Member News & Headlines Blog

Katlin Smith, CEO of our member Simple Mills,  Diane Sayler, Associate Director with our member Kellogg and Jake Stewart, Head of Commerce Sales at Kraft Heinz, have all been recognized in Ad Week's "20 Rising Brand Stars Changing the Landscape of Chicago." Read about their personal experiences and insights here.

• Market research firm Mintel recently reported that growth in the frozen snacks space is slowing down and salty snacks are to blame, according to Bakery and Snacks. The report found that salty meat, popcorn and cheese snacks are melting down the popularity of frozen items. 
• Although the frozen snacks category has grown in recent years, Mintel predicts that annual growth in the frozen snack category will slow from 2019 to 2022 and rest between 0.6% to 0.9%. On the other hand, salty snacks are expected to catapult to 28% growth between 2017 and 2022. 
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Read the full article from FoodDive here

More than four in five firms in the industry are raising wages or boosting signing bonuses, according to a survey of about 400 executives by Deloitte LLP and the National Association of Manufacturers. More than two-thirds said compensation had a moderate to very high impact on retention, while 32% said it had low or no impact.

Raises are showing up in U.S. data: October marked the first month of annual wage gains above 3% since 2009. There are nearly half a million job openings in manufacturing, even after a strong pace of hiring that’s added almost that many to payrolls over the past two years, Labor Department data show. Pay raises should help to attract and retain people as the hiring pool shrinks.

Read this full article from Industry Week here

While Chicago is known for its pizza, what might not be common knowledge is that the city is home to 4,500 food manufacturing companies.

And like the rest of the manufacturing world, they are having trouble finding qualified workers for job openings. Not a city to sit idle, it created The Chicagoland Food & Beverage Network (CFBN). The group’s goal is to tap into the collective knowledge of local industry food & beverage players -- big and small – to help identify curriculum needs to train a workforce. 

Read the full article from Industry Week here

Chicago is the first city of food and beverage. The role of this org is to keep workforce, food and safety training as well as innovation the focus so that it remains that way. The Innovation Breakfast Series / Bar Fest now has 11 straight sell out events with partner Fifty Gazelles. Tonight’s roundtable is focused on Chicago’s craft distillery movement featuring the founders of Rhine Hall, Apologue and Letherbee.

Read the full article here

No nuts in sight: Blake's Seed Based Snack Bars
If you suffer from food allergies, these bars might become your new go-to. They’re seed based, come in three flavors (including the unique pineapple), and are nut-free and top eight allergen-free. Plus, they’re so lightweight you won't even notice one in your bag.

Read this full article in Vogue

Starting a new company is extraordinarily difficult, requiring untold hours of hard work to overcome the myriad of hurdles and pitfalls. Having both built food-tech companies from the ground up, and having transformed our dreams into functional, working businesses, we fully understand the immense challenges new food entrepreneurs face when trying to get things up and running. For 175 businesses across the country, Pilotworks was their headquarters and home – the kitchen and community that enabled them to turn their dreams into real, delicious food for all to enjoy. It is nothing short of devastating for so many incredibly promising, early-stage companies to have the rug pulled out from under them with the recent and sudden bankruptcy of Pilotworks.

Read the full article from foodtechconnect here.

Access the podcast and read the full article here.

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