Food Innovation

Recommended articles on business models and innovation (downloadable documents can be found at the bottom of the page):

"Winner and losers in packaged foods and beverages" describes best practices among the best companies in the packaged-food-and-beverage sector. The practices, which are common amongst the best, and are done all at once, are cost position, innovation, marketing effectiveness and growth in new channels. The losers in the industry aren’t using all of these techniques, or are using the wrong ones altogether. Also details trends in consumer behavior, such as the demands for ethnic foods, and how good businesses are responding to them. Boston Consulting Group. Sharon Marcil, 2006.

"Mid-market food: small is beautiful" Outlines major challenges and opportunities in the mid-market food sector. It draws trends in both consumer tastes and the food industry. It points out that consumers are fragmenting, margins are declining, while the industry is consolidating, and technology is getting more intelligent. For mid-market food companies, the only answer is in small shops that carve out niches for themselves while having strong customer service. Deloitte Consulting. Oct 2006.

"Sector futures: the future of the food and drink sector" An extremely thorough list of the many different trends and factors facing the food and drink industry today. It also breaks down many statistics of the food sector, as well as well as showing economic trends, technological trends, demographic and social change, safety and environmental trends, and trends in diet, nutrition and consumer demand. It dives very deeply into each of these categories. European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, 2004.