Retailers looking to make inroads with kosher food shoppers should address their culinary needs with cooking classes and recipes. That was the big takeaway from a roundtable discussion this morning at the Fancy Food Show.

The consensus was that even upscale retailers who offer classes representing a range of culinary styles and ethnic cuisines neglect this profitable group. Americans spend $14.6 billion a year on kosher foods.

True the availability of kosher ingredients and foods—which grew 15% last year—allows shoppers to adapt recipes they see on TV or in magazines to their dietary needs. But it seems many would remain loyal to a retailer who created classes and recipes just for them.

A woman named Melissa who was part of this morning’s group seemed to think so. She believes so much in the need for kosher cooking programs that she’s working to get her own show, called “Kosher Unleashed,” on air. She hopes the show will dispel kosher myths, include a taste of history and of course great kosher foods.

The Food Network doesn’t feature any kosher cooking programs but it’s not a good fit since it doesn’t allow mention of brand-specific products. A problem since shoppers who keep kosher depend heavily on certification symbols featured on labels.

I don’t know if it was exhaustion from carrying two duffle bags full of specialty products through the streets of NYC, the fact that I’d been up since 5:30 am, or the glass of Unwind relaxation beverage that I tried, but about 20 minutes after I got home last night I fell fast asleep. It was only 8pm. I got up about an hour later.

The women manning the Unwind booth at the annual Food Fête event warned me that the drink’s natural calming ingredients could have this affect. It seems the Valerian Root, Melatonin and Passion Flower “providing a low calorie antidote for a stressful day,” did the trick. They said only to drink half a can and not to drive after drinking (I took the bus).

The Food Fête event is designed to create memorable experiences like these between food and lifestyle editors and specialty products that are new to the market, in a smaller, more digestible number than is offered at the Fancy Food Show. Most of the participants in this evening event also exhibit at the show. Companies like Barbara’s Bakery, Dagoba Organic Chocolate and even mainstream suppliers like French’s and Duncan Hines were on hand.

My colleague Bob Vosburgh and I learned about and tasted several new products. One of the more unique was a chocolate bar from John & Kiras made from ingredients grown in an urban garden called the Common Good City Farm in Washington, D.C. Marketed as an “Urban Garden Bar” it combines milk chocolate with dried orange peel and freshly-picked rosemary and offers the opportunity to “commune (through the palate) with the urban gardeners and family farmers who grow the ingredients.”

A portion of the profits are sent back to the gardens.

There was also a sunflower butter milk chocolate candy called Sun Cups and Organic Valley Pasture Butter. The seasonal spread is produced in small batches with milk collected at the height of pasture season from May through September. The result is higher levels of antioxidants, CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), and Omega-3 and-6 fatty acids.

Innovative packaging was also highlighted. Pacific Natural Foods is introducing all natural soups like Vegetable Lentil & Roasted Red Pepper in aseptic packaging made from renewable resources. Lucini 100% Natural Tomato Sauces is packaging its handcrafted in small batches product in a new standup microwavable bag that includes three servings. While nut free Sun Cups come in compostable packaging.

NYC is a little more special this week now that the NASFT’s Summer Fancy Food Show has rolled into town. With exhibitors sharing delicacies like Key Lime Graham Gelato Squares, Goat Cheese and Pear Savory Tart, and Port Clyde Lobster Mac & Cheese, I welcome a break from my brown bag lunches.

But what’s truly special about the 56th Summer Fancy Food Show doesn’t come until its close this Tuesday. That’s when 250 City Harvest volunteers will move in to collect foods donated by the show’s exhibitors to help feed some of New York’s 1.5 million hungry. The show’s coordinator anticipates a whopping 150,000 pounds of unopened perishable and shelf stable fare.

The annual donation is the single largest that City Harvest will receive all year. So it’s gotten very good at planning exactly where all the food will go, according to NASFT’s Ron Tanner. Many of the 600 agencies that City Harvest serves will stay open late on Tuesday so they can accept the donations.

Hot sauce might end up in a Caribbean community, meat will be added to soup served in soup kitchens and specialty cookies and other treats will make their way to various women’s shelters, Tanner said. For those accustomed to foods past their sell-by date, the upscale treats will provide a rare fine dining experience—likely the only one they’ll have all year.

