Member News & Headlines Blog

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PepsiCo is buying plant-based nutritional bar maker Health Warrior as the beverage and snack giant presses deeper into good-for-you products.

Founded in 2011, Health Warrior makes nutritional bars with natural ingredients such as chia and pumpkin seeds. It also makes a range of other healthy products, such as protein powder.

For PepsiCo, maker of Doritos and Mountain Dew, the deal furthers the company's evolution into healthier items as customers increasingly demand alternatives to sugary beverages and junk food.

Read the full article by USA Today here. Photo by Justin Sullivan.

On Oct. 18, we took a trip to Manhattan, IL to tour a beautiful farm with our members. We were led by Will County farmer, Dave Kestel and his family. We explored the land on a combine ride, listened to stories about their agricultural methods and enjoyed a farm-to-table lunch. Read more about the farm and our visit on our website.

Will Kane County Tours.pdf.pdf

You know food, period. You’ve cultivated deep connections in the food and beverage industry and you’re ready to get to work shaping a new position in the industry. Bring your leadership experience to Bader Rutter, an independently-owned full-service agency. We’re as unique as you are because for more than 40 years, we’ve worked with farmers, ranchers, growers and the businesses responsible for food production. This makes us passionate about all things food – from how it’s made to how it’s consumed.

Bring us your ability to grow businesses and brands and we’ll position you with our executive team, launching a role that you’ll shape. We want your rich leadership experience, your ability to uncover insights about people’s businesses and help act on them. We want your dynamic style, your fresh ideas and your passion.

We want your more than 10 years of experience in agency or industry food marketing and your desire to build something new and meaningful. We know you get excited by linking business strategy to branding and execution – so do we. And you can get excited about this: a Chicago office in the epicenter of the industry with a unique focus on food intelligence and the food influencers driving the changes in the way food is branded and marketed.

Contact us and tell us more about your

• Dynamic leadership style and experience leading and growing teams
• More than 10 years’ experience in the industry
• Ability to grow strong relationships internally and externally
• Experience or demonstrated desire to work with brands that includes both B2B and B2C
• Track record for building businesses and teams
• Insights on the food and beverage industry

 Connect with us and let your next career step bring you to Bader Rutter. 

Click here to be navigated to this job post.

Dairy Farmers of America has invested in SomaDetect, a dairy technology startup, to help farmers utilize artificial intelligence to more closely monitor the health of their herd and improve milk quality.

“This is a potentially game-changing technology for our farmers and the industry as it allows dairy farmers to know the health of each cow and quality of milk in real time,” says David Darr, president, farm services at DFA. “With access to better data, our farmers can make more knowledgeable decisions, which is a huge value.”

Read this full article here on Delta Farm Press.

We've got exciting news from our member The Kraft Heinz Company! They just announced that they are now accepting applications for their second incubator class! Want to shape the future of food? Check out the details below.

More details can be found here 

Blockchain is a technology that was first created to aid the use of Bitcoin, a digital currency that has gained significant publicity in recent years. However, once blockchain technology began to take off it soon became clear that the technology can be used for far more than just digital currency transactions. 

One of the perks of blockchain is that it creates a reliable and immutable record of transactions, making the entire process a lot more transparent and traceable. Not only is this ideal for fraud prevention, but it also enables organisations to keep a closer check on their operations and improve efficiency levels.

Read the article by Klipspringer here

Read the full article on HerMag.

Katlin Smith’s original entrepreneurial idea was to open a pasta shop. The only problem? Ever since high school, she’d always been bothered by aches and pain, and pasta might have been to blame. “When I was 24 years old, a friend suggested that I try eliminating highly processed foods and allergens, like wheat, to see if that helped,” Smith tells HER Magazine. The changes relieved her symptoms, and she realized that she had more energy. “Things I thought were ‘normal’ didn’t have to be — it was an eye-opening experience that literally changed my life.”

We're saddened by the closing of Pilotworks, and want to lend a hand in helping connect the talented entrepreneurs that used the space to the resources that they need. As a first step, here's a list of potential kitchen spaces that may be useful. 

Chicagoland Food & Beverage Network is on a mission to create a growing and collaborative food and beverage industry in Chicagoland.  We recognize that it can be difficult for startups and entrepreneurs to find the necessary resources to be successful, and want to let you know that we're here to help.  Please reach out to info@chicagolandfood.org if you're an entrepreneur who has been impacted by the Pilotworks closing.  

Read the entire article on Crain's Chicago here 

Chicago is quickly becoming a hotbed of investment for startups in the food industry, befitting the city's legacy of being the world's hog butcher and stacker of wheat.

Kraft Heinz recently hired a Lightbank veteran to run its new $100 million Evolv Ventures fund, joining Tyson Foods, which created a $150 million investment fund after it bought Sara Lee's Hillshire Brands. Mondelez International, which emerged from the Kraft breakup in 2012, is trying to hire a venture-capital director at its Deerfield headquarters. In the agriculture space, Archer Daniels Midland also has a corporate fund that launched two years ago.

Conagra Brands has teamed with Kellogg, meantime, to help finance a food business incubator, the Hatchery, that is scheduled to open on the West Side next month.

Evolv Ventures' Bill Pescatello notes that Kraft Heinz is the fifth-largest packaged-food and beverage company in the world. The venture fund, he says, "is about how can we be smarter, connect with startups and get a first look at emerging technologies. The distribution channels are being absolutely disrupted, with Amazon selling direct to consumers and doing delivery, along with Instacart. We'll be heavily involved in investing in those areas."