What must the next generation of plant-based meat alternatives do to really win in the market? Do you know how your new packaging design is driving (or driving away) purchase, subconsciously? What will make people really care about sustainability?
What do these seemingly disparate questions have in common? Their answers can be found in neuroscience. Join us, JPG Resources and Creative Food Solutions for this year’s Taste the Trends to look at the big trends driving food and beverage innovation today, and how—through the lens of neuroscience—we can uncover an entirely new way to shape the trends that will disrupt the future.
It wouldn’t be a true CFBN Taste the Trends event without a sampling of incredible foods prepared by local chefs. Allow us to bring the latest trends to life in unexpected and delicious ways. Stimulate both your brain and taste buds as we explore neuroscience’s role in what we eat and why we buy.
And be sure to come hungry -- there will be a wide variety of on-trend dishes, drinks, and delights for you to experience and enjoy!
FEATURED SPEAKERS
Chef Brian Brindza, Director of Culinary Innovation, Creative Food Solutions
Chef Brian Brindza is the Director of Culinary Innovation for Creative Food Solutions, the commercial culinary division of The Food Group, which merges advanced product design with food marketing. Chef Brian is a passionate product innovator with 17 years of experience and his focus is culinary product development, creative food innovation, and food marketing. Bringing new and exciting products to market with global food manufacturing companies, leaders in CPG, and top national restaurant chains both domestically and internationally.
Brian Frances, Senior Director, Innovation & Insights, Nature’s Fynd
Nature’s Fynd is a groundbreaking food tech company born out of NASA-supported research on extremophiles from Yellowstone National Park. The company’s novel fermentation technology produces a sustainable source of complete protein using only a fraction of the resources required by traditional agriculture. Brian received his undergraduate degree in marketing and statistics from Boston University, his MBA from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, and brought over 15 years of insights, innovation, and brand strategy experience while at GfK and PepsiCo to Nature’s Fynd.
Annie Gasparro, Editor, The Wall Street Journal
Annie is an editor on The Wall Street Journal's Live Journalism team. She helps bring WSJ’s unmatched business coverage to life at events such as WSJ's Global Food Forum and Jobs Summit.
Annie spent the past decade as a reporter covering the food industry for WSJ. She has won awards for chronicling how the pandemic wreaked havoc on grocery supply chains, and how changing eating habits have reshaped global food companies. She has appeared on podcasts, news programs, WSJ’s video series and live events. Annie joined WSJ in 2008 as a Dow Jones Newswires columnist in New York, writing about financial services firms upended by the Subprime Mortgage Crisis.
Chef Aliza Katz, Vice President, Creative Food Solutions
Chef Aliza Katz is the Vice President of Creative Food Solutions, the commercial culinary division of The Food Group, which merges advanced product design with food marketing. In this role, she provides creative culinary leadership while working directly with culinary, agency associates and client services to invoke a food innovation culture at all levels of the organization. As lead for the Chicago culinary innovation center, she and her team provide research & development expertise to food companies of all sizes from concept to commercialization.
Dr. Jane Ko, PhD, Brand & Marketing Lead, JPG Resources
Jane has a PHD in Neuroscience from Harvard University and over 15 years of marketing and innovation experience in start-up, CPG and luxury sectors, and she combines breadth of expertise with future-facing thinking to create short & long-term business solutions—from driving immediate growth strategies to building world class brands. In everything she does, Jane leverages neuroscience as a basis to approach the art of marketing as a science, creating an end-to-end consumer experience that maximizes brand value.
Jared Kreutzer, Head of Design, Mars Wrigley
Jared is an “ideas guy.” An industrial designer by trade, he brings a distinct perspective to every project he works on from more traditional product design engagements to lending his creative thinking to renowned brands like Nike and Bose. He has the unique ability to think about things from a different angle, and to craft a solution that no one else would have ever thought of. He has a deep portfolio of products he’s designed over the years, from My Little Pony and Star Wars toys at Hasbro to furniture, water bottles and backpacks for Target. He is able to think outside of individual product categories and focus on the task at hand – solving consumers’ problems.
Chef Ben Lee, Director of Culinary Services, Creative Food Services
Chef Ben having held his own in the most storied restaurants across the United States. After 20 years of experience as a foodservice operator, his passion for cooking led him wanting to create an impact on the food scene on a grander scale. He joined the commercial culinary division of The Food Group at Creative Food Solutions, bringing a deep understanding of consumer palates and global flavors. From sourcing ingredients and tracking profitability to orchestrating kitchen teams and developing menus, his vast knowledge has made him an invaluable resource to the team. Ben continues to be driven by his passion for influencing consumers on how to think about, eat and understand food.
Andre Menezes, Co-Founder & CEO, TiNDLE
Prior to co-founding Next Gen, Andre served as General Manager of Country Foods Singapore, the largest meat distributor and processor in the country, as well as one of the companies responsible for scaling Impossible Foods from a newcomer on the scene to a household name in the region. Through this work, he met co-founder Timo Recker, which led to the conception and establishment of Next Gen in Singapore. Their first product category is ridiculously good chicken made from plants: TiNDLE.
This event is produced in collaboration with:
We appreciate the support and collaboration of participating companies:
