The needs of older consumers will be discussed at a one-day conference being organised by Leatherhead Food International (LFI).

The conference will take place at the company's facilities on November 27. It will focus on the direction companies should take to consider older consumers when developing new products.

By 2005, 13.4 per cent of the UK consumer base will be made up of people aged between 60 and 74, while children aged between 5 and 14 will represent just 12.3 per cent of the nation's consumers. The Leatherhead conference will tackle this r&d and marketing issue, chaired by Raymond Monbiot of Rotherfield Management. Speakers will include Alison Keefe of the Consumer Knowledge Centre, Alexandra Richardson, from Oxford University, and Nick Murray, of Galileo Brand Architecture.

Topics on the agenda are the market for ant-aging foods, natural ingredients for treating osteoarthiritis and changing sensory responses with age. The conference, said LFI, is aimed at those involved in r&d, NPD, marketing, packaging, market research, innovation, nutrition and branding.

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