Attention all shoppers: The alleged new frugality is a myth! That’s according to Melissa Abbott of the Hartman Group. I just checked my dwindling cash supply and I think she’s right.

She recognized that shoppers are engaging in the “theatrics of thrift,” or altering their shopping behavior to help ease a collective anxiety. They’re bargain hunting to alleviate stress, and truly believe that they’re saving money, but when it comes down to it they can’t account for where savings have gone.

Shoppers aren’t trading down consistently, especially when it comes to products they hold near and dear, but in many categories they’ve traded to private labels, Abbott said. Eighty-six percent will continue the behavior when the economy improves, with the remainder going back to their trusted national brands.

For many shoppers, like myself, the practice of turning to store brands in certain categories is already engrained. I could relate to the shopper that Melissa studied. The woman bypassed a temporary price reduction on a national brand she trusted in the shredded cheese section, for a private brand that wasn’t on sale. When questioned she said she hadn’t noticed the sale since she’s used to grabbing the private brand in that section.

The story brought to mind something I learned in an earlier session: Mark Lang, a professor at St. Joseph’s University let retailers know that if they’re promoting private labels with price reductions they need to stop, since low prices on corporate brands are already a given for shoppers. Instead store brand marketers need to lead with a quality message.

Abbott said retailers should consider the key quality drivers for food and beverage, which are unique flavors, globally inspired foods and products that are natural/less processed.

We all know that kids who exercise benefit healthwise but new studies show that children who get their blood pumping can also improve their performance in school. It’s unclear whether the effect is related to self-esteem or if it’s more physiological in nature, but according to Ric Jurgens, chairman and CEO of Hy-Vee, children who exercise experienced a 50% improvement in reading skills.

For this and other reasons, it makes sense for members of the food industry to join the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation, said Jurgens this morning during an update of the group’s progress. Close to his heart is the part of the effort that touches schools to enforce the calories in, calories out message.

As part of an effort sponsored by the Iowa Business Council, kids in 50 schools have gained access to physical fitness resources that otherwise wouldn’t be available. The program includes activities like playing baseball and other games on Wii and access to treadmills and other fitness equipment. Jurgens is hopeful that the program that costs about $50,000 per school, will become a template that can be replicated elsewhere.

Kids have already become attached to the program. When Jurgens asked one girl what might happen if it were taken away she said “My grades would drop,” but not for the reason you might think. She continued “This calms the boys down and allows me to concentrate in class.”

Improvements have also found their way to the other members of these childrens’ households. In fact, one mom lost 30 pounds after following the health and wellness guidelines her daughter learned through the program at school.

An interesting presentation was given this morning by Grant LaMontagne, senior vice president and chief customer officer of The Clorox Co.

In addition to sharing interesting facts about the charcoal category—such as 80% of consumers make their second charcoal purchase of the season the same place where they made their first (good to know since $60 in incremental sales is usually attached)—he discussed ways in which marketers of the future might target relevant consumers in a very personalized way.

In one hypothetical scenario LaMontagne’s wireless network provider, AT&T, might notice through signals bouncing off cell towers in different places around the world, that he’s a frequent traveler. AT&T could then sell the information to American Airlines who could craft and offer a truly customized and very generous promotional plan since he’s such a high profile consumer. Another way to reach shoppers would be via the Internet. “The race is on for IP addresses,” said LaMontagne.

While the idea of receiving generous offers for relevant products sounds like a match made in heaven, the thought of a world in which brands monitor your daily life, and sometimes work together to do so, seems a bit scary.

IRI released its annual list of New Product Pacesetters yesterday. In order to be considered for the list products must have earned at least $7.5 million in year one sales and have over 30% national distribution.

The number one new food or beverage product in 2009 was Campbell’s Select Harvest with a whopping $202 million in food, drug and mass sales (excluding Wal-Mart), followed by Bud Light Lime, with an impressive $133 million in first year revenue. Not too shabby, especially considering that over the past 15 years 70% to 80% of new products never saw $7.5 million in sales, according to Anne Berlack of IRI. This year the field of qualifiers was even smaller with only about 12% meeting the sales criteria.

