Reinventing Big Food — Fireside Chat with Tapan Shah, Head of Venture Capital, Snack Futures at Mondelez International

Big Food has typically struggled with better for you, emerging brands and M&A. Mondelez had a different take: Use the existing portfolio and clean it up, use the existing infrastructure and supply chain to create new and better for you brands and finally focus on the right acquisition and investment strategy for emerging brands. Fast forward to today and the pay off is a big food company with a soul and purpose. 

Join us for this enlightening conversation, interactive Q&A, great networking, and tasty food & drink.

Tapan Shah, Head of Venture Capital, Snack Futures, Mondelēz International

Tapan leads Venture Capital activity for Mondelēz International’s SnackFutures innovation and venture hub. He came to Mondelēz International from Pepsico where he was Principal within the Ventures Group. Prior to joining PepsiCo, Tapan was a Director at AF Ventures (AccelFoods), where he was active in sourcing and managing investments, as well as guiding marketing strategy for the fund and its portfolio companies. He started his career at Glaceau and went on to marketing and leadership roles at the Campbell Soup Co. and Energy Kitchen. Tapan received a bachelor’s from Villanova University and an MBA from the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School.

Moderator:  Steve Gaither, EVP of Growth Strategy, 1o8

1o8, is a creative meets commerce agency for CPG that focuses on brand strategy, creative and digital performance marketing . Steve was the founder of JB Chicago, a CPG focused branding and creative agency in 2000 with a client roster that included Unilever, Goodbelly and Dish Network. Steve exited the agency to C.A. Fortune in 2019, where he ran the Branding unit and became CMO of the larger organization.  As a mentor at the Good Food Business Accelerator, ICNC, the Food Foundry, Chicagoland Food and Bev, and The Hatchery, his relationships with entrepreneurs led him to co-found the Windy City Troublemakers, an early-stage food meetup and Podcast. Steve was also a partner in Spiral Sun Ventures and Windy City Food Brands, where he and his fellow CPG experts provided the capital and go-to market strategies that help brands accelerate their growth.