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  • Accelerator Grad TeaSquares Selected For Chobani Incubator Program

    2 Oct 2018 3:28 PM | Deleted user

    Article by FamilyFarmed

    TeaSquares, a 2017 graduate of FamilyFarmed's Good Food Accelerator, is one of four companies accepted into the Chobani Incubator's intensive fall program. This is the latest achievement by the highly regarded company, located in Englewood on Chicago's South Side, which produces delicious energy snacks with a caffeine boost from tea, and pursues a social mission of teaching business skills to youths from underserved communities. Read more from Chicago Business Journal.


    Chobani Incubator provides selected entrepreneurs, who are "taking on broken food systems to bring better food to more people," with a $25,000 no-strings-attached grant, mentoring, networking, and travel and lodging to attend Incubator sessions in New York and Idaho. Congratulations to Jordan Buckner, Isaac Lozano and the rest of the Tea Squares team.

  • Peas On Moss Podcast: Executive director Alan Reed on creating community in food manufacturing

    1 Oct 2018 2:07 PM | Deleted user
    Kimberly Schaub with the Peas On Moss podcast, interviewed our executive director Alan Reed, as he introduced our organization. Chicago is a hub for food manufacturing and restaurants, and the network appears to be the first one that brings together both sides of the industry and provides a platform to collaborate. They do multiple events each month, so if you find yourself in Chicago, make sure you check out an event. Hear this podcast now 


      

  • Tyson Foods' Sally Grimes "Most Powerful Women Leaders Are Ones to Watch" list

    24 Sep 2018 11:51 AM | Deleted user

    Sally Grimes is the president of our member Tyson Foods and Prepared Foods.  

    Grimes oversees more than a quarter of the company’s $38 billion in revenue and is helping to create a new corporate brand identity for the meat multinational.


    The above mention was found on Fortune.com (link: http://fortune.com/2018/09/24/most-powerful-women-on-our-radar-2018/?xid=gn_editorspicks)


  • 300 plus jobs in food manufacturing job fair

    21 Sep 2018 9:06 PM | Deleted user

    The Southwest Suburban Cook County American Job Center and the Food and Beverage Network are collaborating in helping Chicago and suburban job seekers obtain job opportunities in food manufacturing and packaging. Both organizations are hosting a mega job fair on Thursday September 27 2018 from 10a.m.-1p.m. There will be over 20 employers offering over 300 jobs in various sectors of the food industry that range from food assembly, machine operators, sanitation, quality assurance, warehouse, drivers, and maintenance mechanics. In addition, job seekers will be to obtain information and resources how to get training and certifications for careers in food manufacturing. Anyone looking for further information should call 708-222-3100.

  • Dairy Foods: creating sustainable nutritional value through seed-to-table innovation

    21 Sep 2018 12:51 PM | Deleted user

    In so many ways, milk has been just ripe for the taking when it comes to innovation. Fluid milk sales have been on the decline for decades, fueled largely by a boost in the development and availability of alternative offerings (which have taken direct aim at cow’s milk) and an overall inundation of food and beverage choices in general. The universe of drinkable nutrition and refreshment was exploding and it — admittedly — took a while for us dairy farmers to catch on.

    But caught on we sure have! Fairlife’s our own contribution to the current dairy-powered movement meant to make milk matter again by highlighting the natural nutrition and vitality that milk brings to the table. The innovation of nature’s superfood is well under way and seeing tremendous growth.

    Read the full article here

  • ICYMI: Innovation Breakfast: Generations of Leadership

    21 Sep 2018 12:32 PM | Deleted user

    Our "Generations of Leadership" panel shared fantastic insight from fourth and fifth generation, family-owned Chicago food companies. Jeremy Anderson, CFBN Board Member and Founder of Fifty Gazelles moderated the panel, which featured Dave Miniat, CEO of Miniat Holdings, Dave Gonnella, VP Marketing for Gonnella Baking, and Peter Rose, VP Product Development for Rose Packing Company.  Organizations like these are the backbone of Chicagoland’s food & beverage industry, as they make up the majority of the the industry, and represent the lion’s share of the employment here in the region.


    These mid sized companies (only in Chicagoland would we call companies that are $200 million to $1 billion in annual sales “mid sized”!) have unique issues and challenges as they grow and evolve across generations.  Dave Gonnella shared his personal experience, "every generation has to reinvent the company, and it takes guts to escape the comfort zone of what came before." Adding to this sentiment, David Miniat shared that, "years ago, we had more money than ideas. Today we have more ideas than money. They're not all winners, but that's where you want to be."


  • Springboard Inaugural Incubator Video

    20 Sep 2018 3:06 PM | Deleted user

    Have a food or beverage start-up and want to accelerate? Hear from the Springboard Incubator teams and Inaugural class on what Springboard can do.

