3 Key Takeaways: The New Jersey Food & Beverage Summit

- Gretchen Roughgarden

This week I attended the New Jersey Food & Beverage Summit at the Palace in Somerset Park. The event featured exhibits, panel discussions and speakers focused on the Garden State’s food industry.

3 Key Takeaways:

If you don’t have a brand with a purpose you aren’t going to win. Chris Skiers VP Private Label and Own brands, Wakefern Food Corp shared his views on the importance of connecting with Consumers. Brands with an audience perform the best on shelf. Create your brand story and take your consumers on a journey that shares your “why”.

Get ready for the gut health revolution. Keynote speaker Ralph Jerome VP of Innovation for Mars sees a big opportunity in the food industry with the growing importance of health and wellness. The evidence is showing there is a link between autoimmune diseases and our body’s microbiomes. If we are not feeding our microbiomes correctly this is where issues such as leaky gut and irritable bowel syndrome are developing. Affordable microbiome directed foods are the future platform for health and well-being.

Trends are like flowers, pretty with a short life cycle. Bob Baron VP at Sensory Spectrum advised everyone to pay attention to the soil or to what is nourishing the trend. Today’s consumers are concerned with safety and transparency when it comes to the foods they eat and provide for their families. These concerns are driving the organic, clean and natural trends we are seeing today.