Event Industry Trends

Consumer Brand and Innovation Leaders, Earlier this week I attended Chicago Innovation's Taste of Innovation. In addition to sampling delicious eats from Chicago restauranteurs and brands, I heard from a diverse panel of chef's and Food biz experts on where the industry is headed. 🔮 But it wasn't a rehashing of food trends we all know about. I found it helpful to hear reframes of the dynamics/trends we've already been watching. 🌟 𝗚𝗟𝗣-𝟭'𝘀: There's broad industry agreement they're here to stay, so how can CPGs adapt, beyond creating "GLP-friendly" products? I was intrigued by one panelist's perspective that these drugs represent the merging of food and healthcare: "Personalized, performance based eating" (paraphrased). Ways menus and brands can adapt: ➡️ Prioritizing nutrient-dense ingredients/foods ➡️ More focus on small plates/mini meals ➡️Treating nutritionists as the HCPs they are in making medical decisions ➡️ Educating on the importance of maintaining muscle mass 🌟𝗔𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗵𝗼𝗹-𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲: yes, it's a huge and enduring trend, but social drinking remains a prevalent behavior, especially among consumers <40. The need for on-premise and CPG alcohol innovation isn't going away. ➡️IMHO, a positive byproduct of the Mocktail trend is we can now look at Cocktails as if not "healthy", carriers for real fruits, herbs, interesting spices, etc. which bring a health halo. ➡️We've already seen innovation from both big Bev alc companies entering No ABV, and CPG drink companies entering DIY cocktails/mocktails. But there's still a TON of upside across many CPG categories, from pack formats to flavor profiles to collaborations. FUN stuff. 🌟𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝗗𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘀: As wearable trackers/diagnostics (Oura rings, glucose monitors etc) and microbiome testing become more prevalent, CPG /foodservice leaders can paint themselves as "functional chefs," harnessing data to address individual customer needs. ➡️We know food is medicine, so how can it be positioned to boost individual performance in whatever context that might be? Think focus at work, endurance for athletics, or even creativity for the arts or recreation. 🌟𝗙𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗪𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹: It's no secret that restaurants, retailers and food companies face food waste challenges, but it was eye-opening to learn that ~30% of waste happens upstream in the food system--pre-consumer. Ways to offset this: ➡️Understanding food sources and buying local (less transport = less waste) ➡️Smaller menus curated with seasonal offerings and specialties featuring regionally/locally accessible ingredients. There's a reason Natural Grocery is faring better than Mainstream Grocery in our Tariff-ridden times! ➡️Shopping: make more frequent trips to smaller footprint stores with stronger fresh assortments vs huge stock-up trips that increase likelihood of waste What do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts and builds! #foodindustry #insights #trends

What Buyers Are Buying Hearing direct feedback from buyers, and knowing what they’re loving at the moment, is not easy to come by. But my Foodpreneurs Festival team found out after speaking with retailers and seeing what products and categories they’re stocking after discovering brands at the Festival. Listed below are products already stocked or under discussion with Festival retail partners, and the trending categories they can’t get enough of right now are highlighted! The Popular Categories Buyers Loved 🥦 Health and Wellness: Seaweed Seasonings, Popped Water Lily Seed Snacks, Herbs and Spices, Protein Powders, Probiotic Kombucha, Pet Food Supplements: These products indicate a strong focus on health-conscious options, including nutritious snacks, and supplements rich in antioxidants and probiotics. 🌱  Sustainability: Powdered Oat Milk, Organic Fruit Bites, Instant Smoothies: Products that emphasise sustainability, such as oat milk with a lower carbon footprint and organic, real fruit-based snacks, show an increasing demand for environmentally-friendly choices. 🏪 Convenience + Quality: Pasta and Pasta Sauce, Instant Smoothies: Ready-to-eat or easy-to-prepare products made with quality ingredients that cater to busy lifestyles. ✅ Ethical and Clean Ingredients: Chocolate, Herbs and Spices, Healthy Snacks: Items that are ethically sourced, sustainable, and free from preservatives indicate a preference for clean, responsible consumption. 🤩 Innovative and Functional Foods: Confectionery with Therapeutic Benefits, Energy Chewing Gum: Unique products that offer additional health benefits or functional advantages, such as energy boosts or therapeutic effects. 🥤 Beverage Trends: Non-Alcoholic Beverages, Probiotic Kombucha: Further evidence of a lean towards non-alcoholic, low-sugar, and health-boosting drinks. These trends highlight a growing consumer preference for products that support a healthy, sustainable, and convenient lifestyle, with an increasing interest in functional foods and beverages, for humans and pets. 👇👇👇 Missed this year’s sold out Foodpreneurs Festival? Follow our business page for updates at Foodpreneurs Festival or sign up to be a Festival Insider via this link https://lnkd.in/gnZ9ayCP and be the first to get access to Early Bird tickets for next year’s event in Melbourne!

