FoodNavigator-USA Podcast

Something is rotten in the coffee industry, and it is holding back the crop from reaching its full potential and contributing to the climate change that threatens future production of the popular beverage and the economic livelihoods of the farmers who produce it.

As noted in the opening session of the IFT FIRST conference in Chicago last week, the food that brought us together during the pandemic and which fuels us everyday is in a crisis as climate change intensifies – pushing companies to weave sustainability more aggressively and creatively into every aspect of their businesses.

After being demonized as high-carb and maligned with foggy grain-brains and gluten sensitivities, pasta consumption, which had been flat and declining for years pre-COVID, bounced back during the pandemic with unprecedented growth as consumers looked for convenient, comforting and versatile dishes to cook at home.

To offset the threat of commoditization and keep consumers from trading down or stepping away from the dairy case to save money as the economy tightens, specialty cheesemakers are moving beyond traditional formats, flavors and packaging that may be intimidating or come off as overly stuffy or only for special occasions.

Between cows’ burps and manure and their land, water and feed requirements, the dairy industry is often blamed for adding substantial greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, and contributing to monocropping, soil degradation and water pollution.

Where the food and beverage industry was once flush with funding from venture capitalists drawn to fast-growing businesses and from strategics eager to pay high multiples for innovative start-ups, money is now harder to come by as inflation, supply chain disruptions and labor challenges hinder companies’ ability to meet expectations and has many players paring back.

They may not be magic, but mushrooms – at least medicinal ones – are having a moment as consumer demand for functional benefits, such as clarity, calm, digestive support and enhanced immunity, are driving discovery and sales of the versatile, easy-to-you ingredients and products featuring them.

Being an entrepreneur can feel desperately lonely – especially in the early days when budgets are tight, days are long and challenges crop up constantly – but as romantic as the idea of buckling down and becoming ‘self-made’ may be, few founders actually succeed long-term by stubbornly going it alone.

More consumers are factoring sustainability into their purchase decisions, according to data from NielsenIQ, but effectively and efficiently communicating a product’s environmental impact in less than the 10 seconds most shoppers spend deciding what to buy is challenging.

As rising temperatures push American spinach farmers farther north, late blizzards threaten US corn and soy crops and a prolonged drought in the southern plains weakens wheat production and pushes up prices, it is clear that BlackRock CEO Larry Fink was right when he told executives in 2020 that “climate risk is an investment risk.”

Despite skyrocketing inflation that reached a 40-plus year high of 8.5% for all goods year-over-year in March, and ongoing supply chain challenges that are driving up production costs and out-of-stocks, US consumers continue to spend what it takes to fill their grocery carts and keep their pantries stocked.

When it comes to eating seaweed, most Americans likely think about snacking on toasted sheets of nori, the wrapper around their sushi, or maybe a bright and briny salad at a restaurant, but a handful of startups cultivating fresh seaweed and kelp at scale in the US want consumers to know it can be so much more.

Ongoing strain from the pandemic and increasing financial pressure related to rising inflation are causing consumers to reprioritize their health and wellness goals, and by extension their food and beverage purchases, according to new research from the Brightfield Group.

While plant-based beef patties and grounds, pork sausages and chicken nuggets abound, seafood alternatives are still relatively scare – representing a significant, and fast-growing, opportunity that innovators and investors alike are moving quickly to seize.

After two years of lockdowns and uncertainty during the pandemic, consumers simultaneously are desperate to let loose and enjoy life and to reinstate a sense of self-control – creating a complicated marketing landscape that intelligence experts at Mintel note is equally fraught and filled with opportunity.

Despite laudable progress in recent years to create a more circular economy for plastics, the food industry still has a long way to go to meet ambitious and fast-approach goals to reduce the use of total and virgin plastic and incorporate more post-consumer recycled content in packaging.

Spring is around the corner which means diet food and fitness marketers will soon begin pressuring women to swap favorite foods with low-calorie, low-carb and low-sugar alternatives to help “get their beach bodies back,” and encouraging men hit the gym with a protein shake to help melt away their winter weight.

Nearly nine in ten consumers snack daily, but according to new research from Mondelēz International, what they reach for and when has evolved significantly during the pandemic – requiring brands to rethink their product offerings, marketing strategies and channel distribution.

Originally designed to help babies grow, but not much else, traditional infant formula often falls far short of delivering the same benefits as breast milk, which also boosts immunity, contributes to cognitive development, is more easily digested, and supports the microbiome.

While some of the initial challenges that food and beverage startups experienced when the pandemic began have subsided, like restrictions on sampling and freezes on category resets, others remain and new ones have emerged – complicating the path to market and raising the bar so that success is more difficult to attain.

As waves of COVID-19 and its variants ebb and flow they are creating an unpredictable tug-of-war between restaurants and grocery retailers that one industry insider predicts will continue to complicate inventory management long after the current supply chain challenges subside.

When it comes to building a new category, the founder of the better-for-you, late-night snacking company NightFood found after years of struggling to explain his value proposition to consumers that a new playbook was in order – one that focuses more on high-quality shopper engagement through channels with a more curated approach and less on high-traffic channels crowded with competitors.

Innovation within the nascent upcycled food and beverage industry is exploding as manufacturers and ingredient suppliers large and small are drawn to the promise of potentially higher profits, a viable path to ambitious sustainability goals and a consumer-friendly story about waste reduction in an era when food insecurity is soaring.

With each New Year comes new resolutions to be healthier and more mindful, which for a growing portion of the population includes cutting back or giving up alcohol – maybe just for one month during so-called Dry January, but increasingly for longer stretches or at different points throughout the year – creating a new marketing opportunity for savvy beverage manufacturers.

When most people hear ‘regenerative agriculture’ they either have no idea what it means or they think about it as a strategy to rebuild soil health or reverse the negative environmental impact of farming – but according to the international sustainability non-profit Forum for the Future, the benefits – and business opportunities – go far beyond the land.