NEW YORK – Nielsen has announced the launch of Product Insider, the result of a collaboration with data refinement company Label Insight. Product Insider, a retail and consumer measurement tool, allows users to transform nutrient and ingredient information on food labels into quantifiable attributes. The combination of Nielsen’s market measurements and Label Insight’s cloud-based product attributes bring granularity to food manufacturers and retailers.

Product Insider’s product transparency will provide food fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies and retailers a better ability to understand sales performance, shopper demographics, and create custom segmentation, as well as product trends and personalization needs for health and wellness consumers. Also, this solution can interpret competitive product formulations; evaluate the impact of government regulations; and incorporate ailments, allergens and lifestyle preferences into loyalty and marketing programs.

“There is an increasing consumer demand for greater product transparency, and a stronger push from governmental regulators to increase food packaging transparency such as the new FDA nutrition panel and GMO labeling requirements,” said Chris Morley, president, US Buy, Nielsen, in a statement. “Until now, manufacturers and retailers lacked visibility into sales performance and consumer shifting due to these factors. Nielsen Product Insider will allow companies to make more informed data-decisions to grow sales by understanding product trends and creating better personalization for the wellness consumer.”

Product Insider will give producers insight beyond what consumer trend surveys provide. For example, Nielsen’s Global Ingredient and Dining Out survey states that 22 percent of US consumers say they restrict their sugar intake for health concerns and across the $8.6 US billion cereal category, 26 percent of US respondents stated that low sugar is an important consideration when buying that particular category. But Product Insider identified that 98 percent of dollar sales within the US cereal category come from products that contain added sugar. With new FDA labeling requirements taking shape by 2018, along with state-issued taxes on sugar, Product Insider will equip clients with the tools and data necessary to see what products contain added sugars — and how much.

“The alignment of Nielsen and Label Insight’s complementary data sets has created a powerful tool for the FMCG universe,” said Ronak Sheth, chief customer officer, Label Insight. “Modern consumers are standing for causes they support and adopting varied, often healthier lifestyles, some by choice (with vegan, vegetarian or Paleo diets) and some mandatory based on dietary restrictions and ailments. Product Insider will allow retailers and manufacturers to bring detailed information to consumers who demand increased transparency around what’s in the products they use and consume.”