to help me with this conversation today. So Jackie, do you want to go ahead and tell us a little bit about yourself?

Hi, thank you for having me, Dan. My name is Jackie Bowen. I'm the executive director of Clean Label Project.

I always tell people that I'm a food safety and consumer product engineer, systems engineer, which basically means I'm a professional best kill at dinner parties. It's a matter of looking at food and consumer products differently. It's a matter of using data and science, revealing what's inside.

Because let's face it, Dan, marketing departments can do a really effective job at selling comfort and security. So I come to Clean Label Project with 20 years of experience in the natural products industry. My expertise is in certified organic, gluten-free, non-GMO and label claim substantiation.

So it's great to be here.

If you don't know who I am, my name is Dan Lohman. I've had the privilege of working with hundreds of brands from all different levels, from pre-revenue to multibillion dollars in sales. I had the opportunity to mentor them, work with them, support them in different ways.

My mission is to make our healthy way of life more accessible by helping you get your products under more store shelves in the hands of more shoppers. So let me know, let us know, what are the things that you're struggling with? Reach out to us and I'll do my best to bring the best expert in the industry, like Jacqui, onto the webinar or the podcast and help answer or address your specific questions.

Okay, so why are we here? Do shoppers trust your brand? Can they trust your brand?

And trust is sort of a nebulous concept in terms of, as Jacqui was saying, in terms of the marketing department. So we want to provide you a clear path or clear understanding of how to leverage trust to grow sustainable sales. And the way I'm going to do that is I'm going to start with a slide that I've used at a lot of presentations.

I actually mentioned it to Jacqui, so she hasn't seen it yet. But when I get up on stage and I'm talking to a lot of groups, I ask them which is healthier and what do these terms mean? So what about natural.

What about non-GMO? And then what about organic? And what about clean label?

Now, this is before the Clean Label Project. This is an older slide. But the point is the term.

So we'll talk about it in a little bit. So which is best and why? So natural is a term that doesn't mean anything, but it does con notate better for you.

So that's why we still use that term. And you'll see that term throughout the slide, throughout the presentation. Non-GMO simply means that the seed itself was non-genetically modified.

However, you can grow a non-GMO product and a pesticide or an herbicide field. So, anyhow, Jackie will talk more about that in a little bit and why that matters. Organic is the gold standard.

And as of right now, actually before Jackie and I met, that was what you wanted to shoot for because organic is certified. And those products, we can trust them because the government gets behind them and tests them on a regular basis. That testing isn't available on the other two, non-GMO and natural.

Now, clean label, the reason I was using this term way back when is because clean label had a connotation of something that was easy to understand, clean, easy to understand ingredients. But what Jackie's done in her group is they've taken that clean label to the next level and beyond. So the point here is that we want to use every opportunity to educate our consumers and our retailer partners about what are the key trends around these key things.

So this is an interesting slide. It talks about consumers confused about organic definition. And we're going to use organic because most people understand what it means, at least we would hope so.

But the reality is that people are confused about what organic means. It is incumbent upon us to help them understand what it means. For example, most people don't understand that organic products are automatically non-GMO.

And there are different levels of cleanness, and that's not the right term we want to use, but Jackie is going to get into that in terms of transparency and helping people understand why this matters. And the reason this is important is because this is what drives consumers into your brand. And to go one step further, there's a difference between the Canadian and the US organic shopper in terms of their trust for organic.

Canadian consumers trust organic more so than US shoppers. And so you need to understand where your consumer is coming from, what questions they have and be able to address them. And remember now, we're talking about organic, but this is true in every single certification, every single attribute that your product has.

So as we know, innovation is the key to growth. And I always like to say that the natural industry is the R&D, the CPG universe. And what happens is that the big brands are innovating by changing a label or changing a marketing slogan, as Jackie alluded to.

What is unique about natural is that we actually change the products. We actually modify the products. We put the shopper's needs first.

And that's what's unique about this industry, is that we go out of our way to understand what you want, what your customers want, etc. And then we create products around them. So natural products are at the heart of innovation, and that's what's resonating with shoppers.

And I've got a lot of great statistics around that. So the question that I have is, how well do your products align with your shoppers' needs and value? And that's critically important.

So as we all struggle to figure out what's next in this new world, we need to remember that the best defense against any virus is a healthy diet. And shoppers need your products today more now than ever. So this is your opportunity to differentiate yourself and stand out on the crowded shelf.

But it begins by understanding how well your brand meets the needs of their shoppers. The shopper journeys change, and I use this slide a lot. And the reason this is important is because we need to realize that shoppers literally have unlimited choices as to where they spend their hard-earned money.

We need to understand exactly what they're looking for, what they need, and be able to address them where they need it, be available anywhere they're customer shopping. So everyone's fighting for your attention. There's a lot of noise out there.

And what we want to do is we want to help you, help your retail partners remain relevant. And the way that we do that is we help you with your story around why natural organic is important. So I'll give you a quick analysis, and I love this example.

So what is the cost of quality? Well, if I go out and buy the generic bread, I'm hungry almost before I finish eating it. So, you know, you think it's really, really cheap, but if it doesn't satiate me or give my body the nutrition it needs, then how does that impact the health of my health?

