Food

& B

ever

age

Feb 2018

TRENDS AND SIGNALS FROM CULTURE

ISSUE

Editorial Director: Rik HaslamPublisher: MaryLee Sachs

Editor in Chief: Austin RandallCreative Director: Michael Mackay

Art Director/Designer: Jon HerreraAdam Woods

Head of Production: Lauren Strickland

Contributing Writers: Rosanna BeartHannah ConwayAndrew Sacks-Hoppenfeld Markus Miklis

© BrandPie Inc, 2018

Issue 1

Letter From The EditorWelcome to the first issue of magpie – a new quarterly publication that tunes into signals from culture to help you navigate our transformative times. Each issue will focus on a specific vertical and feature stories sourced from our global network of strategists and industry experts. For this launch issue, magpie surveys the food and beverage landscape, reporting on the emerging trends that are driving innovation, influencing customer behavior and revealing powerful insights about the future direction of the sector. From food waste to new production methods, the rise of narco-foods and Gen Z’s inspiring relationship with the kitchen, magpie’s contributors reveal rich and dramatic shifts in our relationship with food.

Many of the changes we’re seeing are counter-intuitive: among the surprises is the impact of seemingly trivial remixes of nostalgic food favorites. We’ve also been impressed by the pace at which transformative new farming technologies are being created and deployed. In creating magpie it’s our intent to be both informative and entertaining, and to bring you a global view that delivers a thought-provoking mix of perspectives.

Enjoy and do let us know what you think – we welcome all feedback.

Austin RandallEditor in Chief

5

Con

tent

s Artificial Ingredients Intelligence

Kitchen Invasion

The New Mobile Menu

Fabulously Flawed

Taste Buds

Packaged Perfection

The Forgotten Food Groups

The Economics of Waste

About BrandPie

Contact

4

10

16

22

26

30

34

38

44

45

Farm to table takes on a whole new meaning as technology redefines what it means to be free-range, organic and local.

ARTIFICIAL INGREDIENTS INTELLIGENCE

Hannah Conway Photo Credit: Sean Gumm

7

For many, factory farming practices are considered as evil as Big Tobacco or child labor. In 2002, “The Meatrix” was released online to the horror of many. The short-form video spoofed the popular sci-fi movie and critiqued the façade put up by the factory farming industry, unapologetically revealing the animal cruelty and mass pollution happening behind closed doors. The video has since been translated into over 30 different languages and watched by 30 million people around the world.

Since then, internet culture has continued the wide-ranging discussion around the politics of food. Though our society may be increasingly alienated from the production of the food it consumes, we’ve become ever more obsessed with the ethics of its creation. As a result, “responsible” eating emerged as a dominant trend of the first decade of the 21st century, with words like vegan, local, free-range and organic becoming proxies for sustainable, healthy food.

Fifteen years later, the food production industry has come up with a potential solution: new technologies that enable environmentally-friendly, highly-regulated, and cruelty-free practices. Enter the factory farm, reborn with sustainability at the core of its development.

AUTONOMOUS AIHuman labor in the food industry is becoming increasingly obsolete,

with AI-empowered machines taking over processes both in the kitchen

and in the field.

“Flippy,”created by Miso Robotics, is a robotic kitchen aid that

assists with grilling, prepping, and plating meals through the use

of cameras, sensors, and mechanical arms. The precision of these

robotics is unprecedented: the University’s Lincoln Institute of Agri-

food Technology modeled a fully autonomous broccoli-picking robot after

the Mars lander, which uses AI connected to a 3D camera to guide the

machinery with a, “soft, gentle touch to pluck each stem with minimal

damage” (Raconteur 2017).

Last year, Harper Adams University teamed up with agricultural

equipment company Precision Decisions to create the Hands Free Hectare

project. This bold initiative enabled the harvesting of an entire

barley crop without a single human hand. With a high turnover rate

of service workers in restaurants and the increasing difficulty of

finding farm laborers at all, it’s easy to see why food distributors

and producers are turning to robots to fill these positions. Accenture

estimates that AI will raise productivity in the agricultural sphere 53

per cent by 2035.

Autonomous farming start-up Iron Ox is developing machine-learning

algorithms to detect underdeveloped or sick plants, which can then

be removed by robotic arms that constantly monitor the crops. The

increased efficiency of these developments has the potential to

make significant contributions to the creation of environmentally

sustainable farming and agricultural processes.

