A bespoke innovation project, reporting on two key categories, and presenting future opportunities.
Lisa Harris and Alex Hayes are food and drink consultants specialising in innovation and insights.
All tagged Food and Drink Trends
Ellen MacArthur Foundation event
We hosted a future forecasting seminar for the Ellen McArthur Foundation and members of their Big Food Challenge.
Future Food Event at The Mills Fabrica
We recently hosted an event in collaboration with The Mills Fabrica at their stunning Kings Cross warehouse space which promote sustainable innovations. The theme was ‘Into the Unknown’ and the evening traced food innovation from soil to plate to reveal all we don’t know about plants via four inspirational speakers.
Home Cooking Think Piece
Global domestic appliance manufacturer Groupe Seb briefed us on an innovation Think Piece to inform New Product Development for their portfolio of brands that include Tefal, Krups, Moulinex and All-Clad.
The brief was to explore the future of home cooking and Groupe Seb’s role within it. We responded with a dynamic report and presentation outlining our findings, and concluded with a strategic review and summary of future opportunities. Read more
Expert Interview - Dairy
We were interviewed by a leading European dairy manufacturer, to give our expert opinion on future innovation opportunities.
We provided consumer, market and product insight, to inform NPD for yoghurts, dairy drinks and cheese.
Recommendations were based on current and emerging trends within key pillars that included holistic health and sustainability, informed by the latest data and research.
Sainsbury's Summer trends report
We were thrilled to create the Sainsbury’s 2022 Summer trends report. We were asked to uncover the biggest consumer behaviours and food trends which would shape British dining over the summer. We identified 5 key themes and co-wrote the report, providing insights, research and expert commentary. This report was sent out to major publications and food journalists, and helps position the client as an authority on emerging food and drink trends.
Global press coverage
We were delighted to be interviewed by Insider for our global perspective on how the rising cost of living and inflation are implicating eating habits.
We gave our expert opinion of how comfort eating is evolving, and how consumers are adapting their diets to cope with ongoing everyday financial pressures.
Featured in The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times contacted us for comment on the news that Taytos, the iconic Irish crisp brand, has created a cheese and onion flavoured crisp chocolate bar. We are always delighted to read our names in the Sunday papers. The print and online coverage was a small section of a longer interview we gave about this kind of fusion food trend in development.
Read more.
Breakfast on-the-go NPD
We developed three new breakfast concepts for plant-based food brand Pollen + Grace. The brief was to take their on-the-go breakfast offering forward and develop compelling, consumer-focused products that would help them win the morning market.
National press coverage
iNews interviewed us for our expert opinion on hot cross bun trends over Easter. We’re always delighted to work with press, and it’s a pleasure to be featured in a national newspaper in print and online.
With the advent of chilli and masala and even tomato and red Leicester hot cross buns from the big supermarkets, we explored how and why these wacky flavours come about.
Read more
Bespoke self-guided food tour
We partnered with leading Dutch food innovation agency Food by Design to create a food safari for one of their national food retailer clients.
We put together two central London routes, which best demonstrated current and emerging trends relevant to the brand, and showcased a range of key opportunities within health, technology, sustainability and the future of convenience.
Ice Cream Innovation for Beltane & Pop
We developed an innovative, consumer-driven concept and product range for premium high street ice cream brand Beltane & Pop, recently launched into Westfield.
Unexpected colours, instant flavour hooks, and truly innovative formats were all part of a dynamic approach to the future of soft serve and slush.
Beyond Snacking New Product Development
We were invited to identify some near > far innovation opportunities for a growing snacking challenger brand.
We proposed eight concepts as strong NPD opportunities to take the brand beyond the snack bar. The concept shortlist provided new direction for the business, tapping into emerging consumer, market and product trends.
The future of bread with Délifrance
After our successful viennoiserie project, we were delighted to be invited back to collaborate with Délifrance on their future of bread research.
We advised them on emerging ingredients, formats and consumer behaviours in bread consumption, and assisted with their research process. Once they’d collected the data, we provided expert commentary and insights to shape their industry report. A press webinar launched the report to the media, where we discussed the findings with journalists and trade specialists.
How has at-home eating changed post-Covid?
Amid growing demand for fresher, more convenient, and sustainable products, our report into at-home eating post-Covid explored how brands are reformulating familiar products to deliver innovation beyond gimmicks. By re-engineering them from the ground up, challenger brands are redefining categories to reduce waste and give consumers a new perspective on a everyday product they might otherwise take for granted.
Snack brand future forecasting
An international client commissioned us to report on emerging consumer behaviours and product development in children’s snacking. We can never resist snack o’clock, so we enjoyed exploring market-leading ingredients, formats and nutrition in the sector. We made expert recommendations based on how the category is changing, and suggested the most appropriate European based brands for them to collaborate with. Our research will lead to an international export project, with selected challenger brands sold via their online market in China. The project is ongoing.
Innovation in the drinks industry
Our next-gen drinks innovation report was published on food consultancy platform, Canvas8.
We investigated how newcomers are defying the rules of the game by reevaluating terroir, developing new processes, and even forging their own category-disruptive descriptors. Established players in the spirits segment are being challenged and consumers are enjoying a drinks scene that’s evolving at a rapid pace.
The premium pantry trend
Our food industry newsletter investigated the premium pantry trend, including why it’s come about and what you’ll be putting on your shelves next. Discover the new definition of value, why premium oils and butters are on the rise, and the future of direct-to-consumer shopping. Read more.
Post-COVID food and drink webinar
We hosted a food and drink trends webinar for the Young Foodies community to inform their post-COVID business strategy and NPD.
As official Young Foodies consultants, we support their community of challenger brands with insights and reports. We were invited to share the 5 key trends we believe will most impact consumer behaviour post-COVID, including health, new at-home food rituals, sustainability, and redefining value. Read more.
The Future of Food and Drink - Thought Leadership Report
We delivered a thought leadership project for Mail Metro Media, reporting on the biggest drivers shaping the UK’s food and drink landscape, to inspire their key retail clients.
We had great feedback on the report which consisted of a clear and actionable trends document for the team to present and deploy on an ongoing basis. Read more.