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player ready...In the battle of the sexes, women are becoming armed with food products designed for them, from chocolate calcium chews to oatmeal fired up with extra folic acid.
In the past year, companies from Quaker Mills to Mead Johnson have launched gender-specific fare that boldly proclaims itself to be “nutrition for women, by women.” Sorry guys; go cry in your Hungry Man frozen meatloaf.
Products specifically targeting women aren’t new. Cigarette brand Virginia Slims milked the slogan “You’ve come a long way, baby” for years, and some products, such as tampons, are gender-specific by their nature.
But now, the trend is spilling over into other grocery-store aisles. Women can chow down on Harmony, a new General Mills cereal that proclaims itself “a low-fat, nutritional cereal for women” pumped up with calcium, antioxidants, soy, iron and folic acid.
In November, Quaker Oats launched a line of oatmeal called Quaker Oatmeal Nutrition for Women. The line is available only in the northeastern United States, but Quaker plans a nationwide rollout soon. The product packs added calcium, iron, folic acid and B vitamins. Mead Johnson recently launched its line of Viactiv products, which include chocolate-flavored calcium chews, energy bars, fruit smoothies and “energy spritzers.” Natural-foods manufacturer Odwalla also recently launched a line of vitamin and herb drinks dubbed Femme Vitale, which contain calcium, iron and folic acid.
It’s no revelation that women are different from men, but does that mean they need different products? Manufacturers say they are trying to help women who aren’t meeting their nutritional needs. They point to a 1996 USDA survey that found more than half of women older than 20 failed to get the recommended dietary allowances of six essential nutrients: calcium, folic acid and iron, and vitamins B6, A and E.
But how much do these products differ from those aimed at both sexes? In some cases, not much.
For example, the women’s Quaker Oats offers slightly more nutrients than regular Quaker Oats. The new women’s brand provides 35 percent of the daily recommended amount of iron, calcium and folic acid, compared with the 10 percent of calcium and 20 percent of iron and folic acid in regular oatmeal.
Marilyn Raymond, a consultant who operates the New Product Showcase and Learning Center in Ithaca, N.Y., said food companies are recognizing that women buy 80 percent of the groceries sold in the U.S. and that they like having products pitched specifically to them.
“We’re seeing a lot of success in these products,” Raymond said. “In our time-pressed, guilt-ridden society, it works.”