The Year In Food: Artificial Out, Innovation In (And 2 More Trends)

                                           赵绮华   译

Cage-free, antibiotic-free, artificial-free. Sound familiar?

放养，无抗生素，非人工制造，是不是耳熟能详？

Many of the world's biggest food companies announced major changes this year — in what they purchase and how they manufacture their food.

今年，很多世界最大的食品公司宣布了他们的大革新——他们在追逐什么热点，他们如何生产食物。

Many of the big moves we saw came from companies striving to bring more transparency to their supply chain. McDonald's pledged to source chickens raised without antibiotics. Dunkin' Donuts and Costco are switching to cage-free eggs.

我们看到很多公司的大动作是让产业链更加透明。麦当劳承诺将使用无抗生素的鸡作为采供源头，甜甜圈和科斯塔声明将选择放养鸡生的蛋。

Some companies signaled to customers that they were "cleaning up" and simplifying their ingredient lists. Panera ditched dozens of additives. Even Lucky Charms and Butterfingers are getting minor makeovers: General Mills and Nestle said they're removing artificial colors and flavors from their products.

一些公司宣称将“净化”和简化食品成分，Panera减去了几十种添加剂。甚至Lucky Charms 和Butterfingers也尽量减少了修饰加工：General Mills 和雀巢宣称在他们的产品中将不再使用人工色素和香精。

"Big Food is definitely feeling the pressure," Scott Allmendinger, who consults with food companies for the Culinary Institute of America, told us. Packaged-food companies lost $4 billion in market share last year, according to a Fortune analysis.

“食品巨头一定是压力山大。”美国烹饪学院研究食品公司的艾斯科说，“据一项财富分析提示：食品包装公司去年损失了40亿美元的市场份额。”

A 2015 Nielsen survey found an increasing number of consumers say they're willing to pay a premium for "all natural," "clean" and minimally processed foods. (As we've reported, it's hard to know what any of these terms actually mean. The federal government is soliciting input for how to define "natural.")

2015年一项尼尔森调查发现，越来越多的人倾向于选择“全天然”“无添加”和粗加工的食物，即便代价略高。（正如我们报道的，其实很难具体界定这些概念，联邦政府正在征求“天然”概念的界定途径。）

And, it seems, these foods marketed as cleaner and more natural are blending into mainstream grocery stores. One example: the success of Kroger's Simple Truth line of products, which focus on "simpler" and organic ingredients.

打着更洁净更天然旗号的食品正在涌向主流食杂店。比如，致力于“简单”和有机成分的Kroger's的“简又真”食材线的成功。

"Consumers are slowly migrating away" from the center aisle of the grocery store that's filled with processed baked goods and canned foods, says Jack Russo, an analyst with Edward Jones, a financial advisory firm.

鲁杰克，金融咨询机构爱德化琼斯的一位分析师表示：“顾客们正在慢慢地从塞满了烤制食品和罐头食品的食杂店流失。”

At the same time, the sales of foods marketed as "local" have surged to $11 billion a year. The organic and natural sector, including GMO-free and gluten-free, is growing at about 8 to 10 percent a year, says Russo.

Russo sees this trend continuing, with growth continuing in the 6 to 8 percent range for the next few years, he says.

标明“地产”的食品销售已飙升至每年110亿美元。有机的和天然产品的消费，包括非转基因和无麦麸食品，今年增长了8%～10%，鲁杰克表示，这种趋势仍将继续，预计未来几年将维持在6%～8%的增长率。