Last year, Hahn Family Wines joined forces with Verizon to implement

a new set of sensors that continuously measure the moisture levels of

the soil in their fields. Andy Mitchell, their Director of Viticulture,

noted that this technology allows their team to closely monitor water

usage, “Then we know we’ve put on too much water so we can cut back. It

really helps us fine-tune our application methods” (Wired 2017).

THAT SAID, AUTONOMOUS TECHNOLOGIES ARE NOT ONLY REPLACING HUMAN LABOR, THESE MACHINES ARE ALSO SURPASSING HUMANS IN THEIR ABILITY TO MONITOR THE PROCESSES OF FOOD PRODUCTION.

Hannah Conway

9

VERTICAL FARMING REACHES NEW HEIGHTSBy 2050, the world’s population is expected to grow to 9.7 billion,

with 2/3 living in urban areas. The food production industry must

adjust accordingly. China in particular has struggled to feed its

rising population, mostly due to growing urban centers encroaching on

arable land sources; soil pollution resulting in toxic crops further

complicates the issue. Their solution is to invest heavily in vertical

farming. Beijing startup Alesca Life creates mobile farming units —

hydroponic plants stacked in portable shipping containers or smaller,

cabinet sized formats that can be bought by food retailers, processors,

and even restaurants. The units are designed to fit easily within any

urban center.

Another example is Singapore, one of the most densely populated cities

in the world — in its entirety, it has only 250 acres of farmable

land. In order to feed an ever-growing population, the city has begun

partnering with companies like Jack Ng’s Sky Greens. The firm has set

up one of the first commercial vertical farms in Singapore to help

feed the population and prove the concept. Surging investments in

the development of these vertical and rotational farming applications has

helped the technology advance and spread out into neighboring countries.

The vertical farming movement is not just limited to Asia, in fact it’s

gaining traction all across the globe. In France, startup Agricool

raised $9.1 million in funding to grow food in mobile containers that

will be placed in cities globally. U.S. based vertical farming start-

up Plenty is opening a 100,000 square foot indoor farm in Seattle, with

the aim to, “deliver industry-leading yields of local, backyard-quality

produce that’s completely GMO and pesticide-free” (Plenty 2017).

Vertical farms boast the capability of producing 100x the standard

yield of crops on a fraction of the land and using considerably less

water than a conventional agricultural site. The science backs these

claims up: recent studies of hydroponics have proven higher yields

with more water efficiency, not to mention reduced emissions from

drastically cutting back transported food. Other benefits include

planting that does not rely on weather or seasons, zero-use of

pesticides, and fresher produce delivered the day it is procured.

9

SYNTHETICFood production is not only changing its footprint – it’s

also changing its very molecular structure. Since the first

lab-grown burger patty was unveiled in 2013, funding to

synthetic biology startups has more than tripled. Memphis

Meats, backed by investors Bill Gates and Richard Branson,

is developing a way to produce real meat from animal cells,

“without the need to feed, breed and slaughter actual

animals” (Memphis Meats 2017). But Memphis Meats is just

one among many in the growing sector of synthetic food.

Finless Foods aims to use cellular culture technology to

mass manufacture marine food products that will resemble

fish in look, taste and texture – the only difference being

the way it’s produced. Clara foods even makes egg whites

from genetically modified yeast. New Harvest is a non-

profit organization that aims to “reinvent the way we make

animal products – without animals.” The company’s CEO,

Isha Datar, predicts that the field of biogenetics will

impact mainstream audiences in a matter of years: “It will

be like open-source software… The cells are the code” (New

Scientist 2017).

The desired end game for these projects is clear: cruelty-

free harvesting processes with a lessened environmental

impact. “We expect our products to be better for the

environment (requiring up to 90% fewer greenhouse gas

emissions, land and water than conventionally-produced

meat), the animals and public health” (WorldWatch 2017).

Worldwide meat production has tripled over the last four

decades and has increased 20 percent in the last ten years

alone — this demand will only increase as the world’s

population rises.

The next wave of sustainability is less about individual

choices. It’s more about how companies adopt and

implement new technologies to make the practices of

food production more sustainable. The next wave of food

production will make people rethink the labels on their

packages – and what words like organic, local, and vegan

mean when they are divorced from nostalgic concepts of

today’s conventional farms.

Hannah Conway

REVOLUTION

11

IT WILL BE LIKEOPEN-SOURCE SOFTWARE...THE CELLS ARE THE CODE

Photo Credit: Jatuphon Buraphon

REVOLUTION

11

K

I

I

N

T

V

C

A

N

H

S

E

I

N

O

K

I

I

N

T

V

C

A

N

H

S

E

I

N

O

K

I

I

N

T

V

C

A

K

I

I

N

T

V

C

A

N

H

S

E

I

N

O

K

I

I

N

T

V

C

A

N

H

S

E

I

N

O N

H

S

E

I

N

O

In the age of the rockstar chef, kids all over America are trading t-ball for tea time and turning the kitchen into their new playground.

