Portion caution

Readers of a certain age may recall a 1970s advertising campaign for the Mars Milky Way chocolate bar, which extolled it as "the sweet you can eat between meals without ruining your appetite". It's hard to imagine that this praise of pointless indulgence would get the green light nowadays. Food in the 21st century has to justify its calories. If it is filling, it must also be nutritious. If it is a treat, it must be small, part of a balanced diet and as natural as possible.

Demand from government watchdogs, retailers and consumers alike, has ensured that suppliers have been overhauling their ingredients for years. Artificial colours, flavourings and preservatives have been cut, trans fats and salt reduced, while additional wholegrains, probiotics, omega-3, antioxidants, carotenes, vitamins and 'superfoods' are heralded with pride.

Restrictions on advertising to children, controls on their lunchbox contents and Food Standards Agency (FSA) labelling guidelines set at 100g portions have set many of the parameters for food producers and, with the FSA's saturated fat and energy intake programme in full swing, the reins are likely to get even tighter. The FSA recently advised manufacturers to make smaller portion sizes more readily available and is holding an independent academic workshop to examine evidence on portion sizes, chaired by Dr Susan Jebb - head of nutrition and health research at the Medical Research Council .

However, portion control is one area where suppliers have already taken the initiative. Market researcher Euromonitor identified portion control as one of the 10 key consumer trends shaping the UK food industry last year. It cited the growing popularity of small-portion cuisines - Spanish tapas, Greek mezes and Japanese izakayas - and flagged up food manufacturers' new product development (NPD) in calorie-controlled mini portions, particularly those products high in fat, salt and sugar.

Big boys are on a trend, but will it last?

The concept is well established in North America. Kraft pioneered the '100 calorie' snack there back in 2004 and there has been massive growth in 100-calorie packs in the US and Canada since.

Cadbury led the way here with a range of thinner '99 calorie' versions of some of its regular chocolate bars in 2005, while Nestlé changed the way it displays nutritional information on its chocolate and sweets labels last year, with packets displaying the number of calories per serving on the front. Procter & Gamble has put Pringles in handy mini packs, while Pepsico's Walkers brand has just added smaller packs to its Doritos range.

However Carla Ogeia, trends and innovation consultant at Mintel, says that portion controlled packs are not necessarily the way forward for the UK market. She points out that Cadbury Dairy Milk 99 calories spent only 72 weeks in the UK market as sales per store steadily declined. "The product did not look and feel right for consumers who assumed it would not taste like regular Dairy Milk chocolate," she says. "UK consumers are more focused on balance and eating balanced meals and a generally healthier lifestyle, rather than being spoon-fed dieting solutions." She contrasts the Cadbury portion packs' fate with the success of Walkers Baked crisps. Launched in 2006 and thriving, they do not proclaim their calorie content but instead, are promoted as a healthier option to fried crisps.

Nevertheless, John Trelfa, NPD manager at Creative Foods, the speciality division of Brakes, says that portion control is also a growing trend in foodservice. He believes that consumers are looking for greater information on packaging and menu descriptors, and they are beginning to understand that smaller can be better: "In the past, portion size has been driven by the perception that more means greater value for money," he says. "However, as the consumer becomes more aware of things such as provenance, free-from, and fair-trade, these have also become important aspects of their eating experience, as has the desire to eat healthier, smaller portions. The use of cleaner, fresher ingredients is driving manufacturers to produce a smaller portion offering that fits within both theirs and their customers' commercial boundaries."

Portion size psychology

Recent research led by Brian Wansink, professor of marketing and the director of the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University in the US, which focuses on the psychology behind what people eat and how often they eat it, has reinforced the importance of the psychology behind portion control. In an experiment to test whether visual cues or a feeling of fullness would make people stop eating, Wansink found that people eating soup from a 'bottomless bowl' rigged to keep the bowl about half full ate on average 66% more soup than those eating from a normal bowl. He believes that suppliers will use these findings to help people eat less or eat healthier. They may not sell as much food, but they could charge more for packaging that slows down consumption or adds health-oriented twists.

Dr Jeff Brunstrom, senior lecturer in experimental psychology at Bristol University, who is researching the issue of how people make the decisions about portion size, and their expectations about food, says satiety is also an important consideration - something that the 1970s Milky Way ads certainly did not consider.

"If you give someone 200 calories of one food and 200 calories of another, do they expect both to deliver the same level of satiety?" he asks. "What might be a portion size of one is not the same for the other, even though they provide the same energy. Manufacturers typically are interested in making foods that are liked and they look at portion size as an afterthought, but our research indicates that consumers also consider satiety - especially dieters, who want as much satiety for their calories as possible. If they buy a product that doesn't live up to their expectations of satiety, it'll be rejected even if it tastes nice."

Convenience conquers

Many suppliers remain enthusiastic about going down the smaller pack route, because the activity suits the demand for convenience and portability in out-of-home eating and for lunchboxes, while the health spin-off means they can also start polishing their halos.

Sue Garfitt, head of category and customer marketing at Burton's Foods, which has put its Maryland Cookies, Cadbury Animals and Fingers, and Jammie Dodgers into mini packs, believes they are the way forward for the biscuit category. "Biscuits already have built-in portion control because they come in separate units, but the mini bag sizes are still a huge growth opportunity - and for more than just lunchbox use," she says. "We find that the after school period is where they're most eaten. Mini bags were originally created for convenience and portability for out-of-home eating but the portion control aspect really helps to create a balance."

Garfitt adds that retailers are beginning to realise the importance of mini packs, so the trend is unlikely to die away in the near future. Sainsbury has already reorganised its fixtures to create a 'minis' section, with other retailers planning a similar move.

But the story doesn't end here. Encouraging consumers to adopt healthier eating habits is an ongoing challenge. "If we want to move a whole generation to healthier habits, it's a challenge for the whole food and drink industry," says Garfitt. "There is more work to be done on portion control." FM