Consumer Foods to Go

Now might just be the time for food manufacturers to think about robots again. Constraints on the labor force are unlikely to go away soon, and help is needed on the factory floor. Also, robots are improving in terms of size, price, and flexibility. In this episode of Consumer Foods to Go, Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott speak with Sebastiaan Schreijen to discuss the findings of his survey on the potential adoption of robots in food processing. Are we on the brink of a revolution?

Half a decade ago, everyone in food was all over startups – young, exciting companies set to disrupt the food market. A lot has happened since, of course, including Covid and the inflation spike. Startups felt the impact of both, and there has been a bit of a funding crisis to boot. Still, a lot of startups are trying to bring new ideas to the food market. In this podcast, Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott interview Rabobank's Foodbytes team to discuss the trends in food startups. Foodbytes is a platform where more than 2,000 food and agribusiness startups have provided information, including pitch decks, on their business. Unsurprisingly, a common theme among startups right now is AI. Listen to the podcast to learn more.

Once again, RaboResearch visited the Private Label Manufacturers Association's (PLMA) World of Private Label trade show in Amsterdam. This year, we interviewed visitors and exhibitors on the topic of innovation. Innovation is high on the agenda for anyone active in packaged foods. Brands have lost market share to private label, so they need to come up with new products to lure the consumer back. However, private label companies are responding by introducing new products as well. In this podcast, we hear from industry players on innovation in private label and how its done.

Professors David Raubenheimer and Stephen Simpson argue in their book, Eat Like the Animals, that over the course of recent decades the share of calories from protein in people's diets has declined (especially in the US). RaboResearch's Nick Fereday covered the topic in a recent report that generated quite some feedback. Therefore, we invited the professors to explain their hypothesis in greater detail. The resulting podcast is a truly fascinating listen. Everything you wanted to know about protein is explained; also, the so-what of the thesis for food companies is addressed.

Once again, RaboResearch visited Natural Products Expo West, one the largest food trade shows in the world with more than 3,500 exhibitors and more than 70,000 visitors. Tom Bailey, Nick Fereday, and Cyrille Filott together with Maria Castroviejo discuss their findings, including how the consumer is being enticed by new types of marketing, some nice packaging innovations, and new food products. All believed that the show – while still carrying a lot of hype products – was more realistic in terms of the products on offer. The main focus now is on selling a product, instead of showing how disruptive it is. 

Sustainability is firmly on the food and agribusiness agenda. Companies in the sector are now moving from making a sustainability strategy to measuring and making changes in many aspects of the food system, but before making improvements, one has to establish a base. To discuss the challenges and opportunities, the team invited Hans de Gier, CEO of IT company SyncForce, to bring his perspective on measuring sustainability and data issues. One thing he is quite adamant about is that current measurements may not always be correct. A lot of improvements need to happen, and collaboration between actors in the chain might be the way forward.

Every year the Consumer Foods-to-Go podcast provides an outlook for agri commodity prices, and this year is no different. Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott interview Carlos Mera, Rabobank's Head of Agri Commodity Markets Research, to discuss the outlook for key crops in 2024. Overall, the outlook is for slightly lower prices, but not for all commodities. Tune in as they discuss the main drivers, such as energy prices, highlight key commodities, and drop a small bombshell that's sure to be of interest!

Ultraprocessed foods are everywhere in the news. Some scientists are claiming that processed foods are bad for people's health and that ultraprocessed foods are especially bad. It's time, therefore, for Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott to dig deeper in the topic with the help of Rabobank Senior Analyst Nick Fereday. In this episode we explain ultraprocessed foods and discuss what heightened attention on these foods means for food companies. Obviously there is one question we cannot answer: Will the consumer care? 

Soon EU regulation regarding packaging and packaging waste will become law. While we are likely to see amendments to the legislation, we believe it is good to start talking about the proposed regulation and its impact on food companies. We are not talking not only about more recycling, but also about the use of recycled content, for example in drink bottles.  Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott quizzed RaboResearch analyst Regina Mestre on all the new targets that may become law, and what they mean for companies downstream in the food value chain.

Innovation is a constant in food retail. For this episode of Consumer Foods-to-Go, Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott interview Sipke van der Werf, head of innovation at SPAR in the Netherlands. What is new in innovation in retail? What is a company like SPAR thinking about right now and with a five-year horizon? Obviously, growth and cost control are important, but sustainability also plays are very important role in the innovation strategy of SPAR.