Why TikTok shop is becoming the new R&D department for food brands Excellent reporting by Food Dive highlighting how social commerce is evolving beyond a sales channel into a driver of product innovation. For years, product innovation followed a familiar path: consumer research → retailer listing → product launch. TikTok Shop is compressing that cycle. According to TikTok, food category sales on TikTok Shop have more than doubled year-over-year. In 2025 alone, U.S. users generated more than 103 billion purchase-intent searches on the platform. Total transaction volume increased by nearly 80%, while enterprise brand sales grew 97%. What makes this interesting is not only commerce - it is the speed of consumer feedback. Brands such as PepsiCo, Mars, and The Hershey Company are increasingly using TikTok Shop to: • Launch products faster • Validate concepts in real time • Identify emerging consumer trends • Build demand before traditional retail expansion The platform describes this as discovery commerce - where content, creators and transactions happen in one ecosystem. A recent example is the rapid commercialization of trends such as Dubai chocolate, freeze-dried candy and popped candy. Instead of reacting months later, brands can now observe demand, test products and scale much faster. About TikTok TikTok, owned by ByteDance, has become one of the world’s largest digital content platforms. Beyond entertainment, it is increasingly positioning itself as a commerce ecosystem where discovery, community and purchasing are integrated into a single user journey. For FMCG companies, this changes more than the sales channel. It changes where consumer insight originates. Retailers, manufacturers and creators are now observing the same signals simultaneously. The competitive advantage is no longer only manufacturing speed - it is the ability to recognize cultural momentum early and convert it into commercial execution. The line between marketing, commerce and product development continues to disappear. Kudos to Food Dive for the insightful interview and for consistently covering the strategic developments shaping the food and beverage industry. #tiktok #tiktokshop #socialcommerce #discoverycommerce #retail #fmcg #food #beverage #foodinnovation #cpg #consumergoods #ecommerce #digitalcommerce #marketing #branding #sales #retailtech #foodtech #omnichannel #consumerinsights #innovation #productdevelopment #creatorcommerce #digitalmarketing #investors #startups #china #asia #usa #northamerica

𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘁𝗲𝗰 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 #5 The age of AI💥 Hardly any other technology has brought as much change in recent years than #AI. It is a key driver of digital transformation and is therefore also having a major impact on the beverage and liquid food industry by opening up possibilities that were previously unthinkable. In response to the increasing use of AI technologies, the #AIAct, the first comprehensive set of rules for AI in the European Union, was passed in May last year. This regulation is intended to promote trust in technologies and establish clear guidelines to minimize the risks and misuse of AI applications. But even before this regulation was published, AI has been an extremely important topic at Krones. In order to really help shape the future, we have a dedicated team at #KronesDigital for several years now that deals exclusively with AI and, together with the specialist departments, has taken the use of artificial intelligence a big step forward. Thanks Philipp Olenberg!!! It‘s clear to us that AI will not only change the way we work, but will also have a significant impact on machines and automation technologies. The automation journey shows a clear development from traditional, isolated systems to networked, data-driven and intelligent solutions supported by AI. 🎢 ⬅️ Originally, there was a very hierarchical structure – from sensors and actors at the lowest level to the higher-level ERP systems. There was a large variety of data due to the huge variety of machines, but the amount of data passed on to higher levels was limited. This also made it difficult to use AI methods and the effort involved was very high. ⬇️ As I mentioned in my previous posts, there is now an increasing convergence between IT and OT and a standardized data exchange between the technology layers, which enables more analysis. This also offers better opportunities for the use of AI methods. Nevertheless, the challenge is to achieve scalability. ➡️The future will be characterized by the use of digital twins and improved data connectivity. Data platforms and data governance coming up are helping to fuel data democratization. As more data becomes available and more standardized and much easier to work with, it will help AI to scale and standardize, so the future will be more about continuous learning and updating of models. We have evolved in line with the trends and new opportunities we see – from the first anomaly detection algorithms and condition monitoring use cases to equipping entire machines with fully-fledged AI, such as Contiloop AI, Linatronic AI or Dynafill AI. Our goal, also with regard to the line of the future, is to develop even more AI use cases and thus to use and manage AI holistically along the lifecycle of the line. You can of course get more insights into these use cases at #drinktec. 

