Zapping labels that clamor for readability

It’s nearly impossible to attach a universal meaning to any single word or phrase because words mean different things on different labels and to different people. This is a time of opportunity, though, to capture shoppers’ attention and trust, as more of them are trying to spend less and have more meals at home. 

It’s nearly impossible to attach a universal meaning to any single word
or phrase because words mean different things on different labels and
to different people.

This is a time of opportunity,
though, to capture shoppers’ attention and trust, as more of them are
trying to spend less and have more meals at home.

Fuzzy language is widespread among microwavable
food packages. The first consumer who brought microwave confusion to my
attention was actually feeling confused about the healthfulness of
microwavable foods. “On the one
hand, microwave-only foods are getting a lot better and a lot
healthier. On the other hand, they are getting more processed and more
full of additives and sugars than ever. What are we supposed to
think?”

I
loved her question and wanted to call it to your attention. The way
consumers are responding to calorie-specific portions of many kinds of
foods tells me they are looking for clarity and certainty in a sea of
ambiguity. The opportunity to provide clarify is worth thinking about
on your next label review.

Microwavable foods are
hot!
Large and small, and built in or perched almost
anywhere, microwave ovens have become almost as ubiquitous and diverse
as televisions. Some consumers use them many times each day, for
everything from scrambling eggs and softening ice cream to heating
frozen entrees and compresses for pulled muscles.

A
poll of our shoppers found that they routinely use microwaves for
reheating or warming liquids and solids that have gotten cold…for
heating or reheating leftovers…for heating up soup from a can or
box…for frozen vegetables, especially those packaged for microwave
steaming…for heating up products that are packaged specifically for
microwave use (such as Campbell’s Soul at Hand, Hormel Chili, Kraft’s
frozen Macaroni and Cheese)..for microwave popcorn…and for prepared
frozen entrees by Lean Cuisine, Swanson, Uncle Ben’s, Michelina or
others.

Some consumers feel they couldn’t live
without their microwave(s).

In spite of all this,
some consumers go weeks at a time without using a microwave at all.
Some avoid sitting or standing near one that’s turned on. Some feel
that nothing made for microwaving or heated in a microwave is as tasty
or as healthy as something made for or heated on a stovetop or in a
conventional oven. Some don’t replace them when they move or break
down.

“It’s
easier to eat healthfully when you give up microwaving.”


“I’d actually forgotten how easy it was to turn on a stove.
And the soup I heat on the stove at home stays hotter longer than the
soup I cook in the microwave at work.”

“You shouldn’t put
microwave and good food in the same sentence.”

Negatives notwithstanding, the microwavable food market is
forecast to pass $75 billion by the end of this decade. One of the
reasons for its growth is that microwavable foods are getting
better-they’re tastier and healthier. Especially vegetables. Steamable
packaging seems a perfect marriage of technology and healthy eating.
Consumers know that steaming vegetables is a healthy way to capture
vegetables’ goodness and flavor. Voila, you have delicious veggies that
really go right from the store shelf into the microwave. And some of
the results are really fabulous, tasting as consistently good as or
better than anything that many consumers can fix on their own.

Besides the taste, ease and prep speed, one of the
great things about the steam packages is their clarity. Not that
everyone uses exactly the same language, but some variation of the word
STEAM appears in full-size product identification type on just about
all the packages. “SteamFresh.” “Simply Steam.” “Steams in the bag.”
“Steamable.” Shoppers can tell that these products can go directly into
a microwave oven and get steaming hot.

Some tell us
that these steam products are overpriced, (“Very good but very pricey!”), but no one
finds them confusing. The clarity is welcome and
important.

Dual-ovenable? Or micro
only?
Too many microwavable packages lack clarity
because many marketers try to straddle the lines between different
uses. Some marketers avoid using the word “microwave” in their sell
copy because it does have negative quality or health connotations with
some consumers. But consumers want and deserve to know right off the
bat if the product can be heated any way they choose, or if one cooking
method can be expected to yield better results than other.

Some marketers are using cooking times, such as,
“Ready in 4 minutes” or “2 minutes” as a shorthand way of saying fast
prep and microwavable. But front-panel minutes are also used to
describe instant cereals, which actually take two or three minutes
after adding hot water and don’t have to be microwaved at all.

Differences in microwave and conventional oven
heating times remain astronomical. A family-sized package of Kraft
Macaroni and Cheese claims to be ready in 10 minutes in a microwave or
50 minutes in a conventional oven.

Today, most
consumers expect to have their choice of heating method, and most
products can be heated in many different ways. Some packages work as
heatable containers in microwave ovens but aren’t safe in conventional
ovens. Some work in conventional ovens but not in toaster ovens.

Many entrees and side dishes are designed for
microwave heating because the people who buy them are in a hurry. These
products bury the instructions for conventional cooking on side or back
panels, even while reminding consumers to cook the product thoroughly
for the sake of safety.

For example, the front
panels of Hormel’s meat entrees tell consumers that they are “Ready in
4 Minutes.” The back panels let consumers know that additional recipes
and conventional cooking methods can be found inside the tray.

The “cook thoroughly” instruction raises a question
about the safety of microwaving, which rarely heats all the way through
to the extent that conventional heating does. Some consumers think that
microwave cooking instructions should remind consumers that thorough
cooking takes more attention when using a microwave than when using a
stove.

The mixed messages on food packages are
exacerbated by creative introductions of healthy vegetables that steam
in the microwave, and fun foods like General Mill’s line of desserts
called Betty Crocker Warm Delights and Warm Delights Minis. On the
front panel selling space of the Hot Fudge Brownie Warm Delights, a
large spoonful of brownie is explained in tiny print that says
“ENLARGED TO SHOW DETAIL.” Alongside the Hot Fudge Brownie product
identification is a tiny picture of a microwave oven with tiny
instructions to “JUST ADD WATER AND MICROWAVE.”

Seeing that product for the first time, it’s easy
to think that it contains a brownie (think small packages of
Entenmann’s or Tastykake) that is meant to be eaten warm. In fact, the
sleeved bowls contain pouches which must be squeezed and combined with
water and stirred, and can only be made edible in a microwave. In other
words, this is a microwave-only product that uses a tiny picture of a
microwave to say so.  F&BP