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By now, we've all read about the surge in home-cooking. Spending more time at home during the pandemic has provided the context for consumers to explore the food preparation spectrum, from making soups and casseroles to researching global foods and flavors and of course making a valiant attempt at baking. 

For some time now, the majority of the food and beverage industry has been aware of this shift. Food suppliers and processors have positioned their businesses to adapt to exponential future changes.

According to the International Food Information Council’s 2020 Food & Health Survey, 85% of Americans have made at least some change in the food they eat or how they prepare it because of the coronavirus pandemic. Do we expect consumers to return to pre-pandemic behaviors?

By the time I finish writing this sentence, I imagine another industry trade show will have been cancelled. In my 20 years of covering the food and beverage industry, I have never witnessed such widespread disruption to business. I don’t believe any among us have been left unaffected by the current crisis.

Consumers believe plant based foods are more sustainable than those made from meat, and the industry is responding accordingly.

In early October, Prepared Foods held its 37th annual New Products Conference, where themes of sustainability underpinned many of the speaker presentations. New Products Conference sessions surrounding upcycled foods, food waste and plant based foods each contained overt and tangential messages about corporate responsibility and sustainable food production. 

Product packaging that remains after use is a burden. It’s a burden to consumers, to communities and to the environment. My sense is that products positioned with sustainable packaging messages are going to dominate categories and eventually set a baseline for market entry.

While attending the 2019 IRI Growth Summit in Denver, I learned that IRI is making artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning enhancements to its suite of data and analytic tools.

As part of its Walmart Reimagined campaign, the retailer is aiming to boost store traffic by converting excess parking space to experimental communities comprised of food halls, recreation areas and even mobile healthcare units.

The mountain of money spent to market products and influence consumer behavior may only be 5% effective, according to Dr. A.K. Pradeep, CEO, MachineVantage.