• October 16, 2006

Sales of food and beverages targeted to children ages 3 to 11 are expected to jump from $15.1 billion in 2006 to more than $26.8 billion in 2011, according to research from Packaged Facts. Increased awareness of nutrition and health and ongoing parental and governmental concerns about childhood obesity are spurring the growth. "Marketers have the unique challenge of balancing fun food formats, 'wow' packaging, and continuously changing variety, with parent-friendly fare that's high in nutrition, convenient and easy to prepare," said Don Montuori, publisher of Packaged Facts, in a statement. "Creating a connection and building a brand relationship is far more difficult with today's multicultural, media and technology-saturated kids than it was even a decade ago."