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/523050
EDITOR'S LETTER Disrupting the Food Space SUMMER 2015 1 HAVE A COMMENT? Visit specialtyfood.com/dpurcell/futureofood W e're in a time of transformational innovation in food, as new production methods, delivery mechanisms, and business models redefine our industry. Denise Purcell Editor, Specialty Food Magazine dpurcell@specialtyfood.com The entrepreneurs behind these innovations are tagged as disruptors, to use the latest buzzword, for applying not just inventive thinking but often a whole new set of values to reinvent existing markets. This is especially true in realms where food intersects with technology. Innovators are de- veloping a steady stream of ways that food tech can revolu- tionize farming and food production as well as new product creation, often for the purpose of improving future sustain- ability. But thought leaders throughout the supply chain are advancing bold propositions in everyday platforms like new store concepts. In this issue, we interview two such disruptors in their individual spaces. Josh Tetrick, founder of Hampton Creek, is on the bleeding edge of food tech with his category-chang- ing egg- and dairy-free lines of mayonnaise and cookie alter- natives. Bill Gates is just one shareholder who has declared the plant-based products the future of food because they provide a sustainable way to help feed a population expected to hit 9 billion by 2050. On p. 78, read more about how tech and science is helping Tetrick 's R&D team develop a prod- uct line slated to grow by 30 new introductions over the next three years in categories as far-f lung as pasta and custard. Doug Rauch, former president of Trader Joe's, is taking on sustainability and food waste from a different angle with Daily Table, a new retail business model that repurposes food that would otherwise be discarded and offers it for sale to the food insecure in the Dorchester, Massachusetts, area (p. 120). Rauch is on a quest to redefine food waste and edu- cate the public about misconceptions around sell-by dates on packaged products, all of which he says lead to the U.S. throwing out 30 to 40 percent of its food while 49 million Americans go hungry. Attendees at the upcoming Summer Fancy Food Show in New York can hear more about Rauch's business model in his seminar, How to Do Good While Do- ing Well in the Marketplace. Another presenter at the show, Mike Lee, is tackling the future of retailing as he walks attendees through his vi- sion for the food store of 2065. Lee's The Future Market is a conceptual grocery store that illustrates what our retail experience—and food itself—may be like in 50 years. For those who can't attend, Lee and Rauch's sessions, along with the rest of the education program, can be purchased after the show via the Knowledge Center on specialtyfood.com. We'll be offering more interviews and live sessions with innovators such as these across food production and retail, and welcome your suggestions for the entrepreneurs you want to hear from who are setting the future of food by chal- lenging the way we think, behave, consume, and do business.