Foodnavigator-usa Podcast

As we enter the next decade, consumers will continue to wield the power they took from food and beverage brands during the last ten years to drive increased transparency, sustainability and social responsibility, predicts one leading market analyst and communications expert.

The consumer awakening and subsequent loss of faith in big business over the past 10 years caught many established food and beverage companies on their backfoot, but a leading market analyst and communications expert predicts the tide will shift again in the coming decade as more brands positively respond to changing customer demands.

The buzz around fresh, healthy and sustainable eating is so intense it is easy to think that everyone now eats this way – but the reality is the premium prices and extra time often needed to prepare these on-trend items place them out of reach of millions of US consumers who struggle to consistently put food on the table.

The National School Lunch Program serves approximately 4.9 billion meals a year to children nationwide, and for many recipients it is their only source of nutrition, and yet, according to a new book by Jennifer Gaddis, the program is chronically underfunded – causing a litany of problems that threaten the health and mental well-being of students and the people who serve them.

Despite consumer demand for new eating experiences, we currently rely on only 1% of edible plants and a whopping 60% of our calories come from just four crops – a disjoint that experts say represents a missed marketing opportunity and a threat to the safety of the food supply and the health of the planet and people.

With emerging research showing that the diet of pregnant women and children under the age of 2 years can have a powerful impact on children’s brain development and future health, the upcoming recommendations for the 2020 Dietary Guidelines will, for the first time, include suggestions for the first 1,000 days of life.

As an influential early-adopter of the incubator model that has spread throughout the CPG food and beverage industry in recent years, Chobani continues to push the boundaries of the entrepreneurial ecosystem by fine-tuning its program and recruitment process to identify and support a more diverse set of entrepreneurs than who have traditionally participated in such programs.

Earlier this week, more than 10,000 registered dietitians, nutritionists, nutrition science researchers, policy makers, healthcare providers and industry leaders descended on Philadelphia to learn about and discuss key health issues facing Americans at the Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo.

More than 45 million Americans suffer from Irritable Bowel Syndrome – the same number who use online dating apps and have student loans – only unlike people looking for love or struggling with debt, those suffering from gastrointestinal discomfort predominately suffer in silence – too embarrassed to talk about their symptoms or, in many cases, even seek help from healthcare professionals in a timely fashion.

Whether training for a marathon, raising a family, cutting calories, driving or a multitude of other reasons, more Americans are cutting back or avoiding alcohol – creating demand for healthier alternatives beyond sparkling water or sugary sodas and juices.

Even as food and beverage brands are starting to look more closely at Gen Z shoppers to determine what they want and what makes them tick, many are still struggling to pinpoint how best to engage with millennials who Goldman Sachs has dubbed “the most attractive demographic in the history of America.”

Once the stuff of science fiction or far-flung futuristic dreams, the ability to eat juicy sausages, fish fillets or a sizzling steak without having to first slaughter an animal is rapidly becoming a reality as the cultured-meat and -seafood industries continue to leap forward exponentially in research, development and full-scale production.

Hemp and CBD continued to reign as one of the top food and beverage trends at Natural Products Expo East in Baltimore last week, just as they did at the event’s counterpart Expo West last March – but also just like at West they were far from the only noteworthy trend.

Ready or not, Gen Z, is upon us with the oldest members of this cohort about to turn 21 and move out on their own and the younger ones holding increasingly more sway over what ends up in their families’ grocery carts.

As consumers become more comfortable buying groceries online they are becoming less tolerant of imperfections in e-commerce platforms and of insufficient product information – effectively raising the bar for retailers and brands to offer a seamless ordering and delivery or pickup experience.

As the dog days of summer drag on, people nationwide are reaching for frozen desserts to help stay cool, but unlike in the past when the promise of providing a moment’s respite from the heat in the form of a sweet treat was enough to land a product in someone’s shopping cart, now consumers are looking for more.

To beat of the competition or determine whether a new product idea will succeed, food and beverage companies need to stay ahead of consumers quickly changing whims – a task that has never been easy, but which is becoming more difficult as shoppers take increasingly divergent paths to the plate.

The US Dietary Guidelines, which are updated every five years, were created more than 40 years ago as a way to help all Americans eat healthier based on current scientific data, but since its inception a large and vulnerable group has been left out – infants and toddlers under the age of 2 years.

Given that only 2% of food and beverage sales currently are generated online and that shipping perishable, fragile and heavy CPGs can take a substantial bite out of already tight margins, it may be tempting to skip ecommerce.

Venture capital funding flooding the food and beverage industries in recent years has helped grease the wheels for many startups, but according to one investor a significant funding gap between pre-seed and subsequent early growth-stage rounds is holding back entrepreneurs in the space from reaching their full potential.