By traditional measures, it appears to be a great time to be in the food business. Economic consumer confidence in North America is the highest since 2007; 51% of consumers are positive about immediate spending intentions (Nielsen 2014a).
On average, 5.1 evening meals per week are cooked at home and involve a diversity of product options (FMI 2015). In a typical week, 3.1 dinners are prepared at home using fresh/raw ingredients; 1.4 dinners include prepackaged ingredients that require preparatio…