2011 Q4 Newsletters

(December 2011 NEWSLETTER, SENT TO MEMBERS December 14, 2011)

Dear Whole Grains Council members,

As the year draws down to its shortest day, we hope the growing darkness is balanced
out in your lives by the brightness and cheer of the holiday season. Whatever your
beliefs and traditions, we wish you a wealth of family, friends, good food and good
times over the next few weeks.

2012 Conference: Seeking Ideas and Sponsors
We're now working on the agenda for our next WGC conference, called "Whole Grains
on Every Plate," to be held October 17-19, 2012 in San Antonio. Already we're getting
some great suggestions from you, our members, including:

* info on newly-popular grains such as freekeh, einkorn, sprouted grains
* proposed new FOP rules -- will they affect whole grain messaging?
* understanding opportunities with new school food rules
* latest health research on whole grains
* price parity: is it possible / important for whole grain foods to be priced the
same as refined/enriched?
* examples of successful marketing promotions with whole grains
* update on consumer attitudes and perceptions of whole grains

As always, our goal is to craft a program that will provide all of our members with the information you need, on the job, to create and market better whole grain products. What are
your needs and ideas? Contact Cynthia Harriman (617-896-4820) or Karen Mansur (617-896-4880) and let's brainstorm!

We're also offering sponsorship opportunities to companies that would like to showcase
their products in front of the high-level media and other attendees at our conference.
A big thank you to Bob's Red Mill, ConAgra Mills, and Signature Marketing/Grainleaf,
our first three committed sponsors for the "Whole Grains on Every Plate" conference.
Information about conference sponsorship costs and benefits is on our website. Or,
contact Cynthia or Karen for more details or for a PDF you can pass around to your
team.

For more on conference sponsorship:
http://wholegrainscouncil.org/get-involved/conference-sponsorship

SPINS Data: Stamped Products Spell Success
We work with SPINS, experts in analyzing consumer purchases and following hot trends
in the retail world, to help them track growth in whole grain products (which they
define as products with the Whole Grain Stamp). In return, they track, evaluate and
report statistics in the natural and specialty products industry back to us - and to
companies everywhere who want to understand the phenomenal momentum of whole grain products.

Here are just a few of the SPINS highlights for sales of products with the Whole Grain
Stamp for the 52 weeks ending October 2011:

Frozen breakfast foods + 108.2%
Bread and baked goods + 48.7%
Frozen kids' and baby foods + 42.7%
Soups + 35.4%
Shelf-stable pasta + 23.3%
Chips, pretzels, snacks + 18.5%
Grains and rice + 12.9%

The SPINS data also show a 52-week growth of 46.3% in products labeled gluten-free.
This rise was reflected here at Whole Grains Council Headquarters, where we've seen
a major boost in traffic on the Gluten Free Whole Grains page of our website. We
tracked a 21% increase on this part of our site between August and September 2011,
and a jaw-dropping 282% increase since September 2010!

The WGC Website Info en Español
We're pleased to announce that the WGC website now includes seven pages of basic
information in Spanish about the health benefits of whole grains, how to shop for
whole grains, and how they fit into an overall healthy diet. These pages flesh out
an earlier collection of handouts in Spanish.

For some time we've wanted to make more of our resources available to Spanish-speakers
in the U.S. and in the growing number of Spanish-speaking countries using the Whole
Grain Stamp. A big thanks to WGC members Grupo Bimbo and Nestlé for providing us
with Spanish-language content to help us make this project a reality.

Back on the English side, you may also be interested in a new page that shows the
many essential nutrients that are plentiful in each different whole grain. We get
asked frequently by journalists "which grain is healthiest" and there's no "right"
answer - each one has its important strengths. Now we've found a way to graphically
illustrate this fact! We hope this page is useful in your health communications
efforts.

To see our Spanish pages: http://wholegrainscouncil.org/granos-enteros

Your Special Deals for Consumers??
Every month the WGC sends out a consumer-oriented e-newsletter called "Just Ask
for Whole Grains." Mailed to both consumers and to interested health professionals,
this e-newsletter includes an update on whole grains and health, a recipe or two,
information about what's new on the WGC website, and a few additional newsy items
from the world of whole grains. If you'd like to see our consumer newsletter but
aren't already on our subscriber list, you can sign up on our website.

We're considering adding a "whole grain good deals" section to the end of the newsletter,
where we can list any special deals WGC members are offering on your websites. Are
you running a contest or a drawing? Do you have discount coupons on your website?
If there's interest from our members, we'll link to your good deals from our "Just
Ask for Whole Grains" newsletter. This opportunity is open to all  WGC members in
good standing.

