Identifying the first
company to market food to women would be as impossible as it would
be futile. To some degree, women have always been the target, for
they have traditionally been the primary grocery shopper. However,
the move in recent years has been to focus upon women with foods
that address specific health concerns, indulge or simply give her
something of her own.
Calcium intake has
been a particular concern for some. As Gary Hirshberg, president
and CEO at Stonyfield Farm, notes, "When we talk with calcium experts,
their No. 1 concern is teenage girls, who are going through these
massive hormonal and body changes. Partly, these girls are not eating
well, but I have heard the word epidemic used to describe the lack
of calcium in the diets of these young people."