Hannah Conway

1313Photo Credit: Clifford Dorr

ada! Everybody look what I made!” shouts 10-year-old Charli with glee, holding up a cupcake popped into the top of a cup full of M&Ms. Seems normal? Maybe not so much – this particular

video of the child baker and Youtube sensation has been watched over 122 million times. Charli’s channel has over 800,000 subscribers and reportedly brings in over $127,000 a month from ad revenue (DailyMail 2015). Charli is not alone in her demographic: kids today are more involved in the kitchen than ever before. Nielsen ratings show that 60% of kids between the ages of 2 and 17 watch Food Network shows with their parents and nearly 4 in 10 kids, including 51% of teens, say they have recently cooked a meal from scratch. Further, kids associate cooking as part of their identity — with food ranking as one of Gen Z’s top obsessions, ranking higher than either music or sports (Ad Age 2015).

A recent study from the Harvard Grant Survey showed that people who grew up doing chores and housework in childhood are happier later in life (Business Insider 2015). So it makes sense that teaching children how to cook similarly fosters self-sufficiency and independence. Spending more time together in the kitchen also allows adults to pass on knowledge of healthy eating habits to their kids, a topic of chief concern to parents today (Barkley US 2017). Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, time spent cooking provides families with time to connect in an age of endless distractions. With more parents working outside the home, this quality family time is more valuable than ever before.

TTTTT“““““

Increased involvement of kids in the kitchen could be seen a result of shifting cultural attitudes about child-rearing – a backlash to the helicopter parenting that produced a generation of anxious and dependent kids and adults.

Hannah Conway

15

TTTTT

!!!!!

DDDDD

AAAAA

AAAAA15Photo Credit: Juj Winn

At the start of January 2018, a Whole Foods in Alpharetta, Georgia, opened “Salud! Cooking School,” offering a range of cooking classes for children.

Butter Beans Cooking Class teaches kids about the skills, ingredients, techniques and vocabulary required to make nutritious meals.

CharlisCraftyKitchen features a 10-year-old baker, and has over 800 000 subscribers.

Flynn McGarry has been referred to as the “Justin Beiber of food.”

55555C O M P A N I E S T H A T H E L P K I D S C O O KC O M P A N I E S T H A T H E L P K I D S C O O KC O M P A N I E S T H A T H E L P K I D S C O O KC O M P A N I E S T H A T H E L P K I D S C O O KC O M P A N I E S T H A T H E L P K I D S C O O K

CHEF INFLUENCERS

COOKING CLASSES

Hannah Conway

17

C O M P A N I E S T H A T H E L P K I D S C O O KC O M P A N I E S T H A T H E L P K I D S C O O KC O M P A N I E S T H A T H E L P K I D S C O O KC O M P A N I E S T H A T H E L P K I D S C O O KC O M P A N I E S T H A T H E L P K I D S C O O K

Curious chef creates cooking utensils for kids.

KITCHEN TOOLS

31% of consumers buying meal kits fall into the “Families with children” category (Nielsen 2018).

Kidstir is a meal kit company aimed at children.

MEAL KITS

Minnesota Super Bowl put on the “Super Snack challenge” inviting 10 finalists (aged 8-14) to make their favorite recipes for a panel of celebrity judges.

Top Chef Junior, following in the footsteps of Master Chef Junior and Chopped Junior, is the latest cooking show in which young chefs can compete.

COMPETITIVE KITCHEN

17

Photo Credit: Annabelle Breakey &

twom

eows

The New Mobile MenuThe culinary horizons for weary

travelers are fast expanding as

food options take a surprising twist

in the road and pit stops morph

into experiences.

Rosanna Beart

19

ON THE

GO 19Photo Credit: Oliur Rahman

ime spent travelling hasn’t traditionally been seen

as time well-spent, but rather as a means to an end,

a necessary inconvenience.

Recently though, brands have begun to help people

embrace their time on the move by turning journeys

into high class culinary experiences where the

destination is simply part of the menu.

One brand leading the way in creating culinary

adventures is Weight Watchers. In May, they set

sail on the first, ‘Live Life Fully’ Caribbean cruise,

where for seven nights the brand aimed to, “help

people enjoy what they love - including food, people,

experiences and the energy that comes with good

health.” Not only is the cruise indicative of a growing

trend, it signals a fundamental change in the way

we think about food on the go. Weight Watchers has

changed the paradigm - shifting dieting from being a

burdensome chore by seamlessly integrating it into

an enjoyable vacation experience. 