If you're interested, contact Karen Mansur, WGC Program Manager (and newsletter
editor) at 617-896-4820 or karen@oldwayspt.org.

To learn more about our consumer newsletter:
http://wholegrainscouncil.org/get-involved/our-consumer-newsletter

Oldways Announces Journalism Award
We like to end this newsletter with the latest updates from Oldways, the parent organization of the WGC.

In honor of Oldways' founder who died suddenly last year, we established the K.
Dun Gifford Journalism Award. This week we announced the 2011 winner: Wendy Bazilian,
DrPH, RD, for her Good Morning America Health segment titled Boosting Brain Health
with the Mediterranean Diet.

Each year the Gifford Award picks a different theme and welcomes submissions that
reflect one or more of Oldways' founding principles: to be positive, practical,
science- and tradition-based, and to celebrate the pleasures of the table. Since
this year's theme was the Mediterranean Diet, Dr. Bazilian will be awarded a trip
to the Mediterranean region. Dr. Bazilian is a well-known educator, lecturer, writer
and nutrition consultant, and the author of The Superfoods Rx Diet. Congratulations
to her!

Details about the Gifford Award: http://www.oldwayspt.org/KDunGiffordAward

Best regards,
Cynthia Harriman
Director of Food and Nutrition Strategies

Karen Mansur
Program Manager

Chrisanne Grise
Program Assistant

... and from all of the Oldways and Whole Grains Council staff

(November 2011 NEWSLETTER, SENT TO MEMBERS October 17, 2011)

Dear Whole Grains Council members,

As Thanksgiving approaches, we would like to express our thanks to all of the 300-plus companies that support the work of Oldways and the Whole Grains Council.

A special thanks goes out to the Founding Members of the WGC - the companies that stepped up to the plate during the first year of our existence, before there was a Whole Grain Stamp, or an ongoing media campaign, or any of the other components of the WGC that have become so successful. We've created a new Founding Members page on the WGC website to honor you for visualizing what this organization could become - when it was still in its formative stages.

Now take a minute, all of you, and imagine the day in the future when we have grown even larger, thanks to your support. You will all be able to look back and say that you were among the first three hundred members of the Whole Grains Council!

Whole Grains Challenge Foodservice Champions
This is the fifth year the WGC has run a national foodservice awards program that we call The Whole Grains Challenge. Through this program, we recognize foodservice operations that serve at least one whole grain option every day for an entire month, with extra points for creative promotion of whole grains.

Now the judges have combed through the deep piles of entries we received, and we've chosen this year's winners:
College / University:  Syracuse University, Syracuse NY
K-12 Public Schools: Osseo School District, Maple Grove MN
K-12 Private Schools: Winsor School, Boston MA
Quick Serve:  Snap Kitchen, Houston & Austin TX
Fast Casual / Family: Casa de Luz, Austin TX
Healthcare: (tie) St. Peter's Hospital, Helena MT and Westlake Medical Center, Austin TX
Workplace: Eurest Dining, various NJ
Lodging: White Horse Village, Newtown Square PA
Other:  Atwater's, Baltimore MD

Check out the press release on our website if you'd like to know more about our winners. Each winner receives a medal, a certificate, valuable PR, and cases upon cases of whole grain foods from WGC members. (Such a win-win deal, to get your products in the hands of foodservice operators who will use them creatively and hopefully become regular customers!)

We'd like to once again thank the WGC member companies who donated prizes to this year's Whole Grains Challenge winners: Barilla Foodservice, Blue Star Farms / Partner's Crackers, Bob's Red Mill, Caravan Ingredients / CSM, ConAgra Mills, Dr. Kracker, Fieldstone Bakery / McKee, General Mills / Nature Valley / Pillsbury / Gold Medal / Cascadian Farms, HomeFree, Indian Harvest, Lotus Foods, Minute Rice / Riviana, and Sunnyland Mills.

Contact Karen Mansur if you'd like to learn about other upcoming opportunities for extra visibility for your company or products.

School Food Regulations Update
Earlier this week (November 14), the U.S. Congress unveiled the final version of a spending bill that would undermine new nutrition requirements for school meals proposed by USDA earlier this year. One of the provisions (Section 743) denies funding for any regulation that "establishes any whole grain requirement without defining 'whole grain.' "

We're perplexed by Congress's statement that whole grain is not yet defined. USDA's January 2011 proposals were in fact based on an indepth Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, commissioned by USDA and two years in the making, that carefully and very specifically defined a "whole grain rich" food. We hope that this internal misunderstanding can be quickly resolved and clarified.

We think it's important for kids to make at least half their grains whole. We also think it's important for the National School Lunch program to comply with federal regulations that require all federal nutrition programs to follow the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. We hope that Congress re-instates the requirement for whole grains, by acknowledging that whole grains have already been clearly defined by IOM. We'll keep you posted as we know more.

