Gray Matters

Look for grocery store carts to fill up with powerful, zesty foods--thanks to the deterioration in taste and smell that starts when we turn 60. Who'll bank off sensory-deprived seniors, you may ask? Think candy makers, who already enjoy surging demand (from 1988 to 1995, per capita annual consumption jumped by around 8 percent). This much is known: 68 percent of men over 50 say they would rather get chocolates than flowers for Valentine's Day, according to poll data cited by the National Confectioners Association.

Contact Sources

IDEA, http://www.ideafit.com

National Confectioners Association, 7900 W. Park Dr., Ste. A320, McLean, VA 22102, http://www.candyusa.org

Recreational Vehicle Industry Association, (909) 351-3504, fax: (703) 620-5071

This article was originally published in the January 1999 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Gray Matters.