    To be navigated to youtube video click https://youtu.be/ORQ25wqeXpE



  • ICYMI: Hot Topics in Supply Chain Management

    20 Sep 2018 2:36 PM | Deleted user

    In partnership with the Loyola University Supply & Value Chain Center,
    and AFN Logistics, CFBN presented 
    Solutions Workshop: Hot Topics in Supply Chain Management on September 13th. The event featured a panel of top supply chain experts from Walgreens, World's Finest Chocolate, AFN, Enjoy Life Foods and Lawson Products.     This diverse, dynamic panel, shared key insights and challenges that supply chain professionals are experiencing in the industry. 

    “Hot Topics” discussed included:

    • The “Amazon Effect”: rising expectations based on the growth of Amazon, and overnight services.
    • Tariffs: Operating within a whole new (and challenging) environment
    • Transportation: especially tight truckload capacity, rising shipping rates, stringent compliance requirements
    • Traceability and documentation: especially in regards to FSMA and allergens
    • Warehousing and distribution: building a system to support your business by identifying and qualifying a network of providers

    While the panel was able to touch on and discuss all of these issues (and more!), it was agreed that each hot topic could also represent an opportunity for a future “deep dive” at an upcoming event.

    What do you think?  What supply chain topics are you and your company most interested in for the future.  Email us at info@chicagolandfood.org and tell us what conversations and topics would deliver the most value for you. 


  • Vote now for the People's Choice Award presented by Chicago Innovation

    20 Sep 2018 11:56 AM | Deleted user

    Place your vote here: https://chicagoinnovation.com/peoples-choice-award-voting/

    Out of 519 nominees, Chicagoland Food & Beverage Network has been selected as one of the Top 100 Finalists still in the running for the 17th annual Chicago Innovation Awards.  The awards celebrate the most innovative new products and services in the Chicago region across all organization sizes, sectors and industries.  1500 business and civic leaders will come together to honor the winners when they are announced on October 29th at Chicago’s Harris Theater.


    “Chicago continues to rise as a global hub of innovation due to the breadth of organizations in our region that introduce a stream of new products and services into the market each year,” said Tom Kuczmarski, co-founder with Chicago journalist Dan Miller of the awards.  “This year’s nominees generated a combined total of $3.44 billion in revenues through their new products and services alone.”

    As one of the Top 100 Finalists, Chicagoland Food & Beverage Network will receive a $2,500 scholarship to attend The Practical Innovator, a day-long executive education course on September 26th led by top faculty who teach innovation at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.

    Each of the Top 100 Finalists is also in the running for the annual “People’s Choice Award,” selected through online balloting at https://chicagoinnovation.com/peoples-choice-award-voting/

    Out of the Top 100 Finalists, the judges will select 10 winners of the Chicago Innovation Awards, as well as 10 winners of the Up-and-Comer Awards representing innovation in the start-up community, the Social Innovator Award, the Collaboration Award, and 3 Neighborhood Award winners, which will showcase innovation occurring in Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods.  The winners will be invited to ring the NASDAQ Bell in New York City, invited to separate meetings with Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Governor Bruce Rauner and Cook Count President Toni Preckwinkle, and receive widespread media recognition.



  • Chobani reveals participants for its new incubator program

    18 Sep 2018 3:57 PM | Deleted user

    Chobani has revealed the eight participants of its Fall 2018 incubator programme, including the two inaugural participants in the company’s new Food Tech Residency Class.

    Chobani announced earlier this year that it would launch the Food Tech Residency Class to support start-ups who have developed solutions which reduce waste and bring greater sustainability to the food value chain.

    The two participants in the Class are Skyven Technologies and CinderBio, both of which have developed innovative solutions for the food processing industry.


    Skyven has created a thermal energy solution which reduces fuel use, energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions for food processors, while CinderBio has developed an enzyme for dairy processors which works at much higher temperatures, in more acidic conditions, and faster than industrial enzymes available at the moment.

    Meanwhile, the six participants in Chobani’s conventional incubator program are:

      • MatchaBar – a matcha tea company that distributes a shelf-stable bottled product across the US.
      • TeaSquares – a naturally caffeinated snack producer based in Chicago.
      • Ithaca Cold-Crafted – a producer of a premium hummus made using an innovative cold manufacturing process.
      • Haven’s Kitchen – a manufacturer of sauces made from a range of natural ingredients
      • Partake Foods – a line of allergy-friendly children’s’ food products.
      • Supernatural – a producer of allergy-friendly baking ingredients.

    A statement from Chobani said: “Since 2016, the Chobani Incubator program has helped entrepreneurs with big hearts and ideas break into food and beverage industries through equity-free investment and a strong focus on mentorship.

    “There is proof the model works: the Incubator’s first two classes have seen a 250% in total average growth in distribution, as well as an average 147% increase in quarterly revenue.

    “Alumni have also launched over 30 new SKUs and several have achieved successful rebrands.”

    Read the full article here


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