Latest Research on Whole Grains
"I think there is no doubt that higher whole grain consumption is associated with better health outcomes." That's the conclusion of Professor Chris Seal of Newcastle University in the UK, who was part of a lively and fact-filled whole grain symposium at the FENS (Federation of European Nutrition Societies) conference in Madrid, October 26-29. The lineup included:

Whole Grain Definition and Recommendations for Consumption - Jan Willem van der Kamp (Netherlands)
A Review of Evidence Linking Whole Grains to Body Weight - Nicola McKeown (USA)
Effects of Whole Grain on Metabolic Risk Factors - Inger Bjorck (Sweden)
Whole Grains, Inflammatory Response and Metabolic Syndrome - Chris Seal (UK)

WGC Director of Food and Nutrition Strategies Cynthia Harriman enjoyed the opportunity to exchange views with whole grain colleagues (both academic and manufacturing) from other countries. As an organization operating worldwide, the WGC has a regular international affiliate program with other whole grain promotion organizations. If there's an organization in your country we should connect with, please email Cynthia.

Also on the research front, we blogged this week on a new meta-analysis from the UK that supports a nearly 20% reduced risk of colorectal cancer for those who eat three servings or more of whole grains daily. Remember that you can easily search our whole grain studies database to review the latest science on health and whole grains.

Oldways African Heritage Diet Pyramid
This month's big news at Oldways (the parent organization of the WGC) is the introduction of the African Heritage Diet Pyramid. Oldways worked with an advisory team of culinary history and community health experts to create the pyramid, which is the fifth in Oldways' family of graphics designed to encourage Health through Heritage.

The African Heritage Diet Pyramid is an evidence-based and practical tool for African American communities. It serves as a cultural model for healthy eating, connecting African American communities with heritage diets not only of the African continent but also of the Caribbean, South America and the American South. As one journalist reported after last week's launch, "If you're looking for ways to eat healthier, you may need to look no further than your roots. You might be surprised to learn that eating the traditional foods of African heritage can help lower your risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity and certain cancers."

There's lots to like about this new educational tool, but one of our favorite parts is the big emphasis on whole grains traditional to African Heritage, such as millet, teff, sorghum, and rice. Take a look on the Oldways website and see for yourself!

If you like working with the Whole Grains Council, we hope you'll also consider supporting other Oldways programs. We're involved in many areas of healthy eating besides whole grains that may be of interest to you. Contact Oldways President Sara Baer-Sinnott if you'd like to brainstorm the possibilities.

Best regards from all of us at Oldways and the Whole Grains Council,

Cindy
------------------------
Cynthia Harriman
Director of Food and Nutrition Strategies
Oldways / The Whole Grains Council
617-896-4820
WholeGrainsCouncil.org and Oldwayspt.org

(October 2011 NEWSLETTER, SENT TO MEMBERS October 21, 2011)

Dear Whole Grains Council members,

We enjoyed seeing a few dozen WGC members at the American Dietetic Association's FNCE show in San Diego a few weeks ago. It's always a pleasure to learn about your newest products and to see some of our members taking advantage of our free trade-show promotion materials, too. Stock up before your next show! Meanwhile, back at the Oldways / WGC booth, we talked with hundreds of dietitians, telling them about the Whole Grain Stamp and the latest health research on whole grains, and giving away our new Welcome to Whole Grains brochure.

Save the Date: Next Conference Oct. 17-19, 2012

It's official: our next Whole Grains Council conference will be held October 17-19 in 2012, in San Antonio, Texas. We're titling this one "Whole Grains on Every Plate" to tie in with the U.S. government's new MyPlate focus. As many of you know, we hold a conference about every 18 months. It's a chance for WGC members to meet each other (and make lots of B2B deals!), mingle with top-level media and bloggers, learn about the latest whole grain marketing ideas and health studies, and eat lots of delicious whole grains prepared by talented chefs. Click here to learn about our conferences.

Mark your calendars now, to attend this useful and enjoyable event. (Each WGC member gets one FREE registration!) And, as you finalize your marketing budget for 2012, please consider being a sponsor of the conference. Our website explains all the benefits of sponsorship including media visibility, the opportunity to include your products in our meals and breaks, and so much more! Sponsor opportunities range from $5,000 to $50,000 and Supporter opportunities range from $500 to $1,500.

Other 2012 Member Opportunities. Our conference is only one of many WGC activities on tap for 2012. Check out an overview of next year's plans in the For Members section of our website, and contact Karen Mansur if you'd like to brainstorm ways to take advantage of everything the WGC offers its members.