The Private Label Manufacturing Association (PLMA) trade show in Amsterdam is the largest private label event in the world. As always, the Rabobank consumer foods team pays a visit. And, like last year, we asked companies in attendance for their views. Last year we spoke mostly about challenges in the supply chain. This year we talked about the gains in market share in private label. Because of inflation, times are tough for some consumers, who start buying more private label products.  We asked companies how they are faring – and unsurprisingly, most are selling more volumes. But we also asked about the future: What's in store for private label? At the end of the podcast we share our takeaways from two exciting days at the event. Spoiler alert: It is all about price, price, price!

Regenerative agriculture is a holistic approach to improving farming practices. Many downstream food companies are talking about encouraging regenerative agriculture practices at the farm level. They do this for various reasons: to achieve emissions reduction goals, to provide better food in general, and to stay within planetary boundaries. In this podcast, Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott interview Rabobank experts Elizabeth Lunik and Cindy van Rijswick on this topic. Listen to their discussion about definitions, targets, what regenerative agriculture is, and what it is not.    

Launched in 2017, Nutri-Score is a front-of-pack label to indicate a food product's nutritional value. Quite a few food retailers and food companies have embraced Nutri-Score, but how consumers are responding to scores has remained unknown. In this podcast, Consumer Foods-to-Go interviews Elke Godden, a researcher who has explored this topic at the University of Antwerp. The key takeaway: Consumers are not all the same, and they interpret scores differently. Other attributes matter as well, like brand, price, and nutritional claims, among others.

Rabobank's Consumer Foods research team visited Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, one of the largest food shows in the world. It's always fantastic to walk the floor and see new trends and products with your own eyes, and this year was no different! In this episode, the team shares their insights from the event together with hosts Cyrille Filott and Maria Castroviejo.

2022 may not have been the year the foodservice industry hoped for, but the post-Covid recovery was still quite strong. 2023 will be a year of continued uncertainty. Commodity prices are declining, but are still higher than in 2021. Consumers were fairly resilient in 2022, but it is unclear how they will behave in 2023 as economies may struggle to show any growth. In this episode of Consumer Foods-to-Go  Maria Castroviejo and Tom Bailey share their views on what might happen in 2023 in foodservice in Europe and the US.

Deflation of input costs is happening across the food sector, but the cost of labor is actually going to increase... by a lot. There are two main drivers behind this increase: 1) a catch-up effect related to high inflation in 2022 and 2) low unemployment. Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott quiz Rabobank economist Elwin de Groot on what may happen in the labor market in 2023 and in the long term. They also discuss the implications of the tight labor market for downstream food companies.

It is the time of the year to look back at 2022 and look toward 2023. Maria and Cyrille gathered the entire team of Consumer Foods analysts at RaboResearch to discuss the learnings from the year for the sector. And what a year it was! They also talk about next year. What should be on the corporate agenda? What will happen to sustainability? Anything new emerging? Find out in this episode of Consumer Foods to Go!

In terms of prices and price volatility, 2022 was an incredible year for agri commodities. The conflict in Ukraine, adverse weather conditions, and currencies impacted prices a lot. What will happen in 2023? Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott quiz Head of Agri Commodity Markets Research Carlos Mera on what's in store for 2023. They talk about the main drivers for agri commodity pricing and go one level deeper by singling out the commodities that may see interesting price actions.

Resilience is the buzzword in the food sector. Companies are very focused, in the short term, on preserving margins by shifting resources around and by being very aware of input costs and pricing toward customers. Many of the challenges that are impacting performance in the short run will also be important factors in planning for the long run. Companies should continue to look for resiliency. So, what is on the menu of options for food companies?

Michael Every joined the Consumer Foods-to-Go podcast a couple of times before to discuss inflation and the impact of the war in Ukraine on the food sector. Due to popular demand, Cyrille Filott and Maria Castroviejo invited Michael back. During the podcast, Michael shares his (gloomy) outlook for the geopolitical landscape and how any shifts might impact economic thinking and the food sector.

Prices for transportation – across land and sea alike – skyrocketed in the last couple of years due to a boom in demand during the pandemic and, more recently, disruptions from the war in Ukraine. It's time to assess what might happen next. In this podcast, Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott quiz analysts Xinnan Li and Viet Nguyen about what's happening with the supply and, perhaps even more importantly, the demand for goods and transportation. They also discuss current and future sustainability measures and regulations and how these might impact pricing.

Manufacturers from around the globe gathered in Amsterdam at the end of May to showcase their products at the Private Label Manufacturers Association trade show. Sebastiaan Schreijen and Cyrille Filott were on the scene asking food & beverage producers about the hot topic of the moment: the supply chain. Sebastiaan and Cyrille asked five exhibitors five questions about their supply chain challenges, including risks, strategy, and sustainability. The answers they received were definitely unexpected.

Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott discuss how higher food prices impact the consumer right now and in the remainder of the year. They discuss what usually happens when disposable incomes shrink, and how this time, at least up to now, is different.

During the pandemic, the branded chains were the ones taking share in foodservice. Most of these chains work with franchisees. These franchisees have become very professional over the years, and they generate quite a bit of cash. So what is in store for franchising now that Covid seems to be largely behind us? Cyrille Filott discusses this question with Maria Castroviejo from Europe and Tom Bailey from the US, and they come to a surprising conclusion!

Expo West is one of the largest food trade shows in the world, and after a two-year hiatus, it was back on the calendar in early March. The food industry went in droves to Anaheim, where the show is held. RaboResearch F&A was present as well, with three analysts in attendance: JP Frossard, Nick Fereday, and Tom Bailey. In this episode of Consumer Foods-to-Go, Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott quiz them on what was hip and happening, what was missing, and other key findings from the trade show.

The Ukraine conflict is, and will remain, headline news. The Consumer Foods-to-Go podcast has two goals: to bring the audience something new or to discuss something top of mind. To state the obvious – the war is top of mind for everyone, even for those in the food sector. As Rabobank is keen to provide perspectives, Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott invited Michael Every, macro strategist for Rabobank, to the podcast to discuss what might happen in the future, with a decoupled world as a likely scenario. Furthermore, Maria and Cyrille discuss the impact on the food sector.

Before the pandemic there was a lot of talk about startups and how they were disrupting the food & agribusiness sector. Since then, the focus in the sector has been on the impact of Covid-19 and, more recently, inflation. Startups may have fallen below the headlines, but they are still very relevant. Startups still are developing and investing in disruptive products and solutions that will support important F&A transitions. Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott caught up with the FoodBytes! team (Anne Greven and Sonia Shekar) to discuss what has happened with startups over the last few years. They also discuss the areas where startups are looking to the shake up the food & agribusiness sector even further. FoodBytes! by Rabobank is a startup discovery platform that champions cross-industry collaboration between the most promising F&A startups, corporates, and investors.

The foodservice sector has gone through some massive changes in the last few years. Obviously, Covid hit the sector hard. But also new ways of working, the use of technology, and much higher costs are impacting the sector. So what do we expect for 2022? Consumer Foods-to-Go host Cyrille Filott interviews co-host and Senior Consumer Foods Analyst Maria Castroviejo on these topics and much more.

It is always interesting to look at what is front of mind for investors in the food sector, in this case listed equities. Investors are important stakeholders for some food companies, and they might influence a company's strategic direction, if only by putting a valuation on it. Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott interviewed Christian Graven, Food & Agriculture Specialist at Kepler Cheuvreux (an independent European financial services company and a Rabobank partner) on what he believes the key themes for food investors are in 2022.

2021 has been the year of inflation. Almost all line items of food companies' cost of goods sold increased substantially. The ingredients (the agri commodities) are a key component. As it is the time of the year to look forward, Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott invited Carlos Mera, Head of Agri Commodity Market Research, to discuss the outlook for the main commodities and the main drivers for price change going forward.

Labor shortages are all over the news right now. Many shelves are empty because, in many parts of the food & agribusiness supply chain, workers are missing. The same shortages are seen in foodservice. In this episode of Consumer Foods-to-Go, Maria and Cyrille discuss the labor challenges with Rabobank economist Elwin de Groot. Topics discussed include: sectoral shifts, government support schemes, and migration. All this should lead to an answer to the question: Are these shortages temporary or structural?

RaboResearch went to Germany to attend Anuga, one of the largest food trade shows in the world. In this episode of the Consumer Foods-to-Go podcast, Maria Castroviejo, Cyrille Filott, and Marjolein Hanssen review Anuga and share their findings from the event. The three discuss the innovations that were noticed, the things that were missing, and general observations. Topics include plant-based products, inflation, and the surprising lack of messaging on sustainability.

Consumer Foods-to-Go brings insights into the topics that should be top-of-mind for any food executive and the topics that should inspire us to think differently. This podcast falls into the latter category. We have always been fascinated by Japan and Japanese shopping and eating culture. In this episode, we explore konbini – convenience (food) shopping in Japan. We believe Japan is ahead of many markets in how convenience shops are set up and run. We invited Kaoru Yoshii, Retail Sector Analyst at Norinchukin Research Institute, and Hideki Obata, General Manager Food and Agribusiness Planning at Norinchukin Bank, to discuss konbini. Expect to be surprised on how konbini companies operate and what audiences they are targeting.

