Predicting the next big trend in prepared foods is important to Unilever. “Unilever sponsors the annual ACF Chef of The Year competition and the Student Chef of the Year competition, held during the ACF conference,” Steve Jilleba, CMC, AAC, corporate executive chef for Unilever Foodsolutions, tells us. “These two events are not simply a valuable way for Unilever to support the international culinary community. It is a very real method for the company to stay on the playing field with our first-line customers. The teams competing every year in this program are the real time innovators using our products. The needs of these chefs are the true needs of our target market. However, it is the student competition that gives us the most valuable depth of information regarding coming new product trends. The student champions of today will be the culinary innovators of tomorrow. These are the trendsetting leaders of the future. By supporting these young culinarians, Unilever is helping to build, and be part of, that future.”
Predicting the future is also of interest to Nestle. Of course, Tyson and Cargill are just as concerned about staying on the cutting edge of developing consumer demands. These multi-national prepared foods giants know that many, if not most, mainstream consumer food trends begin on the white tablecloths of fine dining restaurants. Each of these huge and hugely successful food producers is a major sponsor of the annual ACF conference, and has numerous culinary chefs on staff working to develop new products. These companies, and others, such as Kraft, ConAgra and Sara Lee, know that sending one researcher or culinarian may not be enough to gather all the valuable information being discussed. Therefore, these companies send a team.