So what is the true value of your product? So I use this analogy. If you go out and you buy the best mainstream bread, you may be satiated for a couple hours, and that's great.

So it's actually cheaper in the long run. However, if you are what you eat and what you eat matters, and you go out and buy the organic bread, and if the organic bread has the nutrients in it to meet your body's needs, then you'll be satiated even longer. And what I want you to do is celebrate the value that your brand or your product delivers and build awareness around them.

Now, this is an example of something that I did several years ago where I had a theory, and I wanted to prove it. I've talked to Jaclyn a little bit about this, although she hadn't seen this slide. But what I wanted to do is I want to validate what we're talking about right now, that natural organic products are driving sustainable growth across every category.

So I did this project, and I had access to all Outlet Nielsen data. And in this situation, using this data, this is every category, every outlet that Nielsen captures data in. Food sales are up 1.9%.

Natural and organic was up 11%. Natural organic represented just 7% of total US sales. And that total US sales in the absence of natural organic were only up 1.5%.

So let me drive this home. Total US dairy sales. This is everything in dairy, all categories, all channels, were up 1.5%.

everything in dairy, all categories, all channels, were up 1.5%.

Total US natural organic sales were up 12.1%. Natural organic dairy sales represented 9.8% of that multi-multi-billion dollar pie. The category in the absence of natural, in other words, you take away that small size of pie, then total sales were only up 0.5%.

So this is the story that we need to leverage as we go to market. And as we begin to understand more about trust and transparency, here's why this matters in terms of our story. So the challenge is traditional strategies overlook how your customers shop.

The databases that you're looking at don't clearly identify what the true shopper buying habits are. There's a lot of issues with the data, and it's not the fault of the companies that are supplying the data, syndicated data providers. It's just that they don't code down to that level.

Or if they do code down to a little bit more than other, you know, code a little bit deeper, they don't necessarily talk about or capture the information that your, the way your customer shops. So what I mean by coding, for example, I did a project for whole food supplements. Whole food supplements aren't even categorized in the database.

And yet whole food supplements are what are driving sustainable sales across every category. And if you're blind to that, then you're also blind to the key trends and opportunities within that category. So we don't want you to rely on cookie cutter strategies.

And this is what everyone in the industry does, unfortunately. Instead, we want to help give you the skills and the strategies to be able to leverage your innovation, capitalize on unique attributes in your brand, but be able to celebrate that. So you put your whole heart and soul into creating a brand.

Shouldn't you put the same level of commitment and passion in your go-to-market strategy, your selling strategy? And we want to teach you how to engage your customers and get to know them. And by the way, that's what a lot of this webinar series is about, is how to leverage these strategies.

So go back and look at the replays. Now, the best way to do this is to develop a community, a connected community, where you can have that conversation and develop those relationships. When Jackie's talking about transparency and trust and stuff like that, if you've got a connected community, that's where you can nurture that and have those one-on-one conversations.

The reality is if I go to the store and buy your product, you don't know anything about me. But if you've got a community around your product, they're going to help you future-proof your brand. The reason, number one reason that products fail is because they do not meet shoppers' needs.

It sounds like a no-brainer, but the fact is, most people overlook that. So the question is, how well do you know your ideal shopper? Now, this is why I created the Free Turnkey Sales Store Strategies course.

And so we want to know is, how does your customer use the product after they take it home? And what are the products do they buy when they buy your brand? The reality is, is that when someone goes in the store to buy your product, they're buying a lot of other similar products.

How does your product impact the customer's buying habits when they're buying other products? Now, I mentioned that shoppers, core natural shoppers, we're not clones. We like what we want and we want quality.

So the question I've got here is, have you ever gotten a great yarn, something you didn't like? We all have. The committed shopper does not settle.

They want what they want. And they will pay a premium for products that meet their needs. Back to the slide with the loaf of bread with the money on it.

That's what I'm getting at. If you could celebrate the value of your product, rather than avoiding the cookie cutter strategies that are only focused on velocity and lowering your retail price, that's how you win over customers. That's how you help your retail partner remain relevant.

When I started in this industry, we talked about the core shopper as being, for example, female head of household, 2.3 kids, etc. We, as a brand, need to get to know our customers a lot better. And this is why that connected community is so important.

We need to know, how does a customer use our product? What does their family look like? Are they a lo-has consumer?

How do they purchase? What activities are they involved in? And the better, more intimately, that we can get to know our customers, then we can create products that matter for them.

And when you're talking about trust and transparency, this is where that conversation begins. Imagine having a conversation with a good friend, and they recommend a restaurant. You automatically trust that restaurant.

So get to know your customer at that level. Get to understand what's important to them. And Jackie is going to share several examples about trust and transparency and what's important to the customer.

So if you get down to the point where you can really understand what the customer wants, you can bake that into your selling strategy and into your messaging. And so on that note, consistent brand messaging is critically important. Big brands do not execute very well.

And this is our opportunity to leverage everything we've talked about thus far to help give you a significant and sustainable competitive advantage. And again, we're going to leverage our tribe to help with this, help with the strategy. So as I mentioned, shoppers want what they want.

That also relates to the ingredients that customers have in their products, sustainability, healthy shopping, healthier food for shopping. So as I mentioned, attitudes are driving change. And this is where I want to slow down a little bit and start talking about some of these different attributes.

