Weekly Roundup – Week of 7.10.23
July 14, 2023
After taking a week off due to recognizing the July 4th holiday, this week’s roundup features hot beverage-related topics of the week – curated by our team of strategists and food enthusiasts:
Can Spicy Foods Make People Happy?
It’s no secret that spicy foods are in. People are consuming hot foods at a rapid rate and restaurants that specialize in spice are growing significantly. For example, Dave’s Hot Chicken, known for its spicy chicken sandwiches, has 118 locations today from only 2 locations just a few years ago and experienced a 126+% growth in visits this past May from a year ago, as cited in The Food Institute article. Stephan Peng, CEO of hot sauce company Redbloom, told The Food Institute, “When you eat spicy food, the brain releases endorphins which are natural painkillers that give us feelings of pleasure and leads people to seek out the experience again.” Read More.
Food Manufacturers Focus On Diversifying Ingredients
Food Dive published an article this week highlighting some notable ingredient trends for the back half of 2023 such as seeking alternative sources, incorporating more functional ingredients, and using AI technology to support sustainability objectives and meet consumer demands. Investments made in upcycling have also been a hot topic this year and will continue to drive ingredient innovation in reducing overall food waste. Read Article.
The AI Chefbot Kitchen Takeover
Buzzfeed and Tasty have collaborated to launch an AI-powered culinary consultant named “Botatouille” after the beloved Pixar movie Ratatouille. Botatouille is a teal-tinted, AL chatbot fox, not a rat, created to thrive on social media and help chefs both professionally and at-home culinary enthusiasts with ingredient inspiration and recipe development. Botatouille is available via Tasty’s app where users can ask questions such as “What can I make with the ingredients in my fridge?”, “How do I make bagna cauda?“, or What meals can I cook on a budget?” Read Story.
Cultivating Vertical Farming Growth
To help fight the lack of food security in the world, vertical farming is one answer that appears to be growing in interest. According to ResearchandMarkets.com vertical farming had a global market estimated at $3.2B in 2022 and is projected to continue increasing with an estimated global market size of $10.3B by 2030. Even with supply chain disruptions and record inflation rates, these forecasted numbers rely on new technologies and alternative production processes AL capabilities bring to vertical agriculture. Learn More.
Products Meet Consumer Demand
With 150 years of brewing experience, Heineken is leading the way in the NA beer category with its top-selling Heineken 0.0. Using celebrity endorsements, a hefty marketing budget, and a strong sampling program to excel sales, Heineken has leveraged consumer demand for healthier options and non-alcoholic beverage alternatives – posting $83.6 million in sales, equaling the combined total of the next two challengers in fast-growing Budweiser Zero and Busch NA.” And, heating up sales in the soup category is Campbell’s. The iconic condensed soup line is joining the established trend in the food industry, gluten-free. They will start by releasing gluten-free Cream of Mushroom and Cream of Chicken soups, the two most popular flavors in the line. The goal is to have products hit shelves this summer. “As one out of five Americans is avoiding gluten,” per a customer Campbell’s survey, it makes sense for a big brand like Campbells to follow suit.
Stop back each week for more hot topics and industry-related news stories.
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