foodeshow
The food industry went from a completely monopolized business into an open space where new ideas can flourish. You can have fewer resources than the leading business companies yet find support to improve your innovative idea. It’s now more about reinventing the existing products to serve the customer more efficiently while keeping the industry up-to-date with the new trends.
Most mission-driven startups have genuine and impactful stories. That’s why people are more likely to identify with those brands and value their mission compared to large corporate businesses. They are also the part of the industry that inspires innovation and creates trends around it.
Now, let’s explore some of the leading mission statements in Food Tech and why following trends is doing the greatest good to the industry.
Mission statement
The mission statement reflects every feature of the food value chain and responds to the underlying challenges in each category: the range and nature of the products, pricing, quality, service, marketplace position, growth potential, use of technology, and the relationships with customers, employees, suppliers, competitors, and the entire community.
For Iryna- the CEO of the FoodTechInnovation startup- being concerned about the safety of her own kids that first got her into the industry. She says:
It was the moment when I faced the problem of what I can actually buy in the supermarket. And I started being very attentive to the label of any food box that I take from the shelf— Iryna Gavrylova
Quality has become the in-demand business mission statement. People carefully browse through the data at the back of products before they decide to pick one. Either because of the accessibility to knowledge in the medical field, which has been long regarded sacred or because of people’s reviews on certain foods that you can find all across the internet. This pushes entrepreneurs like Iryna to step in and make a change in the industry.
Some of the leading mission statements in the food industry also include; health-centered food production, accessibility to food on a wider range, affordable quality food, efficiency in food making, environmental sustainability, local food appreciation, etc.
Trends
Trends are basically emerging or popular concerns of people in a certain context. In the context of health-related mission statements, let’s take the COVID19 situation as an example of the most recent trend.
Before the pandemic, business ideas in food tech have been spinning around a variety of techniques to satisfy community needs; such as implementing new biotechnology and presenting products in all shapes and sizes to serve multiple functions. After the pandemic, however, more concerns on health have occurred. Therefore, there’s become more demand for better alternatives to existing options.
According to Amir Zaidman, the cofounder of TheKitchenHub, these are the main categories where we can see major trends during the pandemic:
- Food Quality
Quality is such a huge concern for consumers now. Companies are investing more in products that can take labels of healthy food; healthy snacks to replace high caloric ones, food that boosts the immunity system, whole unfiltered food, and more. Some take food production to the next level following studies that have proved animal-based food consumption affects people’s lives. And so more plant-based protein products and even insect-based protein products are being pulled to the market.
- Cooking
Covid19 has forced people to do everything at home, most of all cooking. Tutorials and courses everywhere are inviting people to learn cooking and make their own food at home. A lot of content about time-friendly cooking is taking over the web. And we can see innovative ideas of smart kitchen equipment to help people cook more efficiently. All working together to build a better food consumption experience that serves healthy eating and overall well-being during Covid19 lockdown.
- Shopping for food
We have been gradually walking towards the online shopping experience. But because of the pandemic, it has become a lifestyle. Food delivery allowed people to enjoy food from their favorite restaurants in the comfort of their homes. It was a necessity during the lockdown, but now it is also generating countless opportunities for companies such as home-based small enterprises to grow.
- Food manufacturing
The process of mixing up ingredients has been reshaped by numerous trends. But what has become highly prevalent nowadays because of the pandemic is introducing automation to food manufacturing (robotics in food manufacturing). The initiation to this growing aspect of the food value chain was due to the spread of the virus in manufacturing communities.
To learn more about innovation in food tech, check out our panel discussion with Mr. Amir Zaidman and Ms. Iryna Gavrylova.
