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/769179
EDITOR'S LETTER What's New, What's Next WINTER 2017 1 SPECIALTY FOOD ASSOCIATION MEMBERS: Discuss this topic in the Solution Center on specialtyfood.com A new year often has us looking forward and in the food industry, the future is a front-burner topic. Food tech innovations hit the news daily and at press time Amazon unveiled its new store concept, leading us to wonder to what extent it will disrupt the traditional retail segment. Denise Purcell Editor, Specialty Food Magazine dpurcell@specialtyfood.com We've been immersed in the future while preparing this issue's feature, "Future Forecast: The Specialty Food Land- scape in 2027," as well as in assembling our roster for Better Food, Brighter Future, part of the Winter Fancy Food Show education program. Our research put us in touch with forward- thinkers rolling out groundbreaking concepts and sharing their visions for tomorrow's retail and foodservice experiences. Here are four of the most thought-provoking movements and predictions that will impact the food world of the future: 1. Automated restaurants. Thanks to smartphones, we have an increasingly solve-it-yourself consumer popula- tion. As Caroline Potter explains in our feature starting on p. 36, diners want personalized food experiences with less personal interaction. Restaurant tech is already ad- dressing these preferences with self-service kiosks and will continue to do so, ironically, in a very retro direction. Take Eatsa, a tech-driven, modern-day-automat fast casual chain. Started in San Francisco, Easta recently revealed East Coast expansion plans. Expect more self-serve, con- versation-free automats to dot the foodservice landscape. 2. Salvage dining aka dinner in a dumpster. Don't let the name put you off. Diners feast on a menu created from recovered produce and eat at a communal table housed in a reclaimed dumpster. Yes, it's a niche event, but the will- ingness of diners from a cross-section of demographics to partake indicates how much food waste and recovery awareness will permeate menus, product offerings, and consumer consciousness. Josh Treuhaff, founder of Sal- vage Supperclub, will discuss this cutting-edge concept further on Tuesday morning at the Winter Show. 3. Telepresence technology. Retail tech will drive or in- f luence decisions at shelf. Telepresence is one way that consumers can stay informed about their food choices, explains Mike Lee in our Future Forecast article. Produce distributor Baldor has a prototype where customers have life-size, two-way conversations with producers. Lee pre- dicts a day when a shopper can have a live virtual conversa- tion with a nutritionist, chef, or producer right in the aisle. 4. In-store test and learn sections. Much of the innovation that excites consumers and addresses their evolving needs comes from startups. Lee contends that retailers will need to carve out ways to more quickly test and support a stream of new products. One way is by offering consum- ers tech-supported stations where they can sample prod- ucts and give real-time insights on the winners, helping retailers move creative ideas onto the shelf more rapidly than today's shelf reset schedules allow. We want to hear from you about what direction the industry will take in the near future. Please reach out to us directly or via social media with your opinions.