Drop in wheat consumption worries US grain trade

Reuters, 01.30.03, 3:35 PM ET

By Carey Gillam

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Jan 30 (Reuters) - Farmers, millers and others in the U.S. wheat industry are facing a decline in wheat consumption that jeopardizes sales for everyone from farmers to bagel makers, a wheat expert said Thursday.

"The industry is very worried about this," said Dave Green, director of quality control for Archer Daniels Midland Co.'s (nyse: ADM - news - people) milling unit, who addressed wheat industry leaders meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico this week.

Green said a combination of factors, most notably a trend toward high-protein, low carbohydrate consumption patterns fueled by the popular Atkins Diet, were to blame for the declining consumption.

"What the Atkins diet represents is a realization we're eating too many calories," Green said.

Unfortunately for the wheat industry, consumers are associating bread, pasta, pastry products, cookies, crackers, and other wheat-based products high in carbohydrates with high calories, Green said.

Changes in consumer attitudes fueled a 4 percent decline in per capita annual U.S. wheat consumption from 1997 to 2001, according to research Green presented at the conference. Wheat consumption was 141 pounds per person in 2001 compared to 147 pounds in 1997, he said.

The high-protein diet formulated by Dr. Robert Atkins, marketed through his books and diet food programs, comes at a time when baked goods and other wheat products have come under scrutiny for other reasons as well.

Research into problems associated with trans fats, found in many pastry products, has hurt consumption, as has research that indicates potential health problems related to acrylamide, a carcinogen found in some fried and baked products.

And a movement toward extending the shelf life of baked foods is hurting farmers and wheat millers because it reduces waste and demand, Green said.

The challenges are overwhelming the $1.2 million budget of the Wheat Foods Council, which does little generic advertising to promote the benefits of grains-based foods, Green noted. He said more money is needed from the industry to drive a turnaround in consumption.

"We need to fight the battle. We need to be out there educating people," he said.

One bright spot for the U.S. wheat industry is a trend toward increased tortilla consumption, Green said.

Tortillas are the second top-selling bread product, with per capita consumption of nine pounds a year. The industry has grown to about $4 billion in sales, up from 57 percent in 1996, according to the research presented at the conference.

Copyright 2003, Reuters News Service

http://www.forbes.com/markets/newsw.../rtr865241.html