The trend of creating more holistic experiences

around meals is gathering steam in markets around

the globe. The idea that the journey and the food are

interlinked has also been explored by UberEats and

Volvo in Tokyo. Only this time the focus is not around

health but opulence. The collaboration provides

customers with an, ‘All Star Restaurant’ where

customers drive around in a Volvo XC90 that stops

at several of the city’s best restaurants – becoming,

in essence a “rolling buffet.” Customers are served different courses and champagne

directly in their car seats, all while drinking in the sights of their constantly changing

surroundings. At the end of the trip, customers are dropped off precisely where they

started, enriched and satiated, having completed a culinary journey rather than a

traditional trip from A to B.

Whether through novelty or distraction, companies like these are seeking to

encourage consumers by creating engaging travel experiences that support

their products and enhance their brands. And it seems to be catching on.

Rosanna Beart

2121

While many of us graze unhealthily to distract ourselves while traveling,

Weight Watchers have cleverly integrated dieting into the joys

of a Caribbean cruise experience.

Photo Credit: Oliur Rahman

FAST

Rosanna Beart

of drivers admit to eating behind the wheel – despite the dangers.

70%

30%

drop in your taste buds’ sensitivity to sweet and salty foods on an airplane.

$2B was invested by American Airlines on customer experience, completely redesigning its first class meal service.

23

FAST

FAC

TS5th The 5th most

important attribute of a restaurant experience, is the location.

$683.1B spent on leisure travel each year in the US.

20% of all American meals are now eaten in the car.

23

Fabulou

sly

Flawed

Rosanna Beart

25

Organic, farm-to-table, vegan – three of the biggest

trends spearheading our move toward healthier,

more conscientious eating. But recently, we are

seeing the emergence of foods that seem to buck

the norm in both form and appearance. Whether

purely subversive or the reflection of growing

consumer nostalgia and a desire to revert to the

past, brands are making headlines with some

unexpected food and drink releases.

Discernibly natural and organic foods sell for a

hefty premium in stores. Imperfect Produce has

responded to this trend, making a living by buying

and re-selling ‘ugly’ foods and marketing their

imperfections as proof that they weren’t artificially

cultivated to a cosmetic standard. So what’s driving

this trend of food blatantly designed for aesthetic

quirkiness? For some, it seems to be less of a

backlash against the perfectly packaged and more

of a marketing ploy that appreciates the ‘Instagram-

ability’ of weird inventions. We’re not talking about

baseball sized strawberries in February here, the

trend is far more grotesque. We’re talking about

things like black-ink gyoza dumplings, pink coffee

and the mermaid-toast that sparked an entire lurid

sub-trend in ‘unicorn food.’

On the other end of the spectrum, some brands are

satyisfying the demand of those who seek to be

simultaneously healthy and naughty. A new trend

has risen around engineering produce to resemble

things they are not. Some brands have taken a

chance on the idea that consumers committed

to being vegetarian or vegan might still crave

indulgent food and snacks — they’re being proven

New food trends are blurring the lines between healthy eating and self indulgence.

savvy. Meet the ‘impossible burger’ — a vegetarian

burger from Impossible Foods that looks, feels,

tastes and smells like ground beef, even though it’s

made entirely of plants. It even ‘bleeds’ when cut

open. The team spent five years researching what it

is about meat that people love - the sizzle, the smell,

the juicy first bite. They then set out to find exactly

the right plant ingredients and science needed to

recreate those sensory elements. The company’s

aim isn’t to defy health trends, but instead open

them up to as wide an audience as possible, even

if that means creating something that seems a

bit unnatural. Democratizing healthy eating has

become big business.

Brands are scrambling to make satisfying our most indulgent desires easy, accessible and healthy enough not to put us in an early grave

— behold the vegan junk food market. Pizza Hut

just released their new vegan cheese option to

cater to an increasing number of vegans, following

a similar move by Domino’s in Israel. By Chloe,

a rapidly expanding vegan fast food chain was

awarded Grub Street’s most successful restaurant

opening back in 2015 and London’s street food

stand Biff ’s Jack Shack, claims it was, ‘sent from the

future to save vegan food’ by serving ‘filthy junk

food.’ These are just a few brands marketing their

products on the basis that while legitimately vegan

they’re seasoned with a little vulgar indulgence.

