Consumer Foods to Go

Working from home or, better still, working from anywhere will not go away for office workers post-pandemic. Many companies have already announced that a hybrid way of working, with a split between work in the office and work at home or another place, will be normal. As a result, office workers will change where they buy lunch, whether it's in offices or at a place near home. In this episode, Cyrille Filott and Maria Castroviejo explore the topic of working from home and the impact this will have on the food sector. They will try to quantify the number of days people will not go to the office and discuss strategies food companies might want to embark on to cater to workers in this new setup.

Food delivery has taken a firm piece of the foodservice pie during the pandemic. When some sort of normality returns, a bit of those revenues might slip away. However, we expect delivery to remain very important in foodservice. This begs the question: what should restaurants do in an environment where one in ten, or perhaps even one in five orders are going to be picked up by a rider? In this episode, Consumer Foods-to-Go host Cyrille Filott tries to find answers to this question and many others with fellow Rabobank analysts Maria Castroviejo, Amit Sharma, and Marjolein Hanssen.

The foodservice sector has obviously been hit by the pandemic, but it is time for the sector to look ahead. A lot of positive momentum is building across the globe, so it's time for Consumer Foods-to-Go host Cyrille Filott to quiz his colleagues Maria Castroviejo, Michelle Huang, and Amit Sharma about the foodservice sector. A quick reflection on 2020 is in order, but most of the time is spent on 2021. Key trends will be discussed, including blurring, foodservice brands hitting retail, and the asymmetric recovery. So… what is on the menu?

Every year Nick Fereday sends out a survey asking a couple of simple questions to the readership of Talking Points. This year the questions were: "What has changed in food?" and "What has not changed in food?" The answers this year were much more diverse than in previous years, showing that much is still unknown. During the podcast, Nick shares with hosts Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott some of the most thought-provoking answers that may perhaps plant some ideas with the Consumer Foods-to-Go audience.

Plant-based foods are top-of-mind for consumers and food companies alike. The market for plant-based products is not steady by any means — a lot of change and growth is ahead of us. In this episode of Consumer Foods-to-Go, Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott interview Lindsay McCorkle, lead banking officer for plant-based protein at Rabobank, on these changes. She will talk about many trends, including new technologies and declining prices. In the second part of the conversation, Lindsay will discuss funding trends, including equity and debt, as the money coming into the sector will, at least partly, determine the future success of plant-based foods. Lindsay will talk about this fundraising and how plant-based companies are being valued.

During the pandemic, online purchases of fresh food really took off in China. While there are some similarities with how US and European consumers buy fresh food online, we notice some distinct differences. First and foremost, Michelle Huang, analyst at Rabobank, expects 30% of all fresh food will be bought online. This is at least partly to do with the fact that food retail in China is not as developed as other markets. Secondly, some very interesting new models are appearing, including community buying. Sufficient reason for Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott to interview Michelle on the prospects.

One of the key developments on the back of the current Covid-19 pandemic is the accelerated adoption of e-commerce. One part of e-commerce that has grown is direct-to-consumer e-commerce, in which food and beverage producers ship directly to the consumer. Direct-to-consumer means that large platforms, aggregators of products, and retailers are being bypassed. However, many questions have been raised about the viability and the economics of direct-to-consumer. In this episode, Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott question Rabobank analyst Bourcard Nesin about the value of direct-to-consumer e-commerce. Hint: it is not about money!

In this episode, Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott discuss our 2021 global commodity outlook and the impact potential price changes (spoiler alert: they're going up!) will have on the food sector. And we're joined by a special guest this time: Stefan Vogel, Global Strategist – Grains & Oilseeds at RaboResearch.

This week we partnered with our sister podcast, Liquid Assets, to discuss how bars, restaurants, and manufacturers have survived Covid-19 thus far and how quickly they can recover (fingers crossed) once the pandemic is over.

Listeners of Consumer Foods to Go will love the work done by the team at Liquid Assets. If you are interested in the latest trends in the beverage industry, you can subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast app.

During the current pandemic, ordering food for consumption at home has taken off beyond anyone's wildest dreams. However, the delivery platforms through which consumers order food (still) do not make money. In this episode of Consumer Foods-to-Go, Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott question Marjolein Hanssen on how the economics of these platforms work and what she expects platforms to do in the next few years in terms of scale, IT, and data monetization.