Future Food Cast

In this episode, we speak with Carlos De Valdenebro, Vice President and Managing Director of North America of Caravela Coffee, on how the company is supporting farmers and the entire process of exporting and importing coffee from smallholder coffee producers. He gave a brief background of how the word Caravela derives from the caravan. We discussed how they bring the most excellent coffee from seven different South American nations to the United States. His network transports coffee to around 40 other countries throughout the world. He provided a brief overview of how coffee is sourced and how it differs from regular coffee. We also discussed the importance of transparency and traceability in the coffee supply chain and how Carvela strives to achieve it. He talked in precise detail about green coffee's good friction process, dry parchment, and fermentation process. He discussed how they empower farmers by providing financial and educational support so that they can invest in their infrastructural operations. Carlos highlighted that Caravela Coffee is a B-Corp and that they are focusing on environmental sustainability. He discussed the supply chain difficulties they had during COVID and how they overcame them. We also discussed current consumer and younger generation tendencies in the desire to understand where their coffee comes from.

In today's episode, we speak with Tapan Shah, Head of Venture Capital, Snack Futures, at Mondelez International, on sustainable trends, innovation, and the future of snacking in the food market. We talked about his expertise in investment and how Snack Future Ventures, a multifunctional team for Mondelez, watches after the tip of the spear of the future of food. He discussed the three basic tenets in depth, which are innovate, accelerate, and ventures, as well as how each group performs. He went into various points regarding consumer patterns and how he distinguishes between current trends and long-term trends.Tapan gives insight into the trends in plant-based food and the concept of sustainability in regenerative farming. He discussed his thoughts on healthy eating, which he described in two ways: cleaner ingredients and more beneficial reduction. He discussed how tastes matter a lot for any brand in the food sector and how the ethos is followed in terms of Taste at Mondelez. He gave a quick overview of the coLab program and how they help brands on the investment side of ventures.

In this episode, Kate Brooks, SVP of sales at Calavo Growers, discusses how they are advancing in the fresh fruit and vegetable market for customer growth and nutrition. She gave a quick overview of Calavo, a 100-year-old avocado supplier with two business units: Calavo commodities, tomatoes, and papayas, and other is guacamole and salsa. She briefly discusses the value-added fresh food side, which has a limited shelf life and is supplied exclusively in the United States. She goes into depth on the manufacture of fresh-cut fruits and vegetables held in cold chain storage for distribution in warehouses and retailers. She discusses in detail on the production of fresh cut fruits and vegetables held in cold chain storage for distribution in warehouses and retailers. She told us about how logistics is vital for their business and how it is carried out so that it can reach on time to customers. We also went through how food safety and quality are handled at the Calavo growers. We discussed the marketing initiatives used to increase brand awareness among retailers. Kate spoke on the packaged food sector and consumer behavior trends.

Hans Kristian Westrum, Founder and Chief Growth Officer of Soil Steam International AS, talks about how they are restoring soil health and boosting harvests sustainably without using chemicals in the most recent episode. Hans went into depth about how they created the technique for attacking weeds, nematodes, and fungus that degrade soil health by injecting steam into the soil. He spoke briefly about his upbringing at his farm, how his father began to see difficulties in the soil, and how they discovered that steam can be used in agriculture. We discussed how the machine works to deep steam soil down to 30 cm depths in open fields and how the technique mitigates fungus, weeds, seeds, and nematodes in the soil without the usage of pesticides. He also described the problems and how they have been monitoring yield with scientists in the field. We talk about how it can make a significant contribution to organic farming and how steam can combat harmful organisms in the soil. We also had a quick discussion about soil fatigue and how crop rotation can help to preserve soil health.

In this episode, we spoke with Melinda Zoccoli, VP- Marketing & Supplier Services at UNFI Canada, Inc, about how they supply and service their customers through a variety of retail formats, including natural product super chains, independent product retailers,, and food service clients. She explained how UNFI works as a food distributor to build partnerships with retailers and provide food to every store in Canada from their warehouse. We discussed the supply chain's issues in maintaining inventories and how they overcame them. Melinda discussed the enormous increase in the dry grocery sector and how they were able to introduce some of their healthier items. She briefly highlighted the ESG Goals and committed to working on programs that improve diversity among the associate base and supplier base. We also discussed the future of the supply chain and how the UNFI ordering program offers retailers system access so that they may place their own orders. We talked about food industry trends and how consumer preferences have evolved in recent years.

