Food Customization to Meet Our Needs

Unless you have influence with the cook in your house or unless you do the cooking yourself, food customized to your particular dietary needs combined with your taste preferences is probably a bit of a stretch. However, with supermarkets and restaurants adapting to our dietary needs, this is becoming easier than ever.

For example, McDonald's addition of special coffees to their offerings is intended to capture a group of customers who want some customization in their menus. Another example, the Coca-Cola Freestyle soda dispenser. Additionally, whole lines of sugar-free, low-carb, low-sodium, and low-fat versions of many foods have become much more prevalent. The produce section of the supermarket has evolved immensely. Consumers can purchase customized salads and vegetables. Gone are the days of having to buy a head of lettuce, whole carrots, croutons, and cheese, chop them at home and create your own salad. Now, we can buy salads that are already packaged, customized specifically to our tastes, and extremely easy to prepare.

At an FIA food industry symposium: Connecting the Resources: Authenticity, Mass Customization, and Revenue, attendees examined mass customization and its impact on the food industry. By customizing foods to meet certain needs and wants, the food industry has the capability to create a unique consumer experience while adding value to their brand.
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