Caroline Cotto, Renewal Mill and
Upcycled Food Association
I'm thinking about how to do more with less. It's a strange time to be
running a company. It can feel as though the market is crumbling
around you, inflation is at an all-time high, layoffs abound, and
investors are holding instead of deploying capital. Yet, despite the
surface-level bleakness, I'm still inspired. We've seen that challenges
breed opportunity, and some of the new constraints on businesses
help spur more out-of-the-box thinking. More ingenuity in figuring out
how to do more and create more value with less people-power and
less cash to burn. The pandemic put a constraint on our business that
ended up leading us into the world of baking mixes and catapulting
our brand to the next level. I see the current economic landscape
doing the same. And this is the whole spirit of the upcycled food
movement. How do we take our initial inputs and do more with them
than just create a singular product stream? How do we partner with
others to create more impact and amplify our message without more
marketing dollars? It's not always easy, but it's times like these that
force us to dig deep and come out better on the other side.
Vanessa Parish, Queer Food Foundation
On our mind for the new year is expanding support and outreach.
We have recognized that many regions across the country do not
have the same impact of community support as other major cities like
NYC or L.A. This year, we want to change that by launching a Queer
Food Directory and Queer Food Fest tour. This will allow us to be on
the ground floor interacting with other queer food organizations and
businesses to meet each other and build community. Additionally,
the neighborhoods in their area will know where those safe spaces
are located to support them as well. Continuing this goal in the new
year will also invite educational resources for folks and accountability
programs for companies to improve in their DEI work.
Q:
What concerns are top of mind heading into 2023?
Specialty Food asked business leaders among its 12 Under 35:
Breakout Talent to Watch about their biggest concerns heading
into the new year. Fostering growth and innovation amid economic
challenges are some of what they reported.
WHAT'S ON
YOUR MIND?
COMPILED AND EDITED BY GEORGE HAJJAR
WINTER 2023 45
35
UNDER
