Tag: SPINS

FamilyFarmed

Natural Food and Beverage Sales On Fast Track In Every U.S. Region

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Sales growth of natural food and beverage products is greatly outpacing sales growth for conventional products at the national level, a trend that has been consistent now for several years. The same can be said in every region of the United States, according to an analysis of market data by SPINS, the leading provider of retail consumer insights, analytics reporting and consulting services for the natural, organic and specialty products industry. And some of the differentials in sales growth between natural and conventional products are striking.

Financing Fair Provides Face Time For Food Startups And Investors

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FamilyFarmed’s 8th annual Good Food Financing & Innovation Conference — to be held June 19 in Chicago — is the Midwest’s premier business and investment event focused on local and sustainable food. And as usual, the Financing Fair is the heart of the Conference’s entrepreneurial programming. This article will introduce you to the 38 companies who will participate in this year’s Financing Fair.

Where You Fit On The Good Food Consumer Spectrum

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When it comes to good food, are you one of the True Believers or Enlightened Environmentalists who are really into it? A Healthy Realist or Strapped Seeker, who wants to eat better but faces budget and time constraints? Or are products defined as natural and organic just not a priority for you, as an Indifferent Traditionalist, a Struggling Switcher or a Resistant Non-Believer?

Good Food Insights: What Does “Good Food” Mean?

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FamilyFarmed is proud to share the first installment of our new Good Food Insights series in partnership with New Hope Network, producer of industry-leading annual events that include the Natural Product Expos (West and East) and the Esca Bona thought leadership conference (which is the platform for the Insights series). This series of articles that will unpack the dynamics driving Good Food.

FamilyFarmed

Learn From (And Meet) Industry Stars At Financing & Innovation Conference

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FamilyFarmed, a leading nonprofit advocate for a better food system, is happy to introduce you to the program for its 8th annual Good Food Financing & Innovation Conference. The Midwest’s premier business gathering focused on locally and sustainably produced food will be held Tuesday, June 19 at the Morgan Manufacturing event space in Chicago’s West Loop — and it has its strongest-ever lineup of industry experts discussing cutting-edge issues.

Whole Brain Consulting

Whole Brain Consulting Performing Smartly In Food Supply Chain Management

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

When you go to a supermarket, everything seems so orderly, stocked neatly on shelves, in bins and in coolers. But behind the scenes, getting food from farm to factory to grocery store fridge — a process known as supply chain management — can be complicated and messy. While some of the bigger food businesses handle supply chain internally, many others, including smaller and start-up businesses turn to the expertise of consultants with years of experience. One of these is Will Madden, co-founder of Chicago-based Whole Brain Consulting. FamilyFarmed interview Will about his business’ origins, why food businesses need contract manufacturers, the biggest supply chain challenges… and why he made the highest bid for a CEO yacht cruise on the Chicago River and Lake Michigan that was a silent auction prize at last April’s Frontera 30th Anniversary Celebration.

Good Food Is The Growth Sector In Grocery Industry

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“Just within the past 10 years, this industry has skyrocketed. Everything around this industry has completely changed. The consumers who shop this industry have changed. It’s no longer just the crunchy hipsters in Boulder.” That is how Anubhav (Anu) Goel described the fast-rising demand for Good Food at the start of his data-driven keynote speech at FamilyFarmed’s Good Food Accelerator Application Celebration at 1871 Chicago last week.

Good Food Accelerator

Good Food Accelerator Businesses Hail Learning and Bonding Experiences

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FamilyFarmed’s Good Food Business Accelerator (GFA) staged its annual Application Celebration and Networking Event at Chicago’s 1871 business incubator on Tuesday. It included a panel of four GFA graduates moderated by Scott Mandell, a program “supermentor” who founded hugely successful Enjoy Life Foods. And when Scott asked the alums about the biggest change in their businesses fostered by the Accelerator, the response by Mitch Wasserman of Full Belly Foods drew chuckles from the full-house audience.

Connect (And Party) With Rick Bayless… CEOs of Presence Marketing, KeHE and SPINS… and Support Family Farmers Too!

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Spending time with leading Good Food business executives — at a gorgeous suburban Chicago home or a yacht cruise on Lake Michigan — sounds like reason enough to bid on two of the headline prizes in the Frontera 30th Anniversary Celebration’s online silent auction. But if you have Good Food business interests and want to learn more about this fast-growing sector that is building a better food system for America, how can you pass up the opportunity to learn from (while partying with) three giants of the Good Food industry: Bill Weiland of Presence Marketing, Brandon Barnholt of KeHe Distributors, and Tony Olson of SPINS, the leading data analyst for the natural and organic products industry.

Good Food Fest Raffle

Everyone Can Play In the Frontera Celebration’s Online Auction

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The folks attending the Frontera 30th Anniversary Celebration fundraiser on April 30 at The Art Institute of Chicago will be able to bid on some mind-boggling prizes, including a food field trip to Mexico with Chef Rick Bayless, whose 30 years of achievement is being celebrated at the event. But guess what? You can bid for all of those prizes too. That’s because the auction, already under way, is taking place online, and you can compete wherever you are. All you have to do is visit the auction portal, click the prizes your heart desires, and bid.

Good Food Business Accelerator panel

Best in Business Highlight Thursday’s Good Food Financing & Innovation Conference

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FamilyFarmed’s Good Food Financing & Innovation Conference is coming up Thursday at Chicago’s UIC Forum, and it is a must-do for anyone with an interest in the business of the fast-growing Good Food movement. The event — which makes up the first day of the three-day, 12th annual Good Food Festival & Conference — has an amazing lineup of farm and food entrepreneurs, industry leaders, thought leaders and policy makers.

Kora Lazarski

First Person: How a Young Survivor Pursues a Natural Life Unmodified in a World of Change

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A mosquito-borne illness picked up during a horseback ride in Haiti turned critical for contributing writer Kora Lazarski. It prompted her to think profoundly about the impact of man on nature, and ultimately led to the career she is pursuing in the natural foods and products industry.

First Person: This Land Was Made for You and Wheat

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Locally grown organic wheat and other grains can be in short supply in Illinois, but Breslin Farms in the town of Ottawa helps fill that gap.

Enkir beer

First Person: New Brews and Ancient Grains Make Potent Combination

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the direction of the robust brewing industry is shifting from the conventional ales of our uncles to the specialty beers produced by the microbreweries. Among the new wrinkles: Many grains that have not be typically used to craft beer in the United States are coming into vogue — a stylistic trend that has also been fueled in part by rising concerns among many consumers about gluten.

Kora Lazarski of SPINS

First Person: Approaching Protein Mindfully

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by Kora Lazarski, guest contributor Kora Lazarski works in business development for Chicago-based SPINS, which provides retail consumer insights, analytics reporting and consulting for the natural, organic and specialty products industries. July is Protein Month at SPINS marketing studio.And whether we’re sampling cricket snacks and buffalo bars, visiting humane ranches in the Southwest, eating reindeer Read more about First Person: Approaching Protein Mindfully[…]