Also on the list of top new foods and beverages is Arnold Select Sandwich Thins with $87 million in sales. The bread alternative contains 100 calories per serving. It’s followed by Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers ($85 million), Dreyer’s/Edy’s Fun Flavors ($72 million) and a product discontinued 14 months after its release: Gatorade Tiger/Focus ($65 million). MGD 64 ($53 million), Mountain Dew Dewmocracy ($52 million), Bush’s Grillin’ Beans ($45 million) and Kellogg’s FiberPlus Bars ($45 million) are also on the list.

The product’s marketers should be commended for achieving impressive results during a time of scaled back spending. But none did as well as the top new seller in the c-store channel. Camel Crush took the top spot with $374 million in first-year sales.

The customizable cigarettes have a special menthol capsule within the filter, that when crushed, turns a regular cigarette into a menthol cigarette.

Point-of-sale data allows retailers to figure out who purchased what, but its nearly impossible, without asking shoppers, to know why items included on their list didn’t make it into their cart. Food Lion is working on a way to get some answers.

Last October it installed 120 cameras in the ceilings of two test stores that track shopper movement from the time they enter the store until the time they leave. While there, they’re subject to sophisticated face recognition technology. After their route is mapped information about the path they took, and whether or not they walked up and down several aisles in search of some ingredient, will be tied to transaction data, loyalty card data, segmentation clustering and trip mission analysis. Food Lion plans to have 600,000 individual trips mapped by October.

The test seems like a very interesting one, but privacy issues will almost certainly get in the way. Sure test stores post signs indicating that Food Lion is conducting market research that uses video cameras, but it seems only a matter of time before consumer advocates raise a stink. Shoppers will also likely take issue.

Especially if they’re intercepted in the store, their route is read back to them by a researcher, and they’re asked about the decisions they made. One of Food Lion’s partners told me that the scenario will likely unfold as the test progresses.

If you’ve noticed more cars on the road lately it may have something to do with the additional food shopping trips that consumers are taking in search of value. The numbers, according to Dr. Romesh Wadhwani, chairman of Symphony IRI Group (called IRI until its official name change this morning), represent a 6% increase over last year and a $10 million incremental revenue opportunity for retailers who capture just 1% of the trips.

Wadhwani projects the trend to play out through the remainder of the year, as shoppers have nearly doubled the number of stores they visit each month to as many as 10. Today’s shoppers are on a very specific mission and they come armed with lists. Twelve months ago IRI found that about half of shoppers made generic category lists before heading out to the store, but today more than eight in ten are making brand-specific lists in advance.

One area where they’re not as value conscious is health and wellness. The folks at PepsiCo seem to have taken note. Yesterday CEO Indra Nooyi announced plans to grow revenues from its good-for-you products from $10 billion to $30 billion over the next ten years.

I’m heading down to San Antonio later today to attend one of the conferences that I find most interesting: IRI’s annual Summit. I’m particularly drawn to the show because it centers on the relatable topic of consumer marketing.

An interesting session will focus on the co-existence of strategies used to promote private labels and national brands. The topic is a hot one. On Friday the Wall Street Journal reported that national brands could take back share lost to private labels amid food-price deflation, since it will allow them to offer substantial discounts.

But what about the low-cost reputation that private brand marketers have spent the last few years so diligently building? Surely that’s got to count for something.

In categories, like pasta sauce, I’ll never part from my favorite $8 a jar gourmet brand, but my price sensitive brain automatically seeks private labels when it comes to the pasta I’ll pour it on. I’m sold on the organic and whole wheat Wegmans brand versions.

I don’t have to compare private-label prices with national brands. It’s already been ingrained in my mind that the private label version is cheaper. Since I’m satisfied with its quality there is no reason to stray.

Having reached a high level of promotional sophistication, private label marketers will likely lower their price too. In some cases, that’s how they strengthened their low-cost reputation in the first place.

While one national sandwich bag supplier heavily discounted its product instead of permanently lowering price last year when the cost of fuel came down, Associated Food Stores took the more permanent approach of reducing the price of its Western Family sandwich bags. The retailer handed down (three separate times) 100% of the reductions passed on from its store-brand supplier, Presto. But the national sandwich bag brand’s approach was more common.

The vast majority of grocery categories (88%) experienced increased merchandising activity in 2009, as marketers experimented with ways to provide value without lowering price, according to a recent IRI Times & Trends report.

Maybe the national brands were wise to take the experimental approach. Now as consumers begin to loosen their purse strings they might spring for the national brand, especially if they can get it at a lower price. I’ll let you know what I learn at the show.