25Photo Credit: Jenny Dettrick

Today’s Specials01 ‘Shamrock Shake’

02 Black Burger

03 ‘Adult Meal’

04 Quesadilla with KitKat Inside

05 Sweet & Crunchy Tenders

06 Cherry Pie and Unicorn Frappuccino

07 Mushroom - Infused coffee

08 Soup in a bottle

09 Algae du jour

10 Crosushi

McDonalds

Burger King

Burger King

Taco Bell

Popeyes

Starbucks

Whole Foods

Fawen

The Ocean

Holmes Bakery

A green milkshake designed to liven up your St Patrick’s day celebration.

A sweet variety of the traditional quesadilla that includes chocolate and Kit Kat wafer pieces inside.

Released worldwide for Halloween and always available in Japan.

Israel offered an ‘adults meal’ on Valentine’s day 2017, complete with adult toy.

made with a shortbread cookie coating that provides both a sweet flavor and crunchy texture.

A multicolored mix of unicorn inspired fruit flavors.

Mushrooms add powerful antioxidants and immune support to your morning cup of joe.

A ready to drink vegan soup broth - say goodbye to juicing and hello to souping.

Try adding this powerful superfood to anything from smoothies and ice cream to salad dressing and even cookies.

A buttery spin on sushi, replacing seaweed with a croissant.

Rosanna Beart

2727

... even though it’s made entirely of plants ...

... it ‘bleeds’ when cut open.

“

”Photo Credit: Peter Tarasiuk

With Marijuana rapidly becoming mainstream and legal across the country, new creative uses and applications abound. We explore some of the most interesting developments in new weed-based supplements and food products.

Andrew Sacks-Hoppenfeld Photo Credit: Emre Gencer

29Photo Credit: Emre Gencer

In 2012 the first states, Colorado and Washington,

legalized recreational marijuana for adults. This

was the beginning of a steady movement that now

has over 50% of states in the USA (currently 29)

legalizing recreational marijuana use in some form.

In this modern day marijuana gold rush, companies

are betting huge amounts of money on the industry.

These investments have resulted in a new under-

standing of the marijuana plant itself, its many

chemical varients and how they can be used for a

wide range of purposes.

Food products are just one of the most interesting,

and potentially profitable applications of marijua-

na. The most common and well known form of food

product associated with marijuana is the edible

— often a sugary treat that gets you really, really

high. While most people probably think of brownies

when talking about marijuana edibles, there are end-

less ways marijuana can be infused into food and not

always in a way that gets the consumer — ‘high’.

THC is the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana

but there are also CBDs, the group of chemicals

used for most of the medicinal applications of the

plant. Any dispensary in a state with medicinal or

recreational marijuana laws will have a wide range

of edible products from baked goods to candies,

sodas and other snack foods, not all of which are

solely meant to get you ripped.

Infusing food with cannabis has left the dorm room

and entered the American kitchen.

We’re witnessing a marijuana gold rush,

with companies betting huge amounts of money

on the industry.

Most people probably think of brownies when talking about marijuana edibles but there are endless ways marijuana can be infused into food.

Andrew Sacks-Hoppenfeld

31

Apart from THC and CBD, scientists have also start-

ed to extract aromatic terpenes from the plants.

Terpenes are the fragrant oils that give cannabis its

pungent smell and taste. Just a few drops of ter-

pene concentrate can add tremendous and unique

flavor to foods.

Bong Appetit, a show on Viceland, explores how

chefs can incorporate various parts of the plant into

traditional dishes. The show invites professionals

and famous chefs from around the country to cook

a marijuana infused meal from their weed kitchen

in California. These high-end meals use THC, CBD,

terpenes and raw plant matter to create balanced

and delicious meals that just happen to include

marijuana.

The trend is also penetrating far beyond the tradi-

tional food market, influencing more unexpected

markets such as pet food and treats. CBD, the

non-psychoactive element in marijuana is being

used to treat canine anxiety. Instead of feeding

your dog Xanax or Prozac (yes, that’s a thing) you

can feed them low-dose marijuana treats, tested

to achieve the same calming and anxiety reducing

effect as a wide range of pharmaceuticals and

narcotics, all while boasting fewer side effects and

no risk of addiction.

The monetary and technological investment in

marijuana based products has resulted in new

uses for a plant that was once considered a ‘gate-

way drug’. These advances are demonstrating that

marijuana can be used and consumed in myriad

ways.

With today’s consumers taking a more open mind-

ed approach to the plant, its use in food products

is driving innovation, creativity and revenue for a

new market estimated to be worth $31.4 billon by

2021, according to a report by Brightfield Group, a

cannabis market research firm.

