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Top 3 Spring/Summer Trends in Retail

In a few short years, retail will be a totally immersive and data-driven experience highlighted by personalized AI recommendations for health and home, smart carts to increase efficiency (and solve the traveling salesman’s dilemma in-store), and much more.

Debate Surrounding California’s Food Additive Ban Heats Up

Debate surrounding California’s impending food additive ban is heating up as state-level copycat proposals rise across the U.S. Last month, the National Confectioners Association spoke out against the ban, calling it “an emotionally-driven campaign that lacks scientific backing.”

The Endless Promise of Pizza

Served as an LTO, in a restaurant, or at a ball game, fired in a brick oven at 800 degrees or reheated Sunday morning in a battered collegiate microwave after a late night, pizza is a tough business that can yield great rewards, revenue, and satisfaction.

The Cost of Loyalty – How Trader Joe’s & Costco Do It

So prevalent and all-consuming is the cultural agency of the Costco Kirkland Signature All-Beef Hot Dog that it’s propelling a crypto “memecoin” on the Solana crypto exchange. That is a real sentence. “Hot dogs are in control,” writes one commentator on TikTok. “The buns stay on,” adds @Jan crypto trader in the same thread amid a rising swell of crypto brokers.

Fueling the Future: Functional Foods Gain Momentum

There’s a growing feeling among many consumers that what we put into our bodies can perhaps solve myriad health issues. That presents a major opportunity for CPG brands regarding functional food products. 

The Future of Retail, Part 3: The Immersive Retail Environment

“Customers will step into a retail environment where every interaction is personalized, guided by AI algorithms that efficiently navigate shoppers through aisles and offer tailored product suggestions in real time,” fostering brand loyalty and elevating the consumer experience to “unprecedented satisfaction levels.”

Two Sides of Hello Fresh

As a business, it’s difficult to see Hello Fresh as anything but a massive success. And yet, despite the success of the business, Hello Fresh stock has been a terrible investment.

Digesting Expo West: 5 Noteworthy Observations

Expo West 2024 grew by more than 100%, year over year, in terms of social discussion. Innovative products in categories like regenerative organic, the Mediterranean Diet and more had attendees talking.

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Why is Florida Trying to Ban Cultivated Meat?

The Florida House has approved a wide-ranging bill that would ban the sale and production of cultivated meat in the state. How will alt-meat innovations be impacted if it is signed into law?

The Future of Retail, Part 2- Tomorrow’s Tech

To further understand how inventory and supply chain will change, Jarvis said the end of data silos must be achieved “to create a holistic understanding of each shopper, their interactions, and the stream of information being shared with them.

Scottish Cuisine Has Burst onto the American Scene

Not only is Scotland home to world-famous cattle breeds and celebrated wild-caught game, but the neighboring North Sea and Atlantic Ocean ensure that the country of roughly 5.5 million residents boasts stellar oysters and mussels. 

Expo West Speakers Plot Plant-Based’s Path Forward

Last Friday at Expo West, industry leaders unpacked the plant-based category’s path forward. “Progress is not linear,” one CEO reminded the crowd, adding that getting consumers to try plant-based items “has to be a stepwise process.”

America is Poised to Embrace Tofu

In today’s alternative protein space, the possibilities tofu offers are turning heads. More flavorful than most plant-based products, more rewarding than a perfect burger alternative, and much more affordable than a meat-based option, tofu checks a lot of boxes as a middle-of-the-road protein alternative that doesn’t necessarily have to market itself as a one-size-fits-all plant-based option.

Big Opportunity Remains in Beef Jerky Category

“Jerky brands come and go because the barriers of entry to the industry are small,” Cawley said. “A good recipe, some packaging, and a solid manufacturing partner, and you can start selling legally and usually get traction locally.” Once early consumer adopters are exhausted, however, it often becomes difficult for fledgling jerky brands to earn retail shelf space, keep it, and create a compelling value proposition that resonates with shoppers nationwide.

Mochiko: First Mochi-Crust Pizza

There’s a new variable in the $45.1 billion pizzaverse: an Asian-influenced variety that utilizes a mochi pizza crust.

3 Key Takeaways from Expo West 2024

With consumers as focused as ever on improving their health and wellness, clean diets including foods like whole fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins have gained momentum. The show floor at Expo West illustrated that movement.

The Future of Retail – The 10,000-ft. View

“By 2030, visiting a Target, Walmart, or Costco won’t just be about shopping,” said Diana Zheng, head of marketing at Stallion Express, a leading e-commerce shipping company from Canada, “It will be an experience. An immersive experience. A personalized experience, even a social experience.”