Jon Banner

Despite the challenges of the last three years, there are commercial and economic opportunities presented by the plant-based sector as does the environmental, health and societal imperative to diversify our protein supply with more familiar and convenient alternatives. This report provides quite a detailed in-depth explanation of the plant based sector in Australia in both retail and foodservice. The Australian foodservice sector presents the most immediate opportunity for plant-based meat manufacturers to continue to grow in coming years. Wiith relatively small penetration of plant- based meat in just a few segments of the foodservice category, such as in QSRs and fast casual outlets, a large share of the foodservice market remains untapped for the plant-based meat industry with the potential to generate sustained and long-term growth across the next decade. Thanks to the team Food Frontier for this detailed analysis of the Australian market. https://lnkd.in/ggQ9r4Rb FoodFrontier-2023-State-of-the-Industry-report

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Is your business targeting #GenZ coffee consumers? "Recent analyses, including insights from The Economist, have highlighted that Gen Z have a higher income than its predecessors, the #babyboomers and #millennials.  The article reports that a typical 25-year-old Gen Z-er (or Zoomer) has an annual household income of over $40,000, more than 50% above baby-boomers at the same age. While factoring in inflation and current cost of living might make these numbers less sensational, they still demonstrate that Gen Z holds considerable #economicpower." Check out today's article at Coffee Intelligence. Sarah Eleanor Charles spoke with William Dunaway about the preferences of Gen Z and millennial coffee consumers, as well as their priorities such as sustainability, community, brand building, and fun and exciting products. https://lnkd.in/e9NMCTqn

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At Narrative Food, each of our gifts is designed to tell a story. We have worked with hundreds of vendors over the years, listening to their stories and sharing them with you. In this new series, we are honored to spotlight a few of our favorite small-batch makers in their own words. Read our interview with Jeanette Greenlaw, the Director of Business Development at Bona Furtuna. #bcorp #b1 #1percentfortheplanet #wethechange,#storytelling,#sustainablefood #eatkind,#sustainableshopping,#businessasaforceforgood #consciouscapitalism,#esg #environmentalsocialgovernance,#giftsthatgiveback #giftwithpurpose #impactfulgiving

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Last week I had the opportunity to engage with an industry partner in a meaningful way about the state of the food industry. That conversation lead to a follow up, and upon further reflection of that, I send a version of this email to them outlining my perspective. As a former policy wonk and retail buyer, I'd like to think that I see the various ways in which the system is struggling, and how it's currently serving almost no one. I would love your thoughts on the following and your ideas for how to fix it if you can get through this post! 😅 +++ It is my belief that the food industry is in the midst of a significant shift that will reconfigure the way that business is currently done and ultimately how people get their groceries. The current model is predicated on the easy money that was available to strategic buyers in the early 2010s - 2021. During that period, money was cheap for these large corporations to finance deals, and they bought companies for up to 10x revenue. Investors saw those returns and flocked to CPG, flooding the industry with cash. At the same time, grocery margins, which have always been slim, started to tighten even more. So with suppliers flush with investment dollars, retailers implemented more fees for suppliers get on shelf. Supplier fees now account for up to 70% of grocery store profits. Distributors also cut deals with desired retailers, which don’t actually cover costs. That margin has to come from somewhere, so it’s come primarily from suppliers in the form of billbacks, fees, and promo periods. This delicate balance has worked for the last ten years due to the reatively easy capital available to smaller brands, and because of the strength of the US economy, which allowed more consumers to purchase more high-priced products. That ecosystem has now changed. With the spike in interest rates in 2022, both the actual number of M&A events, and the value of those events dropped drastically. Inflation has also caused consumers of all economic statuses to watch grocery purchasing more closely, and as a result, capital investments have virtually dried up. Loans are also much harder to get and the rates are 15- 18% APR. However, suppliers are still being required to pay the retail and distributor fees and unless their margins are enormous and/or they have loads of working capital to carry them through the ultra long cash cycle, the math doesn’t line up. That’s the position that so many smaller companies find themselves in - the retailer/distributor marketplace is getting squeezed and needs to find a way to grow margin, but small suppliers can no longer afford to pick up that tab. And with inflation, customers can’t absorb more of that cost. The result is that small suppliers are going out of business or fire-selling. And with no end in sight for the high interest rates we’re seeing now, I fear that there will be a mass exodus of people who aren’t independently wealthy enough to foot the bill. Thoughts?

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It's clear that the future of business is rooted in sustainability, and it's up to organisations worldwide to drive real, impactful change. But doing the right thing doesn't have to come at the expense of financial growth. With the launch of our latest Mars Sustainable in a Generation Plan, I'm so proud to share that we're making progress on our journey, both reducing our absolute greenhouse gas emissions and delivering business strategy; proving that profit, productivity and progress can co-exist. Our mission goes beyond doing better business, it's about creating a better world for people, pets and the planet. Check out our 2023 Sustainability Report for more of the details on the work we’re doing to build a sustainable future: https://lnkd.in/eRqAR4T7   #TomorrowStartsToday #Sustainability

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