Member News & Headlines Blog

Our members Wells Fargo and The Kellogg Company have been featured in the 2019 Top 50 Diversity Inc Top 50 Companies For Diversity. Congratulations to our members for being recognized for your inclusive efforts. To see the full list of click here. 

• Seeds of Change Accelerator is a program designed to help early-stage food companies that are shaping the meals of tomorrow fast-track their growth and accelerate their purpose to build a healthier and more sustainable future. 6 U.S. based companies that support the Mars Food purpose, 'Better Food Today. A Better World Tomorrow’, will be selected, specifically driving one or more of the following 5 pillars:

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• Sharing World Flavors: Bringing flavors, ingredients, and experiences from around the world to the everyday consumer
• Plant-Based Eating: Delivering plant-based products that address growing concerns over health, resources, and animal welfare
• Easy-Meal Solutions: Embracing new formats and delivery methods that make buying, preparing, and enjoying food more seamless and convenient
• Responsible Food: Tackling the issues we face head-on by ensuring a transparent supply chain and developing sustainable products
• Creating with Care: Feeding consumers’ appetite for artisanal products made with care and craftsmanship

Participants will receive an equity-free grant of up to $50K, undertake a tailored four-month program, and partner with industry leaders including JKR Ventures and MISTA Foods. 

To learn more about the Seeds of Change Accelerator click here

It’s a topic of conversation around the country and in every nook and cranny of the food and beverage world. Depending on who you talk to, cannabis is primed to be a golden goose for food and beverage companies – or is a movement rife with risk and regulatory chaos. So, which is it? If you’ve tuned into the topic of cannabis in food and beverage in the last six months it won’t surprise you to know that it’s well, possibly both. But who is the consumer for these products? Where is the real opportunity, and what’s coming next? Let’s dive in.

The 2018 Farm Bill legalized industrial hemp and its derivatives, including cannabidiol (CBD). But the FDA has not yet released or implemented new rules for CBD, a non-psychoactive chemical compound found in cannabis. As Sen. Ron Wyden points out to Rolling Stone: “The bill legalized hemp and its derivatives, which means CBD,” Wyden says. “The FDA just hasn’t stepped up to affirmatively update its regulations so they comply with federal law.”

Read the full article from our cornerstone member FONA here

The South Side’s hotly anticipated One Eleven Food Hall will open next week in Pullman. Opening day is on Monday, as the project brings together three restaurants to an underserved part of the city. It’s part of a plan to develop the area around the Pullman National Monument, the state’s first national monument.

The food hall was supposed to open this week, but hit a small delay. Two out of the three restaurants, Laine’s Bake Shop and Exquisite To Go, will open for breakfast. Exquisite is a spinoff of Tiffany Mone’t Williams’s Exquisite Catering. She’ll serve breakfast burritos and sandwiches with sausages she made herself. Soup, brisket and chicken tinga sandwiches, plus macaroni and cheese round out her menu highlights.

Read the full article here

This interview is with Andy Dratt, Chief Commercial Officer at Imbibe, a Beverage Innovation Company and has had past experiences building flavor divisions in Griffith, FONA, and Sensient.

If you want to know all about what it takes to develop an innovative new beverage, this podcast episode is for you! Andy and his team at Imbibe are experts in developing beverages because it’s not just formulating and pay up, but it’s much more than that. It’s a whole system.

Read more & hear the podcast here 

Mazars USA has added new cannabis questions to their 2019 survey. Even if you've already taken the survey, these new questions are sure to spark your interest. You can access the new F&B survey here.

Coca-Cola isn’t new to coffee, but the global beverage giant is planning on making a big push into the industry this year. The company is releasing Coca-Cola Coffee in more than 25 markets around the world by the end of 2019.

“Coke Coffee was designed to reach consumers during specific occasions and channels like the mid-afternoon energy slump at work,” CEO James Quincey told analysts Tuesday. The drink, which blends Coke with coffee, has slightly less caffeine than a normal cup of coffee but more than a can of the soda.

Read the full article here

ELK GROVE VILLAGE, IL, USA [22 April 2019]—Edlong was recently named one of the 2019 Best Places to Work in Illinois. The Best Places to Work in Illinois awards program was designed to identify, recognize and honor the best places of employment in the area, benefiting the state’s economy, workforce and businesses. It’s promoted by The Daily Herald Business Ledger in partnership with the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, MRA-The Management Association, the Small Business Advocacy Council and Best Companies Group.

Edlong was evaluated on its workplace policies, practices, and demographics as well as the results of an employee engagement and satisfaction survey.

Read more about Edlong here 

Are you a co-manufacturer or food business looking for a new home in the greater Chicagoland area? Development of a food processing innovation park in Chicago’s South Suburbs is underway. The development is currently seeking an anchor tenant for a planned food processing innovation park. Build to suit in an Opportunity Zone, any size facility will be considered. Attractive financing and/or lease rates available. Plentiful workforce with training programs, targeting food processing. Strategic location with great transportation and logistics capabilities. 

To see a printable version of this information, click here 

Contact John Geocaris at jgeocaris@newfoodstrategies.com for additional information.

CHICAGO — The Chicagoland Food & Beverage Network hosted a hands-on, interactive “taste the trends” event on April 4 at the new Chicago location of Kitchen United. The Pasadena, Calif.-based company provides restaurant brands a turnkey, capital-light way to expand their reach to the off-premise diner. Produced in partnership with Datassential and the Research Chefs Association, the event gave participants an inside look to the trends driving culinary innovation and then had the opportunity to walk the kitchens, meet the chefs and sample the ideas that may propel eating and drinking in the coming year.

Healthy functional and plant based are the two arching trends in today’s food culture, said Jennifer Aranas, chef and senior account manager at Datassential. Three-fourths of operators currently offer products characterized as superfoods or functional foods on their menu. Menu-growth leaders in the past four years include kale, turmeric and grass-fed beef. And one of the hottest menu concepts is the poke bowl, showing 167% growth on menus in the past four years.

Read the full article here