HOW WE EXPERIENCE FOOD—HOW WE SEE IT, SMELL IT AND HOW WE TASTE IT—HAS BECOME AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THE PACKAGING. FOR CHEFS, BRANDS AND RESTAURANTEURS, THE EMPHASIS ON PRESENTATION HAS MASSIVE IMPLICATIONS.

PACKAGED PERFECTION

Austin Randall Photo Credit: Matthew Roharik

33Photo Credit: Matthew Roharik

Packaging is defined in the Merriam Webster

dictionary as: “the presentation of a person,

product, or action in a particular way.”

Packaging has driven many innovations in an

industry where presentation is as precious and

premeditated as the product it portrays . Customers

have come to expect more from ‘packaging’ than

fancy logos, nutritional education and best-before

dates. Brands have realized that the experience

that gets wrapped around products is as important

as the physical packaging and even the food itself.

For today’s customers and brands, ‘packaging’

has grown to signify something much larger — a

destination, an exploration and an invitation to try

something new.

DIGITAL DISHESThese days, Instagram is the de-facto presentation

layer for the food experience. It’s de rigeur to snap

a photo of your food before actually eating it. Many

new restaurants even design their interiors to

encompass instagrammable signature features, as

people’s social media habits become just as relevant

as their menu preferences. According to recent

research 8-35 year-olds spend five whole days a

year browsing food images on Instagram, and 30

per cent would avoid a restaurant if their Instagram

presence was weak.

Does this mean a chef ’s food is only as good as

her last post? Instagram has become a sort of

interactive menu, where would-be customers

browse pictures of dishes and read comments

on atmosphere — often choosing what to eat

based on how the food looks and the vibe of

the establishment.

So, how are chefs translating a compelling visual

presentation and social media presence into actual

foot traffic? One approach is challenging an old

taboo and bringing politics directly to the table.

Celebrity chef Jose Andres decided to get involved in

a social project to boost his social media presence,

and appeal to new customers. To reach his goal,

the chef, along with his #ChefsForPuertoRico

network and volunteers. served hot meals and

sandwiches in Puerto Rico’s 78 municipalities by

mobilizing food trucks and setting up kitchens

across the island. This campaign was covered

on Twitter and Instagram, securing wide press

coverage and gaining Jose followers and customers

for his New York restaurant.

In a more risky buzz-generating gamble, some

restaurants have declared their establishments

Trump free zones. Such ploys can backfire. When

Mila Kunis, a spokeswoman for Jim Beam, used

Twitter to fire a shot at the current administration,

it was a step too far for some fans of the brand. A

boycott followed. Clearly consumers are paying

close attention, and some people still prefer their

food served without a helping of politics.

SENDING CELLPHONES BACK TO THE KITCHEN Some experiences are packaged around a rejection

of contemporary norms and are designed for

those seeking a refuge from the real-time. At the

Japanese ramen chain, Ichiran, service is a huge

part of the dining experience. You’ll be asked to

leave your phone off and keep conversation to a

bare minimum. The idea is that, “there’s something

to be said for allowing yourself to simply focus on

the food by isolating yourself from the rest of the

world” (Ichiran 2018). At Ichiran there is no talking

to waiters, they claim you’ll, “enjoy a higher level

of Ramen,” when you sit silently at their flavor

concentration booths. Orders are placed by

pressing a button and handing a slip of paper

through a bamboo covered window. Meals are

silently delivered through the same window.

While Ichiran put a spotlight on their food by

removing all distractions, others appeal to more

ethical concerns by limiting their packaging’s

impact on the environment.

ECO FRIENDLY PACKAGINGCircular design is the philosophy or trend of

removing as much physical packaging as possible.

The average American produces over 4 pounds of

trash per day. In an attempt to address this insanity

some companies and grocery stores have begun to

introduce new products and systems to mitigate

the problem. An app called Miwa, launched in

the Czech Republic, delivers custom quantities of

groceries to customers in reusable packaging.

Algramo, a Chilean company, is developing a

system for selling products in reusable containers

in local convenience stores. Even the coffee market

is getting a facelift. CupClub, is a UK subscription

service for reusable lids. TrioCup offer an origami-

style folding cup with attached lid. Both innovations

have won funding for further development. And

yet however noble these and similar products are,

they are still in their infancy. Larger brands may

seize the opportunity to fast-track mass-market

introduction of such reputation enhancing features.

On the industrial scale, there is an interesting

trend emerging around packaging that is actually

edible itself. Thanks to research at the U.S.

