Food Industry News, Insights, and Education for the CPG Community

Ms. Dimitri will be discussing the way the Chicago-based company developed its RTD extension, including the ways that specific branding elements and innovations move from cafes into and onto bottles. In breaking down the elements of that progression, her talk will provide the FBU audience ways of thinking about their own brand evolution.

Although it may seem like the gluten-free market is plateauing, new health studies by researchers in Europe and Australia just might have manufacturers expanding their offerings instead of contracting them.

It’s a staple of the past few years that anyone who has come up with a good idea – or thinks she has – has probably thought about putting it up on Kickstarter.

Weiland will offer his take on the key characteristics of companies that help small food and beverage companies grow and move into the big leagues of retailing, as well as some of the most important practices they have demonstrated to stay there.

While snacks have long been defined by in-between meal consumption, consumers increasingly utilize the small food servings as meal replacements, and entrepreneurs would be wise to take advantage of this expanding market.

Nina Hooper is a Harvard astrophysics student by day and a “guilt-free,” vegan, chocolate lava cake baker by night – well, by early morning. At 6 a.m. several days of the week, Hooper gets up to bake cakes for her business, Holistic, which is now a project on Kickstarter.

Entrepreneurs who understand how a small-scale grocery service works will understand many of the demands and considerations bigger retailers will have when it comes to carrying their products — but they also have the benefit of understanding the way these new, web-based grocers function, as well.

While starting a local, grocery delivery service is not something we typically hear about from food and beverage entrepreneurs on the producing end, the process of forming the business and getting the necessary connections with suppliers and distributors is actually very similar.

BevNET FBU Chicago will offer three entrepreneurs the opportunity to pitch their business plan on stage to a panel of three experienced investors, applications are now open!

Multicultural consumers currently account for more than 38 percent of the total U.S. population and by 2044, the U.S. Census predicts they will become the numeric majority.

For entrepreneurs, the shift represents a major opportunity to innovate and attract a rapidly growing consumer set that’s already altering the food and beverage landscape.

In FBU’s final series of interviews with attorney Adam Dash, we focus on intellectual property law and contracts between companies and their employees and third party contractors. These two segments will help entrepreneurs better understand how to protect their brands and also shed some light on the importance of having a contract between themselves and the people they work with.

Food fights aren’t just for kids. Today’s food and beverage manufacturers and retailers are waging fierce battles for bigger and bigger pieces of the proverbial pie—and paying close attention to who’s buying what. And for good reason: what makes it into the shopping carts of the most powerful cohorts is the evidence they need to divine their business futures.

Nierenberg will share his thoughts on the ways new and growing brands should think about setting up their routes to market, from attracting high-quality brokers to incorporating DSD and direct-ship options into their strategies.

We are happy to announce that we’ve posted the preliminary agenda for FBU Chicago, BevNET’s all-day event that gives food and beverage entrepreneurs the knowledge they need to understand and overcome the challenges of launch and growth.