UNFI Canada is situated in Ontario and was created in 1976 by real pioneers. Since then, they have made significant attempts to influence the food industry via scale, service, and sustainability. It is North America's largest distributor of natural, organic, kosher, and specialty food goods.

In this episode, Craig Turner, Chief Operating Officer of Agape Automation, discusses how the company is automating kitchens to help restaurant businesses expand. He also expressed his great belief in the future of culinary innovation and automation to assist pizza operators in growing. He discussed how Jim Grote founded Donatos Pizza and invented the Peppamatic, which automatically slicked and applied pepperoni to pizza. He shared the brief, saying that they built the edge innovation hub to fuel the future of food, and the first product they produced was a smart saucer that would be the future for Agape. He discussed the Smart Saucer process, which allows anyone to see what is going on within the machine, such as when it is switched on and off, cleaned, and distributed. He talked about how smart machines may help with the restaurant labor crisis. He expressed his desire to work on the next generation of the saucer and collaborate with a manufacturing partner to help take it to the next level in order to fulfill orders for all stores and begin building units for other pizza operator kitchens. He also discussed the many formats and automation in the way that they are constructing it to be ideal for future uses.

Kimberly Schaub, Business Development Manager at Griffith Foods, discusses the importance of sustainable sourcing and consumer preferences in the food sector. She discussed her expertise in the snack and organic area, as well as how Griffith Food Works is looking for ways to change the spice market by sourcing sustainably and reducing their carbon footprint. How they individually work with their clients and help them to reduce their carbon footprint. She discussed the significance of developing customer relationships. She also discussed consumer trends and how they operate to achieve their goals. They collaborate with companies whose products end up on grocery store shelves or in food service establishments.We also discussed the importance of clean labeling and why consumers are interested in how ingredients are sourced. She discussed food traditions and customs, as well as what sorts of ingredients are used based on consumer preferences. She provided a clear outline of how to source sustainability on the front end. She suggested two types of sourcing: one from farmers and communities, and the other through collaboration with organizations that are co-operatives or distributors of the product. We talked about the research chef and culinary services at Griffith Foods in great depth. She also highlighted Griffith Foods, which has played an important role in providing taste and texture solutions for plant-based foods.

In this episode, we speak with William Madden, Co-Founder of Whole Brain Consulting, about how they assist emerging food companies with supply chain, operations management, food safety, quality, and regulatory compliance services. He gave a quick overview of Whole Brain Consulting and how they help food businesses in running smoothly and efficiently. We talked extensively about supply chain and sourcing challenges, as well as the future of the supply chain. William briefly discussed how they have been working on co-manufacturers and co-packers to support food businesses in development. He also went into detail regarding transportation challenges in the food business and how they aid in flawless logistics management. He spoke on trucking and ocean freight difficulties. We also discussed the food shortage in the grocery industry. He spoke about his views on contract negotiations and why they are vital.

In this episode, we speak with Judah Cofer, Director of Sales, PNW at Agworld, where we discussed how their software solutions provider offers a data capture and management platform for the agricultural industry. Judah explained in detail how the Agworld, Farm management software enables farmers to record data on a daily basis in the field. He gave a comprehensive overview of the platform as well as its benefits. We discussed the need for data in three areas: agronomics, finance, and operations for long-term sustainability. We discussed how Agworld enables farmers and trusted advisors to help with centralized data and why data standardization is important. Judah spoke in depth about how Agworld focuses on centralization, standardization, and collaboration. He discussed how today's farmers are eager to know about innovation and technology. We went into detail about how farmers can choose whom they share their data with. He also provided a thorough explanation of the farm data ecosystem and how it helps in the maintenance of APIs in software. Agworld's ultimate purpose is to help growers succeed.

Vanessa Snyder, Business Development Manager at Eurofins US, Food, Feed, and Supplement Testing, speaks about how she provides customers with innovative, high-quality laboratory research and advising services in the food business. Vanessa discussed her history and her interest in dietary supplements. She offered a quick overview of how they support customers in third-party testing programs that require assistance in product development or consumer sensory research on nutritional supplements, as well as information on HEMP and CBD. We also discussed the necessity of labeling in testing from the company's standpoint. She talked about the regulatory difficulties and how to get the product on the market. We also discussed the methods and techniques for determining the quality of food products. Vanessa shared her thoughts on nutritional ingredient labeling in supplements and how they establish methodologies to ensure that clients can appropriately label and identify active compounds. She spoke about the supplement market and how product testing occurs along the supply chain. She also expressed her enthusiasm for the industrial hemp sector, which supports the natural goods and supplement industries.