Whole Grains Month Success

2011's Whole Grains Month was by far the most successful yet. Thanks to awesome prize support from Quaker, ConAgra Mills Ultragrain, and the many members who donated coupons, we drew a good crowd to the WGC website. And our First Prize winner Vicki Burt - a retired probation officer who takes in foster children - was a worthy and appreciative recipient of our top prize. (Click here for press release.)

What's especially rewarding is knowing that these crowds of sweepstakes entrants hung around and learned a bit about whole grains and our WGC members while they were on our site. Looking at our web stats for September, we saw that our Stamped products list (where YOUR products are featured) actually received a few more visitors than even the Sweepstakes page, and that visitors browsed an average of 4.7 pages (up 25% from the 3.8 average in August 2011).

** Visits overall to the website -- 49,878
Up 84% compared to August 2011
Up 208% compared to September 2010

** Visits to the Stamped Products list -- 16,436
[most visited page -- 67 more visitors than sweeps page!]
Up 483% compared to August 2011
Up 678% compared to September 2010

** Visits to the Definition of Whole Grains page -- 6,012
[2nd most visited non-sweepstakes page]
Up 22% compared to August 2011
Up 199% compared to September 2010
Did Consumers Mention Your Products?

Before we leave the topic of Whole Grains Month and the Whole Grains Stampede Sweepstakes behind us, you may be interested to learn which products consumers mentioned when we asked them to tell us about their favorite Whole-Grain-Stamped products for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (plus optional snacks).

Among the most popular products were Quaker oatmeal; General Mills Cheerios; Nestle Lean Pockets; Sara Lee, Aunt Millie's Arnold's, and Roman Meal breads; and Uncle Ben's rice. But these names only scratch the surface. Tell Karen if you'd like a copy of the spreadsheet and see for yourself. Please note that although we have roughly sorted the spreadsheet to make it easier to browse, you may find your products in two places (Triscuits may appear under T for Triscuits or under K for Kraft, for instance). We left the entries as is, largely, to give you some insight into consumers' brand awareness (and their erratic spelling skills!).

You may also note as you glance at the list that some of the products on here don't actually use the Whole Grain Stamp. And a few may not even be whole grain. Wherever a consumer is, on the continuum of whole grain awareness, we're satisfied that this Sweepstakes made everyone think about the wide range of whole grain possibilities available on the market.

The Revolution Keeps Spreading Worldwide

We're not talking about Occupy Wall Street (this is a politics-free zone!) but about the Whole Grains Revolution. Last week WGC's Cynthia Harriman traveled to Mexico to help WGC member Grupo Bimbo promote whole grains in that country and all the other countries where they do business. We helped put on a morning conference for media and health professionals, and gave 8 interviews to major TV, radio, magazines and newspapers, capped by a plant visit and a supermarket visit (shown here). We're pleased that the world's largest baking company believes so fervently in the importance of whole grains, and has made new whole grain product development such a high priority.

No sooner did we return from Mexico City than we were greeted at our offices this week by a film crew from the Korean Broadcasting System, South Korea's biggest broadcasting network. With rising interest in whole grains in their country, the KBS crew had decided to film a one-hour special on whole grains, including interviews at Oldways/WGC headquarters and even some typical-whole-grain-dinner scenes at the home of WGC Program Manager Karen Mansur. (And yes, we made sure several WGC member products got into camera range!)

If you're already exporting your products, or have considered doing so, rest assured that the opportunities for selling whole grains around the world are mounting daily.

IOM Report on Front of Pack (FOP) Symbols

Late-breaking news: Yesterday, the U.S. Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a report titled "Front-of-Package Nutrition Rating Systems and Symbols: Promoting Healthier Choices." This report recommends that FDA adopt a single mandatory front-of-pack labeling system that rates every food according to its calories, saturated/trans fat, sodium, and added sugars.

We'll be reading this report thoroughly in the days to come, and will continue to update you in future newsletters.

Listening to the IOM's presentation, we think this system (if / when it is eventually adopted - regulatory wheels move slowly!) may hasten some healthier reformulations, much as the mandate to list trans fats did in the last decade. However, as this system does nothing to differentiate between whole grain and refined grain products, we are confident that the Whole Grain Stamp will remain an essential tool in helping consumers find healthier choices.

As Committee Member Fran Seligson said during the release, "FOP [Front of Package labeling] can't address everything. You still want to do the education about whole grains, fruits and vegetables, etcetera."

Best regards from all of us at Oldways and the Whole Grains Council,

Cindy
------------------------
Cynthia Harriman
Director of Food and Nutrition Strategies
Oldways / The Whole Grains Council
617-896-4820
WholeGrainsCouncil.org and Oldwayspt.org