NEW HOST CITY / LOCATION: DENVER, COLORADO

After so many years in Florida, Prepared Foods takes its 35^th Annual New Products Conference on the road. The conference will convene in cities/regions known for their innovative food and beverage companies and entrepreneurial climate—and this new era starts in Denver! NPC will meet at the Grand Hyatt Denver, Sept. 10-13.

You can see the entire schedule of events here!

EXCLUSIVE “STREET DIVE” EVENT + FOOD TRENDS KEYNOTE ADDRESS

What better way to celebrate a new city—then to go out and taste the trends? A leading food & beverage products consultant, Sterling Rice Group, Boulder, Colo., will guide a group of 100 attendees on a special night out on the town of Denver. Attendees can see + taste some of the latest cutting-edge examples of …

… nitro cold brew

… over the top doughnuts

… breakfast all day

… zero-waste market

… ice cream sensations

… BBQ blockbusters

… Newish Jewish

… petite chocolate

… healthy meal vending

… and more!

Find out more information about the hotel and Denver.

On Wednesday, SRG executives will present the opening conference keynote address and summarize food and beverage trends for everyone!

WORKSHOPS + PANEL DISCUSSIONS: MORE VOICES, MORE INSIGHTS, MORE HANDS-ON!

Starting this year, Prepared Foods delivers a much greater variety of conference presentations. Here’s a quick overview…

Workshop: The Gritty Real World of Disruptive Innovation

Speaker: Doug Hall, CEO Brain Brew Ventures

Description: Learn how Brain Brew Ventures created a breakthrough system, business model and product innovations that beat a category spirits leader three to one—and how you can use the same process to reinvent your own offerings. Brain Brew execs share how they blew up the business model by crafting a premium spirit in 40 minutes and how they used 234 quantitative research tests to go from concept to market in less than six months, with many other discoveries along the way.

Panel Discussion: Home Meal Market/Deliveries—Fast Changing Landscape!

Moderator: Al Banisch, Executive Vice President, New Product Strategy, Mattson

Panelist: Michael McDevitt, Owner & CEO, Terra's Kitchen

Panelist: Christy Lebor, VP-Marketing, 40 North Foods (JBS/Pilgrim’s Pride)

* NEW * Panelist: Pat Vihtelic, Founder & CEO, Home Chef

Description: Home meal preparation and preparation has been disrupted by new technologies and new players—from all corners of the industry! What does this mean for food processors? Come hear Al Banisch review market developments (including Amazon Fresh) and lead an on-stage discussion with two manufacturers considering their own next moves.

Panel Discussion: Market Poised to Explode / Cannabis-based Foods & Drinks

Moderator: Mike Leonard, Publisher, Prepared Foods

Panelist: Taylor West, Deputy Director, Senior Communications Director at COHN Marketing & COHNNABIS​​​​​​​

Panelist: Joe Hodas, Chief Marketing Officer, Dixie Elixirs

Description: There’s no faster growing market for investment and new product development than that for recreational and medicinal cannabis products. Come hear an expert panel engage in a lively discussion about the field’s immediate past, present and future—and related food & beverage opportunities.

Panel Discussion: Develop Packaging That Boosts the Bottom Line! Success Case Studies with Nielsen Design Impact Award Winners 

Moderator: Steve Larmoureux, Senior Vice President of Design Solutions, Resident Package Design Thought Leader, Nielsen

Description: What if we told you you can drive significant business growth without risky product launches, multi-million dollar advertising campaigns, or starting a discounting addiction? You don’t hear many people waxing poetic about the incredible ROI of package design. What you do hear is that packaging changes are a risky, unpredictable, ill-advised business. 

Nielsen’s Design Impact Award Winners tell a different story—that there’s incredible business value to optimizing your packaging. This panel of Nielsen Design Impact Award winners—including both brand and agency representatives—will discuss their own best-in-class initiatives and explain what they do differently from their less successful peers, providing best practices to help all brands consistently maximize their return on design.

To register for this event, visit our website.