Department of Agriculture, there now exists an

edible and biodegradable food packaging material

made out of casein, a milk protein.

Apart from doing away with the environmental

blight of individually wrapped items, edible

packaging actually adds nutritional value to the

snack it’s wrapping. In addition to adding protein,

the casein packaging is up to 500 times more

effective than plastic at blocking oxygen from the

food it protects, allowing items to stay fresh longer.

THANKS TO RESEARCH AT THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, THERE NOW EXISTS AN EDIBLE AND BIODEGRADABLE FOOD PACKAGING MATERIAL MADE OUT OF CASEIN, A MILK PROTEIN.

Austin Randall

35

It can also be used in place of chemicals as a

protective spray on pizza boxes or in place of

sugar coatings on cereal flakes. Unfortunately,

don’t expect to be munching your string cheese

wrapper just yet, the process currently takes

too long to be a viable replacement for plastics.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture it

will take another 2-3 years of development before

mass production can begin. There are however

a few products currently on the market that you

can actually try. Delta, a UK based company,

helps restaurants make sauces in edible packets

and Evoware is selling Belgian waffles wrapped

in edible seaweed. Compostable/biodegradable

flatware and containers have been around a bit

longer. Places like Whole Foods continue to use

these, and their quality has steadily improved over

the past few years to the point where they are now

indistinguishable from their plastic predecessors.

Along with flatware, another major pollutant

comes from discarded plastic water bottles.

Icelandic product designer, Ari Jónsson, decided

he needed to take action and has fashioned a

biodegradable water bottle from algae.

INTERACTIVE PACKAGINGAlthough the majority of innovation in packaging

is of the digital or environmental variety, there

are a few brands who are taking packaging to the

next level. Kuvee has developed a Wi-Fi enabled,

‘smart-bottle’ that replaces the conventional paper

labels on wine bottles. A full LED touchscreen now

allows customers to rate and share their reviews

right from the bottle. Following in the unnecessary

innovation trend, we also have the Pizza Hut,

“Blockbuster Box” a tabletop projector powered by

your smartphone and your used pizza delivery box.

A slightly more utilitarian invention is the McBike

— a McDonald’s box that helps you get burgers

and shakes home on a bike without worrying

about spillage!

ARE WE RUINING OUR APPETITES?For millennials and Gen X’ers, ‘instagram-ability’

risks taking precedence over taste and may distract

from the social experience of enjoying a meal with

other people. While Instagram can introduce you

to new foods and cultural phenomena, the focus

on appearance and sharing for social currency isn’t

without potential pitfalls. According to the Journal

of Consumer Psychology, “if we spend too much

time repeatedly viewing such foods… this can lead

to pre-satiation. That is, you’re already a bit tired of

the food before you even start eating it.”

Is over-sharing ruining our appetites? Regardless

of the answer, there will continue to be further

innovations in food packaging and experience,

and while some will definitely make things more

interesting for the consumer, the innovations that

really improve our lives are the environmentally

minded variety.

Although water bottles made from algae and

seaweed wrappers aren’t the sexiest of trends,

they definitely represent the most noble variety.

It could be that sustainability innovations are what

will ensure we’re all around to experience the

next big thing.

C E R E A L P O PC O R N T H E A 1H A M B U R G E RF O R G O T T E N C H O C O L A T E C A N D Y F O O DD O U G H N U T SG R O U P S P I E

Andrew Sacks-Hoppenfeld

3737

C H E F S T U R N O L D M E M O R I E S I N T O N E W D I S H E S - E Q U A L PA R T S N O S TA L G I A A N D N O V E LT Y.When developing a restaurant or menu, chefs and restaurateurs often look to culture to find new ways to connect with customers and lure in new ones. Most recently, chefs are looking to the past and creating new dishes that connect to old memories. Whether it’s through incorporating child - hood favorites or dusting off forgotten ingredients, chefs are reimagining our favorite foods in bold new ways. Flip the page to see five examples of chefs that are cooking up the future by tapping into our collective past.

1

4

53

2

SPAMSpam is a canned food that everyone has heard

of but few outside of Hawaii have dared to eat in

the last 30 years. Most people think of Spam as a

canned “meat-product” akin to cat food, but many

chefs are using it as a novelty ingredient in high end

dishes. Chefs like Kosmas Koukoulis, the owner of

Uncle’s Hawaiaan Grindz, in Baltimore, uses Spam

as a key ingredient in several of his dishes. He

grew up with Spam and has many customers who

frequent his restaurant solely for a high-end twist

on the old ration food of their childhood.