So shoppers are looking for solutions that help them with healthy aging. Now, when I put this slide together, that was for a different presentation, but I wanted to use it because this is such relevant information. There's a direct correlation between consumers choosing products that support both presented health and a cure.

Shoppers are actively looking for healthy products to replace and reduce the need for prescriptions and medications and excess doctor visits. Jackie, do you have any thoughts you want to throw in there?

I couldn't agree with you more on that one, Dan. Basically, what we're seeing now, especially in the days of COVID, is that consumers are increasingly reaching towards things that will, foods that will help support their immune system. You know, if anything that we're able to see out of COVID is, I think, a lot more attention being paid to health and wellness and the importance of preventative measures and staying healthy.

And I think that's where the natural products industry definitely has a natural fit.

It is. Thank you for sharing that. Yeah, it's so critically important that we celebrate this.

And again, this is all about trying to get away from the quote-unquote tried-and-true strategies that don't work, that talk about velocity and looking at your brand as an ATM machine. Instead, we want to focus on delivering real value. The other thing we need to think about is that people are looking for the fountain of youth, and they're looking at the fountain of youth in your products.

And as you can see on this graph here, that younger Americans are looking for more of these products, more of these solutions, right? Because they're going to try it. They're going to trust more of these different products, these healthier vitamins and these things that are Clean Label, et cetera.

So along those lines, you want to be communicating, again, the value of your product and how your product meets that customer's needs. Belief drives choices. And this is the next slide I wanted to really bring Jackie in.

Young consumers are taking the lead when it comes to their purchases, and they're driven by values and beliefs. And this is key because younger consumers go out of their way to look beyond the four corners of the package. And they want to know everything about the product.

And this is where you've got to build that know, like and trust. And this is where you have an opportunity to make that consumer a loyal evangelist and help bring them into your franchise, into your brand, and help nurture them and turn them into a committed long-term shopper. Jacqui, your thoughts?

Yeah. And on this one, Dan, I absolutely, you and I have had plenty of conversations about, you know, some of the macro trends that at least I'm seeing is this growing divide between the court of law and the court of public opinion when it comes to trust. And so it's one where so oftentimes we hear brands that say we comply with federal law, but it's kind of like, well, what exactly is it that the consumer expects of this product?

What we see is that there's different populations, different segments of consumers that are really focused on things that are currently either not regulated by the federal government or things that are kind of on the periphery that have not yet been promulgated into regulation, things around heavy metals, pesticide residues, plastics, things that are linked to chronic disease. And so along those lines, it's one thing where, yeah, you should absolutely view compliance with federal law. That's going to be your compass.

But compliance with the court of public opinion, with the new consumer expectation of safety, that should be your true north.

Thank you for sharing that. And that's exactly what I was illustrating with the slide with the pie, is those trends that unfortunately are hidden in a lot of the databases, that's what's driving sustainable sales across every category. That's where that rip on the palm begins.

Long before it becomes a tidal wave and ends up on a mainstream retailer shelf, or a tsunami and ends up on a Walmart shelf. But the point is, we're at the cutting edge of this. And we have the opportunity to own that customer and own that category long before the big brands get started on this.

As we're talking about, hinting at a little bit, customers are more connected than ever before. As I mentioned, they have the ability to go on their phone and do research about your product and your company, your brand story. And more importantly, they have the ability to identify, understand what your brand mission is, and to see if it aligns with them.

So this is why the shopper journey has changed. And you'll see one of the biggest issues that brands struggle with is card abandonment. If we do a more effective job of communicating with our shopper, we're going to help reduce that and bring them into our franchise and build that know, like and trust relationship with them.

So selling extends well beyond their register, and it includes input from your friends, families and other influencers. Jackie, your thoughts

When it comes to using smartphones for all kinds of accessibility, transparency, what I'm really seeing as a hot trend is the use of QR codes, not QR codes in the traditional sense to just kick you back to your website, but rather really leveraging that as a point of difference and to use it for transparency, whether that's including details of where ingredients come from, of where your manufacturing facility is, to house your different test results. The use of QR codes can really give consumers the opportunity to pop the hood and kick the tires, so to speak.

No, that's great. In fact, actually, one of my clients, one of my previous clients, this company called Megafood, and they have a snowflake on their bottle. I wish I could grab one and show it to you right now.

But when you scan that, it tells you when the product was picked, how it was grown, all that other stuff, how it was processed, when it went into the process, et cetera. And that's why they can choose a super premium price for their product because it works. And that's exactly what we're talking about.

That authentic trust and that authentic credibility that comes with their product. And if you can bake that into your product, that's going to give a sustainable competitive advantage. Thank you, Jackie.

The shopping experience is important. As I mentioned, we want to talk about how to develop, how to bring people into a connected community. And you want to make it easier for your customers to find and buy your product.

And if you can convert an occasional customer to a loyal evangelist, then you can help leverage that customer to help sell your product. Personalization is key. And the reason this is here, the reason the slide is here, is because when you're thinking about the way you communicate with your customer, you want to personalize that conversation.

And as you can see by this slide, the younger consumers are more focused on personalized messages, personalized strategies around how you put your brand out there, around how your brand aligns with a specific trend, etc. Transparency is key. And this is an old slide, but I thought this is really relevant.

