Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott discuss how higher food prices impact the consumer right now and in the remainder of the year. They discuss what usually happens when disposable incomes shrink, and how this time, at least up to now, is different.

During the pandemic, the branded chains were the ones taking share in foodservice. Most of these chains work with franchisees. These franchisees have become very professional over the years, and they generate quite a bit of cash. So what is in store for franchising now that Covid seems to be largely behind us? Cyrille Filott discusses this question with Maria Castroviejo from Europe and Tom Bailey from the US, and they come to a surprising conclusion!

Expo West is one of the largest food trade shows in the world, and after a two-year hiatus, it was back on the calendar in early March. The food industry went in droves to Anaheim, where the show is held. RaboResearch F&A was present as well, with three analysts in attendance: JP Frossard, Nick Fereday, and Tom Bailey. In this episode of Consumer Foods-to-Go, Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott quiz them on what was hip and happening, what was missing, and other key findings from the trade show.

The Ukraine conflict is, and will remain, headline news. The Consumer Foods-to-Go podcast has two goals: to bring the audience something new or to discuss something top of mind. To state the obvious – the war is top of mind for everyone, even for those in the food sector. As Rabobank is keen to provide perspectives, Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott invited Michael Every, macro strategist for Rabobank, to the podcast to discuss what might happen in the future, with a decoupled world as a likely scenario. Furthermore, Maria and Cyrille discuss the impact on the food sector.

Before the pandemic there was a lot of talk about startups and how they were disrupting the food & agribusiness sector. Since then, the focus in the sector has been on the impact of Covid-19 and, more recently, inflation. Startups may have fallen below the headlines, but they are still very relevant. Startups still are developing and investing in disruptive products and solutions that will support important F&A transitions. Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott caught up with the FoodBytes! team (Anne Greven and Sonia Shekar) to discuss what has happened with startups over the last few years. They also discuss the areas where startups are looking to the shake up the food & agribusiness sector even further.

The foodservice sector has gone through some massive changes in the last few years. Obviously, Covid hit the sector hard. But also new ways of working, the use of technology, and much higher costs are impacting the sector. So what do we expect for 2022? Consumer Foods-to-Go host Cyrille Filott interviews co-host and Senior Consumer Foods Analyst Maria Castroviejo on these topics and much more.

It is always interesting to look at what is front of mind for investors in the food sector, in this case listed equities. Investors are important stakeholders for some food companies, and they might influence a company's strategic direction, if only by putting a valuation on it. Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott interviewed Christian Graven, Food & Agriculture Specialist at Kepler Cheuvreux (an independent European financial services company and a Rabobank partner) on what he believes the key themes for food investors are in 2022.

2021 has been the year of inflation. Almost all line items of food companies' cost of goods sold increased substantially. The ingredients (the agri commodities) are a key component. As it is the time of the year to look forward, Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott invited Carlos Mera, Head of Agri Commodity Market Research, to discuss the outlook for the main commodities and the main drivers for price change going forward.

Labor shortages are all over the news right now. Many shelves are empty because, in many parts of the food & agribusiness supply chain, workers are missing. The same shortages are seen in foodservice. In this episode of Consumer Foods-to-Go, Maria and Cyrille discuss the labor challenges with Rabobank economist Elwin de Groot. Topics discussed include: sectoral shifts, government support schemes, and migration. All this should lead to an answer to the question: Are these shortages temporary or structural?

RaboResearch went to Germany to attend Anuga, one of the largest food trade shows in the world. In this episode of the Consumer Foods-to-Go podcast, Maria Castroviejo, Cyrille Filott, and Marjolein Hanssen review Anuga and share their findings from the event. The three discuss the innovations that were noticed, the things that were missing, and general observations. Topics include plant-based products, inflation, and the surprising lack of messaging on sustainability.