Food Edge: Pushing the Edge of Food Innovation
Calling all food industry professionals! In advance of the upcoming May 4+6 Food Edge summit, we asked Lauren Abda, founder and CEO of Branchfood, to tell us about what the conference entails, who should attend and how to secure tickets.
To learn more about Abda, Branchfood and other food tech innovation incubators, read Steve Holt’s story “Start Me Up” from our Winter 2018 issue.
What is Food Edge?
Food Edge is a nationally recognized summit for food industry professionals that focuses on innovation, technological advancements, leadership and more with the goal of helping attendees find their EDGE. This year, the fourth annual event will be held digitally on two non-consecutive days, May 4th and 6th. The event will bring together a range of companies in the industry, from large brands to dynamic startups, and will feature sessions led by disruptive leaders and top researchers. Each day is dedicated to a different track: Food Science and Innovation (day 1); Sales and Marketing (day 2).
Who should attend and why?
Food industry professionals who are interested in learning, networking and contributing ideas about the latest trends and technologies in food should join. This includes but is not limited to entrepreneurs, brands, startups, investors, retailers and researchers. In other words, if you work in the food business and are thinking about the future of it, this summit is for you!
This past year has brought great change to every corner of the food industry, making it more important now than ever for professionals to stay abreast of what is happening in the industry. According to global food leader, ADM, of people are now purchasing products for their health, 65% of consumers want their daily actions to positively impact the environment and 26% of consumers are concerned with the country of origin of food and beverage products. The good news is that industry changes bring great opportunity for food entrepreneurs, brands and investors to pave the way in rebuilding an industry that better meets the interests and needs of consumers
What can attendees expect to take away from the summit?
Attendees can expect to learn what an economic rebound will look like for the food industry and how others are already leveraging consumer trends that were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. They will take away actionable insights to help guide future decisions, build connections and partnerships and position themselves for a successful future. Attendees will also walk away from the summit with a deeper understanding of the current landscape of food, consumer trends and innovation.
We heard you have an exciting lineup of industry experts, investors, and retailers. Can you share a bit about who will be speaking and what they will cover?
Absolutely! We are thrilled about the expertise our speakers will bring to Food Edge this year. Day One will cover everything from cellular and regenerative agriculture to novel ingredients. We will focus on plant-based foods and sustainability in the CPG space. To name a few of our many top-notch speakers, attendees can expect to hear from Chuck Muth, Chief Growth Officer at Beyond Meat; Laura Merritt, VP Marketing and Innovation at KIND; and Matt Riley, SVP Global Sales at Eat Just, Inc.
Day Two will offer key insights in marketing, sales, branding and investments from impressive speakers such as Peter Pappas, Chief Sales Officer at Vital Farms; Gil Horsky, Director of Innovation, SnackFutures at Mondelez International; Loren Brill, Founder & CEO at Sweet Loren’s; and Will Lisman, Chief Commercial Officer at HumanCo.
A conference held on two non-consecutive days is a little out of the ordinary. Why this approach?
We understand that the combination of remote work and a remote personal life has become tiresome over the past year. We broke up the conference into two non-consecutive days to ensure we could cover all the essential topics and to also allow time for attendees to digest all the information presented, reach out to the people they have connected with during the summit and catch up on their work and home lives.
Sponsors for this year’s summit include Branch Venture Group, CA Fortune, FRESH Communications, Incredible Foods, Kalsec, Motif FoodWorks, Motus Experiential, Nutter Law, Propeller Industries.
Check out the full speaker list here and conference agenda here. For more information or to register for the summit visit the Food Edge event page.