So customers, hot buttons for customers, where they don't want pesticides, they don't want non-GMO, etc. These are the things that they're looking at. These are the things that they're most focused on.

So Jackie, this is more in your backyard. So do you want to talk to this? Yes.

When it comes to transparency, one of the things that we're seeing is obviously, organic non-GMO has continued to be hot trends. But one of the things that, at least for me, that I'm increasingly focused my attention on, is that you see different kinds of exposes hit mainstream media. Whether it's, I'm sure we've all seen them of the different lawsuits related to glyphosate and all the different law firms trying to find people who have been exposed to glyphosate and potentially, unfortunately, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

You see things related to heavy metals in America's best-selling baby foods, BPA leaching from some of America's best-selling bottled water or aluminum cans. The thing that's interesting is that a lot of these products are compliant in the court of law, but like we talked about, the consumer expectation is different. If we know that certain categories, for example, we know that when it comes to moms and children, infants, that population is just hyper-focused much more in America's vulnerable population.

The World Health Organization says the first thousand days of life are critically important to long-term health and wellness of a human. That it's the optimum period of development for brain and immune system development. So you see a lot more attention being paid to things like heavy metals, pesticides, plasticizers, really to make sure that as much health and much promise and potential that can be put into the food for these vulnerable populations is so important.

So it's one when it comes to non-GMO and organic, absolutely. But always look for especially key influencers within your space. Like I mentioned before, it's one where you've got the federal government, but a lot of times there's different key influencers, like retailers, like social media influencers, other types of academic organizations, American Cadre of Pediatrics.

They drive awareness with consumers. They drive expectations of consumers. So sometimes it's a matter of reaching and looking towards what some of these influencers are saying and making sure that you shift your true north accordingly to comply with those.

Love it. And I love the fact that you keep going back to the court of public opinion because that's what matters. Remember, that's what's driving these trends.

So we need to stop apologizing for quality ingredients and celebrate the fact that not only we're bringing more value to the customer, but our customers are more valuable to the retailer. And that's the underlying theme as we continue to talk about this. So transparency matters.

And you can see how transparency matters to each one of these different age groups. And again, the core natural shopper does not settle. They want what they want, and they're going to go out of the way to get it.

And they're going to go out of their way to spend a premium to buy products that meet their needs. So Jackie mentioned they're a baby customer. I used to work for Kimberly Clark.

We sold diapers, Huggies diapers, right? And that consumer is the most valuable consumer to any retailer. And the point being is that, for example, Walmart, they would sell diapers at what it actually cost them to buy them from Kimberly Clark.

But they would make more money on all the other products that the consumers would buy. Now, imagine if you had a very clean baby food and that customer comes in to buy your very clean baby food. Well, they're going to buy organic milk and all the best of everything else along with that.

So when you're thinking about the customer's market basket, the sum total of products as they check out of the store, again, how does your product interact with that? And how does your product help with that growth or help that profitable customer find what they want? Shoppers want quality.

And as you can see in this slide, shoppers trust natural. Now, we already talked about how natural doesn't mean anything, but there's trust in that. There's a value over a perception of trust.

And of course, look up at the top. They want things that are fresh. And as you can see right below that, no pesticides, no preservatives.

So the point here is that we're reinforcing that your customer that appreciates trust and transparency is the best customer in the store in terms of driving sustainable sales. Shoppers also want simple ingredients. When you look at the back of a package, and you can't understand what's in the product because it's got some really weird chemical name, that's a sign you want.

That's probably a product people are going to stay away from. In fact, that's where this trust and transparency started for me, is if I couldn't understand, couldn't read the label on the package, I didn't want anything to do with it. And if you think about it, natural organic brands, they actually put the ingredients right in the package.

Now, you don't know how they put it all together, but I mean, they pretty much put the recipe there. The point is, that level of transparency is what we need because we need to be able to trust the products that we're putting into our body. Think about the bread example.

If I am what I eat, and if I eat the products that best meet my needs, then I need to eat less of them. So Jackie, have any thoughts on this?

I completely agree, Dan. I think that it's a matter of consumers read packages, and at least for me, it's one where the definition of clean label is in the eyes of the holder. And what you see, to your point, is like if you don't know how to pronounce it, let alone how to spell it, then chances are you probably don't know what it means.

So for us, it's a matter of that's absolutely important. It's a matter of getting back to kind of that whole foods diet. But at the same time, it's a matter of sometimes, consumers are concerned about what's not on the label.

Because let's face it, sometimes what's not on the label is what matters most. It's things like that we look at, things for heavy metals, pesticide residues, plasticizers. The thing is that these aren't ingredients.

There's no brand out there maliciously peppering their product with heavy metals or anything like that. But ultimately, what it comes down to is what gets measured gets done. And in the absence of federal regulation requiring brands to do the testing, the onus is on brands to make sure that they independently, proactively adopt their own type of rigorous supplier assurance program.

This means of not just looking at the bare minimums when it comes to meeting the price point, meeting the bricks, meeting the color expectations, but adding a few more things to that supplier assurance plan. Things like mandatory testing for different types of pesticide panel, looking to make sure that the packaging you're using, that you don't have any packaging migration issues like BPA, BPS or even phthalates. These are things that are permitted under federal government, but when it comes down to what consumers are looking for, the things that keep them awake at night, the things that social media influencers talk about, these are those topics.

