How do you explain new food technology to customers?

1 Know your audience

Before you start explaining new food technology, try to understand who your customers are and what they care about. Are they health-conscious, environmentally aware, adventurous, or traditional? What are their main sources of information and influence? What are their values and beliefs? Knowing your audience can help you tailor your message to their interests, needs, and expectations. It can also help you avoid jargon, technical terms, or assumptions that may confuse or alienate them.

2 Use simple and clear language

One of the biggest challenges of explaining new food technology is to make it accessible and understandable to non-experts. Avoid using acronyms, abbreviations, or complex terms that may sound foreign or intimidating to your customers. Instead, use simple and clear language that describes what the technology does, how it works, and why it matters. For example, instead of saying "we use high-pressure processing (HPP) to extend the shelf life of our juices", you could say "we apply high pressure to our juices to kill harmful bacteria and keep them fresh longer".

3 Provide examples and analogies

Another way to make new food technology more relatable and engaging is to provide examples and analogies that your customers can easily grasp and visualize. For example, if you want to explain how cultured meat is produced, you could compare it to growing a plant from a seed or a stem. If you want to explain how edible insects are processed, you could compare it to making flour or protein powder. Examples and analogies can help your customers see the connection between new food technology and familiar products or concepts.

4 Highlight the benefits and address the concerns

When explaining new food technology, you want to emphasize the benefits and value that it offers to your customers and the society. For example, you could explain how new food technology can help reduce food waste, conserve resources, enhance nutrition, or diversify diets. However, you also want to acknowledge and address the potential concerns or challenges that your customers may have, such as safety, ethics, or taste. For example, you could explain how new food technology is regulated, tested, or certified to ensure quality and safety. You could also share your own experience or opinion on how new food technology tastes or feels.

5 Invite feedback and questions

Finally, you want to encourage feedback and questions from your customers when explaining new food technology. Feedback and questions can help you gauge their level of interest, understanding, and satisfaction. They can also help you identify any gaps, misconceptions, or objections that you may need to clarify or address. By inviting feedback and questions, you can show your customers that you value their opinions and perspectives, and that you are open and honest about new food technology.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?