In today’s episode, I speak with Trent Jackson, founder and consultant at Tango Packaging, a company focused on providing premium and sustainable solutions to CPG brands. In today’s conversation, Trent shares about his journey over the last 10 years as he built Tango Packaging with a holistic perspective - carrying the belief that through hands-on, creative problem solving, it is possible to cut costs, improve product sustainability, and increase sales. We discuss how the recent global supply-chain issues have affected the packaging industry and driven innovation. He speaks about the fragmenta ..read more

In today’s episode, I speak again with Melanie Bartelme, Associate Director, Mintel Food & Beverage, where she provides insights on global innovation and consumer trends across a number of food categories, including produce, pasta and grains. At Mintel, Melanie co-created the annual US Flavor and Ingredient Trends, which spotlight the cuisine types and ingredients that are growing on restaurant menus and on grocery shelves. In this conversation, we discuss how companies build consumer trust through labeling. We also touch on the increased consumer desire for transparency around food sourci ..read more

In today’s episode, we speak with Barnett Sporkin-Morrison, a Wyoming native who lives with his wife and three kids outside of the rural-American town of Choteau (show-doe), Montana. Barnett holds a Master of Science in Agricultural Economics and a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Business: International Agriculture from the University of Wyoming in the United States. Following his graduate studies, he spent nearly seven years with the United States Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service - serving in Washington, D.C. and at the U.S. Embassy, Guatemala City. He is the Found ..read more

Today we hear Kate’s journey of founding Stay Tray and her company's commitment to sustainability. She shares how technology helped her company gain credibility in the market and tangibly quantify the product’s sustainability claims. Finally, we discuss her commitment towards helping “people and planet” and how that affects each decision made as she builds her company. You can learn more about Stay Tray at: https://staytray.com.au ..read more

In this episode, we talk about the innovation process on the R&D team Al leads, the inflection point at which Ken’s Foods made the switch into PLM technology, and Al shares how a company with such a rich history continues to innovate while maintaining loyalty to the brand and quality in the products they produce. Al’s experience and insight in the Research and Development space offer a unique glimpse at the innovation process of a large CPG company. You can learn more about Ken’s Foods at: https://www.kensfoods.com ..read more

Guest Bios: Dr. Simon Lockrey Dr Simon Lockrey is a leading sustainability and design innovation researcher, having been based at RMIT since 2009. The domains in which Dr Lockrey has managed research include life cycle assessment (LCA), co-design, design innovation, green marketing, resource efficiency, sustainability strategy, tool development, and food waste. As a result, he has generated millions of dollars of ‘industry-facing’ research, creating global impact through policy change, commercial innovation outcomes, media coverage, and quality academic publications. Dr Lockrey has worked with ..read more

You can learn more about what Melanie and her colleagues have been researching in Mintel’s Global Food and Drink Trends 2021 ..read more