So it's a matter of making sure that you stay on top of those.

Which is critically important because you are what you eat and you're responsible for what you put in your body ultimately. So here's another example of exactly why this is so important. Think about when you think about wine and you think about people that talk about wine, the bouquet, the different flavors.

That comes from the environment that the wine is created, the grapes are created. So what's in the water? What's in the air?

There's a company had on the podcast several months ago that makes a product in a container where they can control the quality of the water, they can control the quality of the air and everything else. So their products are a lot more nutrient dense. Now, if I go plant something in my backyard, then I am subject to whatever pollutants are my neighbors throwing over the fence, if they fertilize or whatever.

My point is these are the things that Jackie was talking about that you don't see in the package, that you don't see in the product. But we need to be aware of this because these are the things that can cause the greatest impact. Shoppers will pay a premium for products that they trust, as I mentioned.

So shoppers will appreciate the fact that quality products, they realize the fact that quality products will satiate them longer. That will help them achieve their goals easier. For example, again, you eat less of the bread in that example if it meets your body's needs.

And even at a few pennies more, it's cheaper in the long run. So shoppers make conscious choices. They choose natural brands over other products.

And as you can see on this chart, their focus on reducing sugar, sugar being the new tobacco, etc. and reducing the amount that they eat, etc. Especially during this pandemic.

We see a lot or hear a lot about people that are gaining weight because their habits have not changed from being at the office all the time to being at home. Again, this is an opportunity for us to help shoppers understand that if they eat properly, if they get the right nutrition in their body and that they can trust that nutrition, that's going to help them in the long run.

Jacqui, do you have some thoughts? Yes, consumers are almost viewing their dollars as a vote for the food systems that they believe in. And so what you're seeing is that they are increasingly, especially as millennials and especially like mothers, millennial mothers, that this is something that they've grown up during the whole kind of like food revolution with natural and organic.

So this is something that's going to be much more, this is going to be obviously adopted, and it's going to be something that their children are going to absolutely grow up with. And so it's a matter of making sure and recognizing that there's kind of this kind of turnover of this next generation who's really going to be much more focused on natural and organic products and making sure that you satisfy those expectations. The other thing that I always like talking about when it comes to different types of trends is so often, you know, we talk about natural and organic, we talk about this lifestyles of health and sustainability and making sure that you're also mindful of things of like inclusivity and diversity and making sure to support brands that support minority population, women-owned, veteran-owned and those types of things is all part of this whole thing of much more holistic focus on really foods that are just, you know, better for you, better for the environment and better for the planet as a whole.

Absolutely. In fact, that gets back to that slide earlier where we were talking about how well does your product align with your customer. How does your brand support the mission that aligns with me?

And the point that I like to make here is that I don't have time to fly over to Africa and help people with clean water. But if I can support a brand that does that, that's cool. Or if I can support a brand that reduces human trafficking or tries to fix the problem around food deserts, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

So where does your brand fall into that? And how can you help celebrate that and help your customers understand that you're doing more than just putting ingredients in a package? So thank you, Jackie.

And I thought that this slide was really interesting, and it's a little bit dated too, but you can see where people in different countries are looking at what's important in terms of ingredients to avoid, artificial flavors, artificial preservatives, et cetera. The point is this, this is not just a US issue. This is a global issue.

So if you want to make a product that is going to meet the needs of a larger population, including the larger ethnic population in this country, you've got to understand exactly what your customers are looking for and be able to produce products that meet their needs. Jackie, your thoughts?

FWhen it comes to the globalization of the food supply, it's also a matter of making sure that when it comes to ingredient sourcing for your products that you may be growing here domestically, one thing that is important to keep in mind is that some of the really progressive policies that we have here are not necessarily in place in other countries. So again, it goes back to that whole thing of thinking about food safety differently, thinking about how you go about your supplier assurance programs differently, and then recognizing, of course, like we talked about before, also the diversity of the customer base and making sure to satisfy that. But like I had mentioned, when it comes to formulating, it's a matter of keeping in mind all of these different ingredients that are avoided, but it's also a matter of, like we talked about before, heavy metals, pesticides, plastics, the policies that we may have here are different in other countries.

So make sure that for especially brands looking to formulate, looking for the next new hot ingredient, looking for other great suppliers. Keep in mind that sometimes when you look abroad, you can find some really novel ingredients, but at the same time, make sure that you do your diligence when it comes to the necessary testing.

Well said. In fact, you made me think about one of the podcast episodes I did with Matthew Casper, who they go to Somalia to buy organic products and it's a certified bee company before certified bee became cool. And also that they use regenerative agriculture.

And the point is, it's organic. So you're getting the best of the best of the best. They're clean, the way they're put together, the products are put together, etc.

He can't mass produce and compete against a large brand, but the quality of his products are just, they're amazing. And the other cool thing is that he supports the communities that make those products. He was telling me that the packaging is made by some of the women in the village, and they're made one at a time.

And think about what he's doing for the economy there. And so it's a great story. So go back and listen to that.

Key Sustainability Purchase Drivers. And as you can see on this slide, there are a lot of things that consumers are looking for. And again, this kind of touches on some of the things that we're talking about.

