• Minh Tsai – Founder and CEO of Hodo Soy
• Bob Sanchez – Owner of Casa Sanchez Foods
• Neka Pasquale – Founder and President of Urban Remedy, Inc.
• Dinsh Guzdar – President of f’real foods
• David Lee – COO and CFO of Impossible Foods

While these companies specialize in a range of products – f’real foods makes milkshakes; Urban Remedy produces raw meals and cold-pressed juices – the panelists shared similar takeaways and learnings from running their businesses. Among them:

• Transparency, authenticity and reinvestment in the community are key among millennials and must infiltrate every aspect of your brand to effectively engage this audience. A recent survey conducted by Watershed looked at what a brand needs to do to embody authenticity, and found that millennials want clean ingredients, great taste, transparency, and a brand that’s true to its mission and culturally accurate.

• Health and wellness are redefining indulgence. Consumers are increasingly opting for healthier, more nutritious foods, however they still want to indulge in the opposite. This is one of the reasons why f’real foods is supplementing its milkshake business with healthier smoothies and testing flavors like cucumber, pear and kale.

• High-end, accessible food products are on the rise, especially among millennials, who care most about what they put in their bodies.

• Know your audience. A product that works in one market may fail in another. This was the case with the aforementioned cucumber, pear and kale smoothie, which was successful in the Bay Area, but not as popular in Pennsylvania.

• Know who the trendsetters are. To understand your audience, it’s critical to understand where and how they are getting their information, and who or what is influencing them.

• Food and beverage companies can benefit from an omnichannel POS model, which is largely untapped in the food and beverage industry in part because “taste and feel” at the time of purchase still dominate decision-making.

• Startup growing pains. Commitment to a strong mission and organizational culture are sure to help startups grow without endangering what made the brand succeed in the first place.

• Green, clean and safe. The trend toward green, local and organic products now includes a renewed emphasis on food safety and source tractability.

• Use loyalists to tell your story. The most complex marketing strategy can be dwarfed by the power of loyal fans armed with cellphones. Leverage these loyalists to promote your brand by equipping them with visual, shareable content.

• Trend or fad? By becoming industry insiders and following the influencers in their space, brands are able to differentiate between lasting trends and short-lived enthusiasm.

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