I recently spent three days looking over the horizon with 21 leading food manufacturers and retailers.

Starches are the most predominant and versatile class of food ingredient in the food manufacturing supply chain.

The demand for alternative sweeteners is such that, according to a report by the Freedonia Group, annual sales will hit $1.6 billion by 2020, or roughly a third higher than in 2010.

Here are five key factors influencing Mattson's product innovation work for its clients.

Shoppers, particularly younger ones hailing from Generation Z, will gravitate towards food and drink colored with natural yellow and orange shades in order to tune into the optimistic sentiments they convey, adds GNT.

Radical shifts in how consumers and the FDA are viewing oils and fats today are influencing the fats and oils supply chain and creating a market for new ingredients that appeal to both.

It seems clear that transition to natural is global in nature. According to Mintel, more than 75% of the food and drink products launched globally in the first three quarters of 2018 used colors from natural sources versus synthetic options.

The CIA is widely recognized as the world’s premier culinary college with an industry-wide reputation for excellence. The quality of a CIA education stems from hands-on learning in small class settings and an unparalleled legacy of leadership built by focusing on the crucial issues that drive and shape the ever-changing food world.

Our Prepared Foods team recently shared the same experience when we deconstructed and recast our annual New Products Conference (now in its 36th year). We hired an outside meetings and marketing specialist who challenged us to re-examine every aspect of our conference goals, planning and decision making.