So the point of this slide is simply get to know your customers. Understand what it is that they're looking for. And make sure you're reaching out to meet their needs.

And don't be afraid to put a more quality ingredient in your package, even though it's going to cost more if it meets the needs of the customer. And remember, we need to get away from this argument, this myth that price is the only thing that drives sales at shelf. And you got to remember, as we were talking about, that your brand is influenced by a lot of different things.

The package claim, the store signs, et cetera, information on the news and social media like Jacqui was talking about. Think about how your brand is reflected to the greater community. Your brand has your name on it.

And you've got to make sure that you're communicating that value across every aspect of your sales funnel. And you've got to make sure that everyone is in lockstep in terms of how they talk about your brand. Jacqui, your thoughts?

Yes, especially on this one, I think what's always interesting is always like saying, you know, go into a grocery store, any of them, and I dare you to find me one product, just one, that on the product label it says, this product is meh, frankly, it doesn't taste very good. You know, we use the cheaper BPA-lined packaging because we want to extend our self-life. But listen, we made our margins.

You know, packaging, nothing says that. Everything says that it's full of wholesome goodness. So if everything is full of all these great ingredients, then where's the bad stuff?

Because, you know, the reality is that, you know, the reality is that we've got the Great Pacific Plastic Patch, the size of Texas, outside of Hawaii. We have, you know, this 20% regular annual increase in children with allergies. You know, we have 10% of women of childbearing age having a hard time getting pregnant or staying pregnant.

So we're having these chronic diseases. And so it's a matter of looking at it as, you know, the way you can actually legitimately differentiate yourself rather than just on these bold marketing claims is using data and science in order to substantiate, making sure to satisfy those most cynical consumer their expectation of why your product is truly different. In the absence of just marketing, what you are able to do is actually use data in order to substantiate, to prove that your product is quantitatively superior to other products.

And that's exactly why we're having this conversation, is that Jackie is going to tell you exactly how well your product performs. I'm going to tell you how to leverage those insights at Shelf. So I want to speed up a little bit to get to Jackie's slides.

So this is talking about how health and wellness is on a one size approach. Shoppers are willing to pay more for products that they want. We mentioned that.

Customers want clean label products. And there will be a replay, so you can go back and watch this and slow it down if you'd like. But the point is, customers want transparency.

They want products that they can trust. Those products are driving sales across every category. So let me get into Jackie's part of the presentation about clean label.

So Jackie, please let me know when you want me to change the slides.

Sure, you can go ahead, Dan. Just as I had mentioned before, what we see play out in mainstream media are these issues like glyphosate, America's best selling beer and wine, pesticides showing up in America's best selling breakfast cereal. This is what Americans are seeing in mainstream media.

Every day. Next slide, Dan. So for us at Clean Label Project, what we're seeing is this growing divide, like I've been saying, between the court of law and the court of public opinion.

And it's interesting because the Natural Products Expo, Spark Change, actually did a really good job of kind of pinpointing why this is happening. That because of growing frustration with perceived corporate apathy and government inaction, it has led to a shift in consumer purchasing behavior to support businesses that are proactively solving for nutritional environmental issues. In the absence of the federal government stepping in and taking any action, the consumer expectation is that brands are going to take it upon themselves in order to satisfy the emerging consumer expectation of safety and quality.

So for me, one of the things, as I mentioned before, that I love looking at in order to really kind of figure out what is the current core to public opinion in any given product sector, I like looking at these seven core areas. I love looking at mommy bloggers because to Dan's point, the moms serve as the chief operating officer for the household. They're the ones doing so much of the shopping and the research.

They're the ones that are filling the grocery store basket as well as the closets and cabinets both in the bathroom as well as in the kitchen. And so it's what those moms that are talking about, what they're reading about, is going to often influence not just what they provide for themselves, but what they provide for their families. Also looking to the medical community.

What are new academics within the medical community, American Academy of Pediatrics, what are they talking about? Because here you have some of America's most progressive voices when it comes to health and wellness, taking stances on different topics. And oftentimes it doesn't mean that it necessarily leads to government change, but these, obviously, doctors are always among the top when it comes to who consumers trust.

I also like looking at legal precedent and case law, what nonprofits are talking about because they really can serve as the canary in the coal mines to talk about what it is that consumers are concerned about. It's interesting that what I'm also seeing is a really big increase in retailer standards. In other words, you see these different things of these no-no lists or prohibited ingredient lists.

And even those ingredients are technically allowed under FDA. Retailers are taking upon themselves to set new definitions and new expectation of brands that if you're going to sell to me and sell it in my store, I'm the new arbiter of truth and transparency. I'm the one that holds the trust with consumers.

So therefore, if my consumers don't want these ingredients, this is the new standard, independent of what federal law says. Obviously, we also have academia and those social media influencers who also obviously play a significant role in determining that court of public opinion. So in terms of public opinion trends that I'm seeing, in terms of trends and safety, the ones that I'm really focused on heavy metals, pesticide residues, phthalates, which would be like your BPA, BPS phthalates, as well as PFAS is a new hot one.

Antibiotic residues, growth hormones. The highly emotive consumer segments would be obviously like we talked about, those really sensitive populations, pregnant women, infants, children. You also look at our furry friends.