Climate change impacts business. Business impacts climate change. Many food companies are taking responsibility and setting targets to achieve lower emissions for their products in the near term and even zero emissions in the long run. Most of these emissions happen in companies' supply chains, outside of their direct control. The key challenge food companies face: how to make change happen in the supply chain? Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott quiz Rabobank analyst Marjolein Hanssen on the topic. She will talk numbers (scope 3 emissions are a large part of total emissions) and offer her thoughts on actions that may lower supply chain emissions.

In this episode of Consumers Foods-to-Go, we put the food manufacturing plant in the middle and perform a deep dive into the logistical processes around it. There are two major streams: the goods coming into the factory and the goods leaving the factory for distribution centers. In both cases, we are witnessing much higher prices for logistics. Together with Matteo Iagatti, Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott explore the drivers behind the price spikes and the outlook for the logistical sector.

Consumer Foods-to-Go covered plant-based meat substitutes in two episodes in the last few years, but it's such an important topic in consumer foods nowadays that we believe we should do a third. This time we focus on Asia, as we are hearing a lot of stories about the growth of plant-based meat substitute products there. To discuss the topic, we invited our own Michelle Huang, who brings a Chinese perspective, and Nick Cooney from Lever VC, who invests in plant-based meat substitutes across the globe, including Asia. During the podcast, we review the key trends in China and spend a lot of time discussing the differences between the US and Chinese market.

Inflation is, or should be, at the top of any board room agenda. Developed markets have not seen much inflation in the last decade, but now it seems to be back. In this episode, host Cyrille Filott and co-host Maria Castroviejo discuss the drivers of inflation with Michael Every, strategist at Rabobank. One of the key drivers of the current inflationary pressure is the bullwhip effect, where supply and demand shocks ripple through the supply chain. In the end, future inflation will be partly politically driven, which is discussed as well. Prepare yourself for a rollercoaster ride of talk on inflation!

One-and-half years ago we released a Consumer Foods-to-Go podcast called Nutri-Score: A, B, C, Easy as 1, 2, 3... Or Is It? about a front-of-pack nutrition label. Now, some European retailers are trialing another front-of-pack label called Eco-Score that focuses on the sustainability of a product. It works in the same way as Nutri-Score: A for top of the bill, E for bottom of the pack. We believe some form of sustainability labeling will become the norm in the next few years, so Cyrille Filott and Maria Castroviejo explore the Eco-Score label in this podcast. Loads of nuggets in this episode for anyone in the food & agribusiness value chain!

Working from home or, better still, working from anywhere will not go away for office workers post-pandemic. Many companies have already announced that a hybrid way of working, with a split between work in the office and work at home or another place, will be normal. As a result, office workers will change where they buy lunch, whether it's in offices or at a place near home. In this episode, Cyrille Filott and Maria Castroviejo explore the topic of working from home and the impact this will have on the food sector. They will try to quantify the number of days people will not go to the office and discuss strategies food companies might want to embark on to cater to workers in this new setup.

Food delivery has taken a firm piece of the foodservice pie during the pandemic. When some sort of normality returns, a bit of those revenues might slip away. However, we expect delivery to remain very important in foodservice. This begs the question: what should restaurants do in an environment where one in ten, or perhaps even one in five orders are going to be picked up by a rider? In this episode, Consumer Foods-to-Go host Cyrille Filott tries to find answers to this question and many others with fellow Rabobank analysts Maria Castroviejo, Amit Sharma, and Marjolein Hanssen.

The foodservice sector has obviously been hit by the pandemic, but it is time for the sector to look ahead. A lot of positive momentum is building across the globe, so it's time for Consumer Foods-to-Go host Cyrille Filott to quiz his colleagues Maria Castroviejo, Michelle Huang, and Amit Sharma about the foodservice sector. A quick reflection on 2020 is in order, but most of the time is spent on 2021. Key trends will be discussed, including blurring, foodservice brands hitting retail, and the asymmetric recovery. So… what is on the menu?

Every year Nick Fereday sends out a survey asking a couple of simple questions to the readership of Talking Points. This year the questions were: “What has changed in food?” and “What has not changed in food?” The answers this year were much more diverse than in previous years, showing that much is still unknown. During the podcast, Nick shares with hosts Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott some of the most thought-provoking answers that may perhaps plant some ideas with the Consumer Foods-to-Go audience.