Disruption is a favorite word in business these days; maybe especially in the food and beverage industry. Consumers are forcing seismic change on our business, with many of the biggest companies struggling to counter three or four straight years of declining sales.
With what's on the horizon, it's no wonder. Cannabis as an ingredient? Meat grown in petri dishes? That is, if the animal protein isn't first replaced by an increasingly fine crop of plant-based "meats." Wholesome vegetables are even edging out starches and flours in applications they've ruled since Biblical times.
And there's rising concern over food waste against a backdrop of how to feed another billion people by 2030.
With those apocalyptic concerns as a backdrop, we tried to identify a handful of companies that are radically changing the food & beverage industry by answering those challenges.
- Canopy Growth is the leader in the fast-moving legal marijuana movement – although how that ingredient will apply to the food space remains a big question
- Impossible Foods is proving it's not impossible to create a plant-based burger that satisfies Burger King customers.
- If you intend to remain a carnivore but want to remove animal mistreatment, waste and inefficient use of feed grains from the equation, Memphis Meats can grow you some real meat in its lab.
- Whether you have food sensitivities or just want to replace some simple carbohydrates with complex carbs, Cali'Flour has the answer.
- And if you agonize over the ingredients wasted making finely crafted beer (and potentially other food products), ReGrained may put your waste to good use feeding the world.
Don't marginalize these companies. Learn from them. Maybe your company can adopt or adapt some of the things they're doing.