I know so many people consider their pets part of their family. I know that I do. 94% of people consider their pets as part of the family, in fact.

And of course, health and wellness. The expectation from consumers is that if a product is positioned as being better for you, the expectation is that it truly is. In terms of top trends in social causes, like we mentioned, women-owned, minority-owned, veteran-owned, and making sure to embrace inclusivity as well as diversity.

Trends in environmental causes. I'm very close to the upcycled food movement, which is working to divert food waste. This is the first time, COVID was the first time since World War II that middle-class America really felt what it was like to be food insecure.

So what you have is this whole momentum and energy behind what can we do that with all of this food waste that goes to the landfill or goes to compost or goes to livestock, how can we upcycle that into new value-added products to go and be introduced back into the human supply chain? It's also ranked as one of the 2021 food trends for next year. Looking at ocean plastic, we already talked about the great Pacific plastic patch the size of Texas outside of Hawaii.

What can we do in order to clean up both our soils as well as our oceans? The use of glass and paper over plastic, post-consumer recycled content, and as we've been talking about several times so far already, regenerative agriculture. Not just a matter of being organic, also seeing what we can do to actually improve the soil, not just contaminate more.

A little bit about us at Clean Label Project. We're a national nonprofit with the mission to bring truth and transparency to consumer product labeling. We believe that sometimes what's not on the label is what matters most.

For us, what we do is we use data and science to reveal the true contents of America's best-selling products. We use benchmarking to be able to evaluate how clean is a product compared to everything else. It's a matter of sizing up products against other products to see how clean was the ingredients supply chain in the making of this particular product.

Overall, what we're looking to do is to change the definition of food and consumer product safety in America from focusing not just on short-term food safety, but making sure that food and consumer products don't contribute to long-term chronic disease. So it's interesting because it's one for us at Clean Label Project, it's not just us talking about this whole issue with industrial environmental contaminants and toxins. In fact, the World Health Organization says that in the modern era, while undernutrition remains a major challenge worldwide, we humans are now faced with the negative effects of overnutrition in the form of obesity, risky nutrition in the form of unbalanced diets, or diets contaminated with potential toxins.

Things like mining, fracking, industrial agriculture, contributing to industrial environmental contaminants in the air, the water, and the soil. And this is in addition to things like some heavy metals that are also naturally present in the Earth's crust. So these are all things that can adversely affect public health in both the short term and the long term.

So how do these toxins, how do they end up in our food? As I mentioned, in no way do I want to imply that there's, you know, brands adding these things to their products, but in the absence of federal regulation paying attention to them, the onus falls on brands to basically set their own policies. What happens, like we talked about, because of mining, fracking, industrial agriculture, these contaminants end up in the air, the water and the soil.

And unless at that second arrow, unless brands proactively think about food safety differently, those contaminants will end up on the manufacturing line, end up in the grocery store cart, and ultimately end up being consumed by the most vulnerable consumers. At that critical point, it's about progressive brands viewing food safety differently. It's a matter of proactively and voluntarily aligning your true north with the consumer expectation of safety and making sure that in order to make that happen, setting up that preventive control to make sure that you source ingredients differently, that you set new specifications based on this new consumer expectation of safety.

So why Clean Label Project? Why Clean Label Project certification? So for us, what we see is there's a fundamental disconnect in the minds of consumers and federal food safety regulations.

We also know that the Shelby Report published last year said that nearly half of consumers who regularly buy food don't trust the food industry to do the right thing and nearly one-fourth actively distrust it. And we know that data and transparency creates trust in an era of skepticism. So we know that the Clean Label Project of kind of tested and certified resonates with both retailers as well as consumers.

The difference what we use at Clean Label Project I've been talking about is this concept called benchmarking. So for those of you that have kiddos at home, you've probably seen this chart. What you're looking at here is a growth chart.

So in the sake of, let's say, this little girl, what you see is the CDC chart for head circumference. Let's say that she was six months old. Let's pretend you took your child to the doctor, and the doctor's like, okay, we're going to get a height and weight.

We're going to do the head circumference to make sure that your child is thriving like they should. They're like, okay, we did our head circumference. It came back at 16 centimeters.

And then if they just said it's 16 centimeters, and you'd be like, well, is that good? Is that bad? I don't know.

I can just tell you that it's 16. All of a sudden, when you have benchmark data, and you're like, out of all six-month-old girls on the CDC, on this scale, we can tell you that she is absolutely at the 50th percentile. She's exactly where she needs to be compared to all other little girls her age.

But it also allows you to look at things and being like, okay, we did her height and she's in the 95th percentile. Looks like you've got a basketball player in the making. Or maybe it's one where the weight came back on the small side.

It's like, well, she's only in the seventh percentile. Let's make sure that she's getting all the high nutrients that she needs in order to grow and thrive. Sometimes when you just have a single data point, which is often the case when you're a brand and you're doing your own routine testing, you'll have a single data point.

But when you look at benchmark data, it allows you to put your single data point into perspective compared to everybody else. So for us at Clean Label Project, what I see is that comprehensive analytical chemistry data sets that evaluate heavy metal, residues, plasticizers, what you're able to do is you're supposed to, you're able to take all of that data and look at it from a competitive perspective. You're able to quantify TBC, how your product from a supplier assurance program, how it sizes up to other brands, as well as any potential brand risk.

