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

Before getting into the design and legal aspects of labels, it’s important to understand their physical production. To do so, we recently sat down with Ryan Dunlevy of Reid Label & Digital Graphics to discuss what entrepreneurs should know about how labels are made, the variety of materials used to create labels and what labels work best for certain products versus others.

In a recent report, The Hartman Group, a consulting and research firm focused on consumer behavior and attitudes, wrote that “the authenticity halo around organic and natural has begun to fade, and local foods and beverages are poised to surpass them as a symbol of trust and transparency.”

For new food entrepreneurs, the home kitchen is where most products are born. However, a transition to production at contract manufacturing facilities allows for commercial-scale production of packaged goods and the safety requirements and quality assurance protocols required for food products. But what if you want to manage production? Can you manufacture legally in your home kitchen?

A recent report produced by the The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) found that CPG companies are increasingly being squeezed by transportation costs and need to carefully consider a strategic approach to supply chain management and logistics.

Out of an estimated 100,000 product offerings, the 2015 Summer Fancy Foods Show gave us a lot of ground to cover. Of course, it would highly ambitious to think that we could cover the entirety of the show, which was held June 28-30 at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City, but we certainly tried.

We sat down with Jack Brennan, managing partner of consumer products advisory firm GBS Growth Partners, who offered some specifics on what entrepreneurs need to be wary of when crafting a business plan.

Consumers are constantly updating their definition of “healthy,” and because their preferences for ingredients and functional benefits are evolving, companies need to stay on top of what is new and engaging. That was one key in finding in Deloitte’s recently released study, which examines purchasing behavior of American consumers as it relates to national food, beverage and household brands.

You hear it all the time: millennial consumers are changing the way companies do business. Certainly, change is evident in how brands evolve and introduce new products, with particular regard to millennial demand for clean labels and sustainability. Yet how is the demographic set, loosely defined as those aged 20-35, shopping for products at retail?

Our last interview with Sean Horrigan, a public relations specialist, will focus on how entrepreneurs go about launching a PR campaign. Horrigan talks about the types of research and preparation entrepreneurs would need as they plan out a campaign and also discusses how long it may take before brands start to see results.

With the snacking market becoming ever more competitive, how do new entrepreneurs decide which categories will give them the greatest chance of success and growth without having to spend a huge amount of money on research?

In FBU’s last interview with PR specialist Sean Horrigan, we talked about the power of public relations and how strong third party endorsements can really help elevate a brand. In this interview, we ask Horrigan about how to maximize a brand’s presence on social media and how to increase one’s following in the process.

With the natural and organic market being as developed as it is, what else can entrepreneurs do to continue and innovate? Last month, Boulder-based brand-building firm, Sterling Rice Group (SRG) released its top nine natural and organic food trends for 2015.