By Brenda Van Goethem, Nerac Analyst
Food packaging is on a diet. Many U.S. companies now offer single-serve or “convenience” packaging for various categories, from Freschetta’s single-serve pizza to Welch’s 5.5-ounce cans of juice. In a society where bigger is better, the trend toward single-serve packaging indicates that consumers are willing to pay for less: less food, less calories and less health dangers.

Supersized portions contribute to the obesity epidemic in the United States. For example, a recent North American Association for the Study of Obesity (NAASO) report calculates the potential calorie-saving effects of shrinking middle school snack-bar portion sizes to “pre-supersize” levels. Using sales data from 23 Texas middle school snack bars, the study determined that students would have consumed an average of 45 fewer calories a day if snack bars sold 1-ounce bags of chips instead of 3.75-ounce bags, and 12-ounce cans of sweetened beverages rather than 20-ounce bottles. Over the school year, the smaller portions could prevent up to two pounds of excess weight gain per child.

Big, Bigger & Bigger Still
Today, supersized snack foods are typically packaged two and one-half times the FDA standard portion size for children. Adult portions are double the federal standards for a serving. Restaurant portions are typically three to five times higher than what is considered a normal serving size, with some meals totaling 1,000 calories or more—one-half or more the ideal daily caloric intake.

Restaurant chains, often the trendsetters in the food and beverage industry, have begun offering alternatives. T.G.I. Fridays, for example, now offers smaller portion sizes at lower prices through its “Right Portion, Right Price” menu. Similarly, Applebee’s has one of the industry’s most successful portion-conscious ventures with its Weight Watchers partnership. Applebee’s estimates that the new menu designed to attract portion-conscious diners has resulted in a 5-7 percent increase to the chain’s bottom line.

Food Producers Are Responding
If restaurateurs lead the way in food trends, it’s the food producers that perfect the delivery with items that target just the right markets. Snack food leader Frito-Lay has a single-portion line of snack products called 100-calorie Mini Bites. The company’s “The Right Snack for Sensible Munching” tag line is a hit among weight-watching women in particular. General Mills has a similar packaging configuration with its 100-calorie Pop-Secret Snack Bags, and Jello-Pudding has a 100-calorie, single-serve fat-free pudding cup that is 80 calories lower than its regular-sized cup.

According to the Snack Food Association (SFA), the snack foods account for $25 billion a year in U.S. sales, and these numbers are growing steadily by several percentage points each year. Driven by convenience and the demand for pre-portioned snacks, single-serve snacks grew about 15 percent in 2004, and the SFA estimates that single-serve packaging will continue to grow. Information Resources Inc. reports that while sales gains in for large packaged salty snacks, crackers, cookies, and chocolate candy were minimal or declining for 2005, sales of single-serve and 100-calorie packs of salty snacks rose 11 percent, crackers 4.9 percent, cookies 6 percent, and chocolate candy 4.9 percent.

It makes sense that snack foods have taken the lead on trimmer deliverables. Consumers won’t feel cheated eating a handful of cookies, as long as they can walk away from the dinner table with a full belly (dieting or no dieting). Food producers traditionally approach packaging with a “more is better” appeal because business allows it. Ingredients are typically the lowest cost factor in production, compared to overhead, marketing, packaging, distribution and other expenses. As a result, consumers expect to see labeling that suggests they are getting more bang for their buck. So, if consumers still expect to be supersized, where do we go from here?

Options Are The Future
Oversized portions will continue to succeed but options will be the wave of the future. As more consumers are willing to pay for alternatively packaged items such as 4-ounce soft drinks and Breyers’ Double Churn 100 Calorie Cups (sold in six-packs), producers will test the waters with other categories. Two of these categories include hand-held entrees, such as Stouffer’s Lean Cuisine Casual Eating Classics (dollar sales as of January 2007 up more than 60 percent), and healthy drinkables, like Burger King kid’s meal option of 8-ounce Hershey’s low-fat white and chocolate milk.

So don’t imagine consumers looking at a single-serving package of those two lonely white fudge Oreos with disdain. The reality is that most consumers understand our supersized view of a single portion is wrecking waistlines and health. The new single packaging options of favorite foods can help re-calibrate consumers’ views of a sensible portion size, leading to healthier eating habits without giving up the products they love. And that creates more opportunities for alternative packaging options.