You're able to look at it and say, okay, this product, this baby food compared to the other 550 baby foods, you're one of five that tested positive for BPA. And so that tells you, like, okay, there's 545 other best-selling American baby food products that have been able to source packaging in a supply chain that does not have BPA contamination. And I'm one of five that does.

It means we can do a better job there. Along the same line, you can look at glyphosate, whether there's any type of glyphosate contamination. On the other side, you can also use it from a sales perspective.

And you're like, listen, when it comes to looking at nutrient density of, for example, the way that you, you know, your apples and the way that you're able to retain the nutrient density, when we look at the quantity of different nutrients, you're in the 95th percentile. Compared to all these other apple sauces, so to speak, you know, your nutrient density of your vitamin panel is way up here. Clearly, you're doing something differently.

So you can both use it from a risk perspective, as well as to say why your product is truly superior, why your product is different, and that, you know, any ingredient doesn't have to be a commodity. It's different depending on how you look at it and where you place that value. So in terms of Clean Label Project, how our CERT program works, essentially what we do is we've created a food and quality program based on the food safety issues that consumers care about most, utilizing a model that mirrors the consumer shopping experience.

Essentially, what we do is we use consumer chain of custody sampling and testing. We have to have, you have to have compliant heavy metal test results, plasticizer test results and pesticide test results. Overall, in order to win the priority award, your overall test results have to be in the top 33% of the overall category.

So what this means is, it doesn't mean you have to be absolute zero on everything. Let's be honest, at the end of the day, because of the contamination that has occurred, you're always going to have some kind of contamination. We have to sleep in the bed that we've made.

But what you can do is that through proactive supplier assurance programs that think of food safety differently, it's a matter of minimizing that potential consumer exposure. And so long as your overall test results yield your score in the top 33%, it's kind of like making the honor roll. Next slide, please, Dan.

So for us, when it comes to just overall tips for complying with the court of public opinion, eight key things. First, like I mentioned, view compliance with federal laws as table stakes. That's going to be your minimum expectation.

You know, no one says congratulations on a recall. So we want to make sure that you fulfill those minimum expectations. But it's a matter of also recognizing that you don't just have to satisfy federal regulations.

It's satisfying what it is that consumers are looking for. So make sure to shift that true north towards what the consumer expectation is. You can do this by reviewing your supplier assurance and your HACCP system through this new expectation of true north and what consumers want.

The other thing to make sure to do is trust but verify, even though so many brands will rely on certificates of analysis from their different suppliers. Sometimes it's just a matter of checking up on that again, making sure to go back, do some additional random testing, just to make sure to substantiate that supplier superiority. The other thing is view these different types of consumer exposés as canaries in a coal mine.

Chances are there's something there, there. So it's a matter of looking at and seeing across any of these different categories, even if it's not your own industry sector, to take a look back and especially if it's getting traction from media, then clearly this is something that matters to consumers. So take a look within your own supply chain and make sure to mitigate your risk.

Other things I always caution brands to do is stay away from terms like free from this, no this or zero this. The reason for it is that it's a matter of making sure it's belts and suspenders around those claims. If you're going to say the word free from, no or zero, make sure that you can actually stay true to that consumer promise.

Make sure you recognize this. If a consumer read this word free from this or zero this, how much do they think is actually in there? Probably zero.

Make sure you can stay true to that promise. I always like giving brands product claims this triple snip test, which is looking at any claim and looking at it and saying, hmm, what an average consumer thinks that this claim means. Second one would be, what is a consumer that would be a blogger think that this claim means?

The third triple snip test would be, what does a lawyer in the state of California think that this claim means? And so long as you're able to satisfy that claim, make sure to use both your website as an educational tool, use those QR codes that Dan was talking about as a tool, you're able to make sure to get all that information out there to properly disclose what your intent was to communicate with the label claim. The last thing we want to do is have a claim be false or misleading.

And finally, consider brands and different types of NGOs like Clean Label Project, a friend, ally and resource. We love getting involved with progressive brands that are trying to do right by consumers. So feel free to reach out.

We love those opportunities.

Do you want to go through the other slides that you had in there?

No, you can just, if you want to just leave those as another one, that's just kind of a little bit of a fun story about CBD for those of you who are interested in kind of some of Clean Label Project's findings around CBD.

Yeah, I think this is so interesting. And again, it's so relevant because I guess like we were talking about, you know, that rip on the pun, that's where I've been focusing my entire career and helping brands leverage that. But yet since transparency is sort of a nebulous term by some brands, and I'll give you an example.

There's a brand that one of the syndicated data providers are celebrating the fact that a brand had adopted a bunch of transparency standards. Anyhow, what they start doing is stop giving their brands, their animals, a bunch of hormones and stuff like that. That's not true transparency.

We want to go way beyond that. I appreciate you're being here. Thank you.

Everyone's showing up. If you want to watch the replay, it'll be available shortly. And thank you for your time.

If you got any additional questions, reach out to me, reach out to Jackie, and we're here to help. Thanks.

Thank you for the opportunity, Dan.

Thank you. I want to thank Jackie for coming on today and for sharing her wisdom and her insights. I'll be certain to put a link to the Clean Label Project on the podcast web page.

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