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.

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.

This trend is most evident in PLMA’s 2018 Salute to Excellence Awards program, where more than 500 new store brands food and nonfood products were evaluated by panels of industry professionals and consumers. Judges selected 53 products, 38 food and 15 nonfood items, for Salute to Excellence Awards.

Results show industry leaders in each segment share three common traits: they differentiate offerings, target consumers with greater precision and complement organic growth with inorganic growth.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning help food and beverage manufacturers effectively “invert the pyramid” of traditional R&D and innovation.

Maeve Webster will lead teens in a discussion about technology (platforms that teens use to learn about foods, make purchases and share opinions), and preferences (preferred flavors, formats, categories, cuisines, packaging, etc).

Tyson Foods launched the Tyson Innovation Lab which is about exploring new approaches to accelerate the pace of innovation.

This year’s Best in Show award went to Hostess Brands, LLC for Double Chocolate Cake Delights. The premium adult snacks are inspired by fresh, hand-crafted bakery treats.

The enormous range of new developments in functional foods and beverages presented at the exhibition makes Hi Europe & Ni an important and inspirational business platform for food retailers, drugstores and pharmacies, as well as distributors. In addition, more than 40 exhibiting companies produce ingredients and/or finished products themselves, including key players such as Glanbia Nutritionals and Stern Vitamins.

With each cycle of these shows, we’re privileged to encounter the vanguard of the trends in food, ingredients, and food tech. You could look at those as sort of the breadcrumbs along the path of where we’re heading in “Food World.” But sometimes, everything converges so that you also get a look at the substance of the path itself.