Member News & Headlines Blog

As the food industry continues to evolve, more companies are realizing the benefits of collaboration and how working together can lead to better products for customers. In this Table to Talk chat, join Edlong leaders Laurette Rondenet, Brenda Dehart, Denise Senter, and Lauren Hopkins as they discuss insights into how collaboration across the industry drives efficient and cost-effective developments for better quality products. From topics such as when to consider flavor in the product design cycle to thinking about what is best for customers, they highlight how Edlong is spearheading collaboration in the industry.

Chicago was named among Food & Wine's Top 10 U.S. Food Cities as part of the magazine's new Global Tastemakers Awards, described as its first-ever "readers’ choice awards celebrating the best culinary experiences and destinations in the U.S. and abroad." Chicago clocked in at No. 6 of the Top 10, while New York nabbed the No. 1 spot and three cities in California landed on the list, two ahead of Chicago.

1. New York, New York                                            

 2. New Orleans, Louisiana                            

 3. San Francisco, California                                      

 4. Los Angeles, California                                        

 5. Portland, Oregon                                                 

 6. Chicago, Illinois                                                    

 7. Charleston, South Carolina                                  

 8. Miami, Florida                                                      

 9. San Diego, California 

10. Austin, Texas   

Stoked is a network of food trucks for which 25-50% of operating time will be spent in food insecure neighborhoods selling food on a donation-priced basis, while the remaining time is spent selling meals at market price in other neighborhoods. These food trucks will be operated and partially owned by entrepreneurs from the local food-insecure community, and representative of its demographics in order to create culturally applicable and locally marketable meals.

Stoked's target beneficiaries are asset-limited, income-constrained, employed (ALICE) consumers for whom time and money are at a premium, fresh produce is difficult to access, and dignity is important. They are led by a wonderful chef, Kiara Jones, who has accumulated over 600k followers on social media for her cooking and has catered throughout Chicago including for some Chicago Bears players! 

Stoked is excited to announce they will be operating on Friday, May 12^th at 58th St & Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL from 11 AM – 1:00 PM.

Recent U.S. findings reported by ofi, a global leader in naturally good food and beverage ingredients, show consumer interest in plant-based products continues to rise, with meat eaters, milk drinkers and vegetarians alike increasingly open to plant-based offerings. Findings showed 55% of consumers increased their intake of plant-based products over the last two years, while 63% expect to use more in the next two years. In the U.S., the plant-based beverages, desserts, and ice-cream market is worth an estimated $4.3 billion in 2022, however, research shows that 7% of consumers switched back to dairy products after not liking the first plant-based product they tried, indicating there’s opportunity for innovation in the space. 

“As the plant-based consumer landscape continues to broaden, food and beverage manufacturers will have new challenges to ensure that their products are meeting consumer expectations,” said, Sonali Dalvi, Vice President of Innovation and Head of ofi’s Customer Solutions Center in Chicago.

This month Edelman is unveiling its latest Trust Barometer for the Food & Beverage sector. Highlights:

The 6th Midwest Food Matters Leadership Awards Gala on May 9th, 2023 will bring together leaders, suppliers and service providers from the many faces of the food industry for an evening of networking and to celebrate the impact, accomplishments and bright promise for the future of the food industry in the Midwest.

Whether you're an industry member, service provider or supplier to food companies, this promises to be a memorable evening of renewing friendships and making new connections for global business opportunities.

All net proceeds from this non-profit initiative will support the important industry-focused non-profits, including the critical mission of the Greater Chicago Food Depository and the innovative food industry support and development programs of Global Midwest Alliance.

The chain restaurant business is one of the most significant segments in foodservice. Technomic’s Top 1500 chains, for example, will deliver nearly $400B of the total $569B in restaurant and bar sales projected in 2022.*

DMA (Distribution Market Advantage) delivers customized distribution solutions to top chains on behalf of the nation’s leading, privately-held, foodservice-focused distributors. This unique position in the industry offers a behind the scenes view of what’s happening in this highly complex supply chain.

• In spite of inflation, consumers continue to dine out and the country’s supply chain continues to be stretched. Technomic projects Fast Casual restaurants to grow sales 2.2% and Fine Dining establishments to jump 6.9% in 2022!**
• Manufacturers are recovering from historically low fill rates into distribution – but are still not 100%. Many have converted available production capacity to grocery items from foodservice skus as well, prolonging supply challenges in this channel.

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Physical warehouse space has filled with extra inventory to assure operators’ supply, while drivers and equipment continue to be challenging to source. The implications to chains are:

• Increased cost to serve from distributor partners
• Less flexibility to offer unique, proprietary menu items
• Challenges executing limited time offers

• Plan new items and LTOs as far in advance as possible.
• Convene all parties – from ingredient supplier through manufacturer to the distributor.
• Deliver analytics – visibility to timely data has never been more important.
• Communicate constantly – collaboration to solve challenges, rather than assigning blame to failures will drive successful execution.

2023 is projected to be a strong year for all commercial foodservice segments. What are you doing to prepare your supply chain to deliver the best solutions?

*Technomic Top 1500 Chains Report, August 2022
**Technomic 2022-23 Wallchart, August 2022

• With consumer price inflation reaching new heights in March (8.5% year over year), there continues to be much media and newswire discussion on the impact of inflation on buyers – particularly those on low or modest incomes. Media stories sometimes cite surveys of sentiment that show consumers are inclined to cut back in response to higher prices. 

