When do new ingredients turn into new opportunities?

In the marketing world, we spend so much time thinking about what goes outside of a product — how it looks, how it’s branded, and how on earth it will land with the youths.

But what we're seeing with our 30M monthly audience at The Cool Down is that both companies and consumers are thinking a lot more critically about what goes into their products, too.

Younger people, in particular, are more conscious about what goes into the food they consume and the items they buy.

• For example, one Girl Scout recently made headlines after her response to learning she was selling cookies that contained palm oil — a product notorious for contributing to deforestation.
• She chose to bake her own cookies and pushed the org to ditch the ingredient.

?? Whether it’s for ethical concerns, logistical reasons, or to meet these shifting customer demands, brands are saying goodbye to the bad and hello to the better. Changing ingredients gives a brand the opportunity to increase relevance and build trust with consumers, either by outlining the benefits of the new alternative option or by highlighting how they’re helping customers avoid harmful substances.?

This change still leaves companies with a big question, though: What do consumers care about most — swapping ingredients for the sake of the planet or adding ingredients that benefit their health? More on that next ??

TCD Labs: What messaging rallies consumers around an ingredient change?

Any business considering changes to its ingredients must also decide the best way to signal those updates to consumers. So we ran an A/B test with our audience to see what kind of messaging was most effective.

• One asset emphasized strategies focused on the personal health impact of the new ingredients (in this case, Chipotle's new bet on sustainable cooking oil).
• The other highlighted the environmental impact of the new ingredients.

The results are clear: Highlighting health leads the way for most consumers.

Messaging around health impacts not only grabbed more reader attention at the top of the funnel — it also generated more engagement deeper down the funnel. ?

This result aligns with the findings of a poll we conducted around consumer choice and cooking oil. When asked what was most important to them when choosing a cooking oil, our audience overwhelmingly identified healthiness as the decisive factor.

?? The top takeaway: Health takes the cake.

Consumers largely prefer to hear about how an ingredient is going to benefit them personally. While they may also be concerned with environmental impact — and our data shows that there’s a case for further testing around marrying the two value props — the majority care most pointedly about what's going into their body and how it will affect them.

?? See the A/B test here and poll insights here.

Why Chipotle Mexican Grill is going all in on sustainable cooking oil

Chipotle has a long history of being early to adopt better supply chain practices, and it's continuing this trend with an investment in Zero Acre Farms , a company that produces cultured oil, an alternative to conventional cooking oils that tend to have a negative impact on the planet.?

“We believe companies like Zero Acre Farms have the power to change the world,” Curt Garner , the chief technology officer for Chipotle, said regarding the move. “Similar to the way Chipotle altered the perception of fast food nearly 30 years ago, Zero Acre Farms is redefining cooking oil with healthier and more environmentally friendly offerings.”?

Here are some key takeaways from the company’s big investment: ?

• A major cost: Estimates suggest that the cooking oil industry uses over 700 million acres of land worldwide and contributes significantly to deforestation.?
• A smaller impact: Because Zero Acre Farms uses cultured oil, which is made with tiny microorganisms similar to those used in yogurt or alcohol, its environmental impact is reportedly 10 times smaller than vegetable oil.
• Only the beginning: Chipotle told TCD that it's currently testing the cultured oil in its kitchen and looks forward to a “culinary evaluation with our real food” soon.

Read the full story here to learn how the co is meeting conscious consumers head-on.

Meet C16 Biosciences , the startup that wants to make harmful palm oil a thing of the past

C16 Biosciences launched in 2018 with a single goal in mind: to reduce the devastating impact of palm oil on the planet. Since then, the mission-driven startup has drawn attention around the world — including a major investment from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.?

The company’s first product line, Palmless, launched earlier this year and provides a palm oil alternative for multi-purpose beauty oil made with Torula Oil, what the team calls “beauty’s new super-ingredient.”?It's since teamed up with companies like British skincare brand Peoplecareplanetcare to offer products like a new (SPF 50) sunscreen.

The Cool Down spoke exclusively with Margaret Rimsky Richards , chief marketing officer at C16 Biosciences.

Here’s what we learned:??

• Palm oil is everywhere: Palm oil is in 50% of products on supermarket shelves and 70% of beauty products because of its “shape-shifter” quality.
• Young people want change: “Consumers across markets are actively shopping for palm-free alternatives,” Richards said, adding that 1 in 3 consumers say they actively seek to avoid palm oil when shopping.
• Transparency builds trust: “[Our product is] traceable, it’s transparent, and it delivers the same benefits [as] palm oil without the same impact.”

Go deeper with our full interview here.

How TCD can help your brand

The Cool Down helps brands provide unique solutions to our ready-to-act audience — on ??? solar installation and other clean energy upgrades, on ?? how to eat better and save $$$ on groceries, on ?? ways to declutter and recycle textiles, and the list goes on.

Email us at [email protected] to start a conversation.