Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/438836
EDITOR'S LETTER High-Tech, High-Thought Leadership WINTER 2015 1 HAVE A COMMENT? Visit specialtyfood.com/dpurcell/hightech I 'll admit I didn't grasp the concept of 3-D food printing until our managing editor, Eva Meszaros, told me to picture the Play-Doh spaghetti factory. While that visual definitely helped, now thanks to our in-depth feature, "Food: The Digital Frontier" (p. 38), I have a fuller sense of what this tech- nology can mean to food's future. Leaders in the space point to efficiencies and improvements, par- ticularly in the confections and baked goods categories, as well as the potential to "build" individual products with customized ingredients based on dietary needs or taste. Denise Purcell Editor, Specialty Food Magazine dpurcell@specialtyfood.com The technology is still in its infancy. But in the face of confusion, dismissal, and fear about Frankenfoods, 3-D printing pioneers are quick to remind the masses that this is how we talked about microwave ovens just a few decades ago. It will be a while before we know whether these printers will rise to a standard feature in home kitchens. But keeping our readers on the forefront of new ideas is critical to the role we play at Specialty Food Magazine, whether it's about advanc- ing technologies or current thinking on controversial subjects. Speaking of the latter, turn to p. 109 for a candid Q- and-A with Gary Hirshberg, co-founder and chairman of Stonyfield Farm, who in recent years launched Just Label It, a national campaign to bring GMO labeling to pack- aged foods. Hirshberg is adamant about labeling transpar- ency and not shy to express it; find the full interview at specialtyfood.com/opinion/hirshberg, as part of our new opinion section, where we'll be sharing more views and de- bates from thought leaders inside and outside our industry. We are expanding our efforts to provide perspective from newsmakers, industry-watchers, and thought leaders across our print and online content and at live events in 2015—start- ing with education programming at the Fancy Food Shows. At January's Winter Show, where many of you may be pick- ing up this issue of the magazine, Hirshberg will kick off our new thought leader talk series, sharing his insights on smart growth from his experience building one of the U.S.'s leading organic food companies. The rest of our show education program is packed with talks from experts and inf luencers. For instance, you know innovation is important to staying competitive, but you can learn how to think differently about the process of innovating from speaker Beverly Emerson, who will share how to operationalize creativity. In other sessions, con- sumer behavior specialist and retail architect Kevin Kelley will explain how the retail environment affects shoppers' moods, actions, and purchase decisions, and trendwatch- ers Kara Nielsen and David Sax explain how to make sense of trends versus fads and identify the developments that could help your business. If you'll be at the show, please register to join us to learn from these visionaries in per- son. You can also purchase recordings of the full educa- tion program after the show via the Knowledge Center on specialtyfood.com.