  But people don’t always do what they say or want to do – sentiment is not the same as action. Fortunately, the hard data doesn’t support all the gloom. In short, despite clear signs of inflation, there are some good reasons to be cheerful about the economy. 

   1.     Bank of America card spending was strong in March and is looking good in April

• Bank of America propriety data showed solid 11% YoY card spending in March. And in the very latest data we are seeing this strength continuing into April, with solid growth in card spending and even stronger growth in other payment channels.  Net: No sign of recession here.    

   2.     The labor market is stronger than it appears for low-income groups. While inflation is strong so is employment and labor income. The overall US labor market looks strong, with the unemployment rate dropping to 3.6% in March and hourly wage growth at 5.6% YoY. But beneath this already rosy picture, the story is even better at the lower end of the wage distribution.

• 3.     Cash in the Bank.   Lower-income households appear to still have substantially higher deposit balances relative to pre-pandemic periods. When we look at savings and checking balances of households with incomes below $50K, we find they have at least $1,500 more than at the start of 2019. To put that in perspective, this figure is more than 5% of this income group’s average household spending in 2019. So, Bank of America does not find it too surprising that this group is not reacting as adversely in their card spending data to higher prices as one might assume from reading media stories.

•  4.     Card spending shows momentum with robust consumer spending spanning all income groups. We see prices rising in key areas:  

• a.     Spending on leisure is back. Bank of America credit and debit card spending has rebounded strongly in travel and leisure activities since the ebbing of the omicron wave. Airline spending was 91% higher YoY, while restaurant spending rose by 17%. Spending on leisure appears to be normalizing, after a long period during the pandemic when spending on goods was favored over that on services.
  b.     Card spending on gasoline was 41% higher than the same period a year earlier. The surge in global oil prices is most of the story here and, even though oil prices have dropped back of late, the ongoing war in Ukraine is keeping them high. At the end of March, weekly retail gasoline prices (all grades) had risen to $4.34 a gallon, a full 96 cents higher than where they started the year.
  c.     Food prices are rising sharply. Food price inflation has also been rising sharply, with annual inflation for food at 7.9% in February. Geopolitics is a factor here too, with soft commodity prices rising sharply on world markets this year. For example, wheat prices, where Ukraine is a major exporter, are around 30% higher than at the start of the year.

We thank the team at Bank of America for their terrific insights and information.  For additional reading, check out the articles below. 

From Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) to curbside pickup, the e-commerce trends that many of us have come to love are a convenience that experts say are here to stay. The pandemic caused an overnight disruption to the typical retail space and evolved the way we shop. The online shopping space is no longer held solely by the giants of e-commerce, but now start-ups to mid-size food and beverage companies are finding their share of retail “space”.  

According to Adobe Insights, groceries now comprise of 8.9% of the total e-commerce market, spending $74.7 billion in the digital grocery market and projected to spend $85 billion this year. For some customers e-commerce saves time and is more efficient while others may prefer to shop from bed or home. Regardless of the reason, our industry must take note and act fast as the F&B market space for e-commerce is projected to be the fasted growing online sales category over the next several years.

From the vantage point of marketing, retail, and distribution to supply chain technology - our industry’s landscape is rapidly changing. It’s an exciting time to be in food and beverage, especially as consumers embrace their new digital shopping habits. Be prepared for what’s to come and ensure your company sees an increases in online sales. Join CFBN and Fifty Gazelles for our upcoming Innovation Series Event E-Commerce Has Come of Age to take a closer look at e-commerce and what it means for our industry’s future.

We'd like to give a shoutout to a few of our Chicago-based favorites who have been showing up and rocking the e-commerce space. Think we should add a company to the list? Let us know!

CFBN Board Chair Andria Long sat down with our Communications Lead Anna Briggs Pirila to discuss the consumer and company trends the food and beverage industry has seen this year. This article provides a summary of the key trends that we see are impacting our industry.

Safety continues to be a top priority for consumers. As the pandemic continues, businesses will need to continue to showcase their commitment to keeping their products and operations covid-safe. Small gestures -- such as having hand sanitizer readily available and employees wearing masks -- go a long way with consumers. Some consumers are even willing to make temporary trade-offs on sustainability benefits to ensure that products are safe: a great example is the rise of individually packaged single-use items. 

The pandemic has driven more flexible shopping options for consumers. Brands now have to pivot as they cater to the new shopping experience. More recognizable brands will have to shift the money they spend on in-store marketing to more online efforts. However, niche brands have already been savvy about utilizing social media to highlight their products to consumers.

The out-of-stock supply of some major brands has allowed consumers to try other options. The products that serve consumers' needs better will become the new staples in their homes. With the rising trend of being able to quickly re-order last week's grocery list, the competition to be the consumers' go-to product is fiercer than ever.

Immediate buying options becoming more prominent in advertising. For example, a commercial might have a QR code to the product's website. On Amazon Prime Video, some ads have an option to add the displayed product directly into your Amazon shopping cart.

A key value of CFBN during the pandemic is the sharing of best practices.  Andria Long believes that CFBN provides a forum for sharing the learnings that each company, small and large, has figured out along the way. Andria shared an example about organizations engaging in drive-up consumer tests - an innovative way to make food testing covid-safe - being an example of something she hadn't yet considered.

Today, no business has a playbook for these unprecedented times. So, hearing about the learnings from industry leaders and innovative brands is invaluable.  Join CFBN at upcoming events (see below) to maximize the value of your membership!