Expo West: Three Key Trends Shaping the Future of “Better-for-You” and “Better-for-the-Planet” Products Expo West 2025 was yet again a feast for the eyes and one thing was clear: the future of food and beverage is being shaped by a powerful convergence of personal health, sustainability, and innovation. Consumers today are more intentional than ever about what they put into their bodies and how their choices impact the planet. Here are three notable trends that stood out: 1. Protein-Enriched Foods: The demand for protein continues to surge, and brands are responding by integrating it into unexpected categories—from chips and yogurts to ramen and even jams. This reflects a broader shift toward functional nutrition, where every bite delivers added value. 2. Functional Beverages: The beverage aisle is evolving beyond simple refreshment, with drinks infused with prebiotics, adaptogens, and targeted wellness benefits. Whether supporting gut health, immunity, or sustained energy, these beverages reflect a growing consumer expectation that food should work harder for them. 3. Sustainability and Clean Labeling: Transparency and eco-conscious practices are no longer optional—they’re expected. Brands that prioritize clean labels, responsible sourcing, and sustainability-driven innovation are earning consumer trust and long-term loyalty. The big takeaway? Consumers aren’t just looking for better products; they’re looking for brands that align with their values—health, sustainability, and impact. Companies that embrace this shift will define the future of food. #expowest #wefirst #leadwithwe #purpose #sustainability

After 8 years in F&B marketing, one thing is clear: The game has changed. And most brands haven’t caught up. Here are a few key trends reshaping F&B marketing in 2025 (and beyond): 1. Functional & Health-Boosting Beverages Drinks with added benefits like adaptogens, probiotics, vitamins are only getting bigger. People want their coffee to wake them up and support gut health. They want their mocktail to taste great and boost immunity. 2. Zero-Waste & Local Sourcing as Storytelling Tools Sustainability is no longer just “nice to have.” When chefs use every part of an ingredient, or menus highlight local farmers by name, it creates marketing stories that guests connect with and actually share. 3. Gen Z Doesn’t Care If It’s Delicious. They Care If It’ll Go Viral. If your drink isn’t chaotic, colourful, and camera-ready, it’s invisible. They’ll order it once but only if they can film it first. 4. AI-Driven Personalization This won’t just live in CRMs. Expect things like personalised dish recommendations on QR menus, or location-based nudges that know your go-to dessert and tempt you when you’re nearby. Smart, seamless, and service-focused. What shifts are you seeing in your corner of F&B? #FandBMarketing #RestaurantGrowth #SmartHospitality

𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗹𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗼𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄 - 𝟱 𝗙&𝗕 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮'𝘀 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲:🖐️ The buzz from 𝙂𝙪𝙡𝙛𝙤𝙤𝙙 is still fresh, and now, all eyes turn to 𝘼𝙖𝙝𝙖𝙧 next week! As a marketing professional operating in the F&B landscape, I'm looking forward to trends that are set to redefine India's culinary narrative: 📌 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘀: 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗮 𝗠𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗔 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁. The "International Year of Millets" wasn't just a celebration; it was a catalyst. Expect to see millets move beyond niche markets and into mainstream accessibility. Brands like Slurrp Farm, 24 Mantra Organic, and Millet Amma are leading the charge. The challenge for marketers? Translating their heritage into modern, compelling stories. 📌 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘃𝘀. 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝗕𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗰𝘁. Health is the cornerstone of F&B marketing, but the narrative is shifting. Are we selling wellness or lifestyle? Take Too Yum! and RiteBite. Too Yum! focuses on the "on-the-go" lifestyle appeal, while RiteBite emphasizes the nutritional benefits. Understanding this nuance is crucial for targeted messaging. 📌 𝗣𝗲𝘁 𝗙𝗼𝗼𝗱: 𝗔 𝗖𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗨𝗻𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱. India's booming pet adoption rate is fueling a surge in the pet food market. With a projected 17% CAGR in the next three years, this sector is ripe for innovation. Drools' success against established Western brands like Royal Canin and Pedigree highlights the immense potential for Indian players. 📌 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗡𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. Food fortification is no longer a fringe concept; it's a national imperative. From rice and wheat flour to salt and cooking oil, adding essential micronutrients is transforming public health. This trend offers a powerful platform for brands to demonstrate their commitment to consumer well-being. 📌 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁-𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱: 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗡𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗠𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗠𝗲𝗻𝘂𝘀. India's rich vegetarian heritage is evolving into a vibrant plant-based movement. Vegan options are no longer limited to specialty stores; they're appearing on mainstream restaurant menus. This shift presents exciting opportunities for brands to innovate and cater to the growing demand for sustainable and ethical food choices. 👉𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐’𝘮 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦! What trends are you most excited about? #Aahar #FoodTrends #FoodIndustry #FutureofFood #FoodAndBeverage

🚀 ExpoWest 2025: Power, Potential… and a Sea of Sameness? ExpoWest 2025 was a high-energy explosion of functional innovation, mission-driven brands, and products designed to improve everything from gut health to longevity. Walking the show floor, you could feel the collective power of an industry pushing back against ultra-processed food. But here’s the challenge—with so many brands embracing the same aesthetic, messaging, and benefits, differentiation is becoming harder than ever. While the industry’s unified voice is powerful, brands need to break out of the Expo echo chamber to truly connect with consumers. Eye-catching packaging and trendy claims are no longer enough. Winning brands will be the ones that cut through the noise, build emotional connections, and drive lasting engagement. 🔥 3 Ways to Break Free from the Expo Echo Chamber: ✅ Be a Trusted Guide – Consumers are drowning in buzzwords and ingredient lists. Use smart storytelling, QR codes, and digital content to educate and build trust. Brands that simplify complex science and provide real guidance will stand out. The key to growth more guidance, less selling, ✅ Lead with Purpose, Don’t Preach – Purpose-driven brands need to move beyond generic mission statements. Tell real, personal stories that create an emotional connection. The key to making your mission relevant, sticky and actionable is to focus on your WHY. (Lifeway Foods’ CEO Julie Smolyansky did this beautifully at Expo, sharing a story that left the audience in tears!) ✅ Master Digital & Influencer Strategies – Younger consumers trust people over brands. Work with credible health influencers to create authentic, long-term content—not just one-off posts. Or better yet, develop your own in-house influencers (Take note, CEOs and CSOs!). Consumers are looking for trusted voices to help them navigate the overwhelming wellness space. 💡 Biggest trends that broke through the noise: 🔹 Functional Hydration – Water is getting smarter, with mushrooms, electrolytes, and nootropics leading the way. This speaks to the trend away from ultra-processed ingredients while maintaining on-the-go convenience. 🔹 GLP-1 & Weight Management – Natural solutions to metabolic health are surging as alternatives to pharmaceuticals. Shout out to LifeVantage Corporation (note: a CBC client) who's science-backed solution is taking off. Science + Natural = Success. 🔹 Longevity & Healthspan – It's not just the over 55 crowd anymore. Younger consumers are embracing holistic health earlier, thanks to TikTok and health-tech adoption. Make sure you're talking their language, too. The takeaway? Consumers are hungry for brands they can trust—ones that educate, inspire, and make wellness simpler, not more confusing. Want the full breakdown? Read the blog: https://lnkd.in/eqMBWaq3 #ExpoWest2025 #BrandStrategy #FunctionalFood #HealthAndWellness #StandOut #ConsumerTrust