MAX BRENNER CHOCOLATE BAR Who doesn’t love chocolate? Max Brenner’s

chocolate bar has locations worldwide with a focus

on everybody’s favorite food addiction — high

quality chocolate — the most ubiquitous sweet on

earth. Whether you are drawn to the restaurant for

a chocolate fondue spread or just a standard waffle

drizzled with fudge, Max Brenner’s bar focuses on

sweet treats that everyone knows and loves.

BERCO’S POPCORN

Everyone is familiar with the standard bag of

popcorn. But Berco’s Popcorn, located in Chicago,

Illinois, has gone far beyond standard. Their

locations boast a wide selection of flavors and

sizes of the delicious gourmet variety. And while a

popcorn store seems like a pretty low-cost option

for a snack, Berco’s has defied all expectation by

introducing, “Billion Dollar Popcorn” alongside their

more affordable varieties. Unsurprisingly given the

name, it’s sold a la carte, at $5 per kernel.

KELLOGGS CEREAL BARS Likely inspired by Cereal Killer Cafe in London’s

Shoreditch district, Kelloggs, everyone’s favorite

cereal company has started opening actual cereal

bars. Originally a cheap, bottom of the bin breakfast

staple, these popular bars are taking cereal to new

heights. When you go to the ‘Cereal Café’ you can

expect a ‘gourmet’ breakfast experience. A bowl of

cereal from the Kelloggs Ceral Bar will run you over

$7, but the memories it’s bound to stir up

are priceless.

MOMOFUKU MILK BAR David Chang, the highly successful chef and

restauranteur has given a facelift to a product

that has waned in popularity: milk. Unsurprisingly,

at his popular Milk Bar chain everything is milk

flavored. Along with milk, the main ingredient in

most of his cookies and cakes is corn flakes. When

you visit Milk Bar you can opt for a bottle of Cereal

Milk, or a milk flavored ice cream with corn flakes

on top.

Andrew Sacks-Hoppenfeld

39

$1,00

0 ICE

CREA

M SU

NDAE

$100 G

OLD C

OVER

ED DO

NUTS

$5,00

0 BUR

GUER

The most expensive ice cream

in the world — a gold leaf

covered ice cream sundae from

Serendipity — will run you a

cool $1,000. However, if you’re

looking for instant gratification

look elsewhere, customers

must reserve this ridiculously

indulgent treat 48 hours

in advance.

Another gilded treat is next on

the list. At the Manila Social Club

in Miami, you can get a hand-

gilded 24k pure gold leaf donut

for only $100 or $1,200 for a

‘Golden Dozen.’ These donuts are

hand made with imported sweet

Ube yam from the Philippines,

Cristal champagne, and twice

dusted in gold leaf.

When you’re done at the poker

table you can roll the dice on

your health at Fleur Burger in

Las Vegas by ordering a burger

truly fit for a whale. The Fleur

Burger is constructed of wagyu

beef, foie gras and truffles, and

complimented by a 20 year old

bottle of wine. If the meat itself

doesn’t give you a good sweat, the

$5,000 bill certainly will.

$2,00

0 FRIT

ATTA

$1,00

0 PIZZ

ANorma’s is in the lobby of the

Parker Meridian Hotel in the

heart of NYC. Widely known for

their food and long lines, most

people are there for the brunch

offerings. However, a select

few come for something a bit

more indulgent, the notorious,

‘Zillion Dollar Lobster Frittata.’

For $2,000, Norma’s dares you

to expense their caviar topped

lobster frittata.

Nino’s Bellissima Pizza is the

brainchild of Nino Slimaj a

restauranteur who was looking

to get some attention in the

oversaturated NYC pizza game.

He’s known for two things:

shamelessly marketing his

restaurants in any wild way

he can and the $1,000 pizza

pie. When he introduced the

new $1,000 pizza to the menu

he finally succeeded in getting

the attention he craved. Now,

customers flock to the restaurant

to order from his famously

balanced menu, which includes

options from the classic .99 cent

pizza to the $1,000 behemoth,

slathered in six different kinds of

caviar and a lobster.

CHEFS ROLLING OUT THE RED CARPET FOR LOW - END FOOD.

Whether you’re looking to impress that special date or test the overdraft notifications on your mobile banking app, the trend

in uber-expensive junk food and novelty dishes will provide you with many options. A quick browse through your discovery

tab in Instagram will reveal a number of food establishments taking a more high-end approach to customer acquisition.

Check out these five examples of chefs that are rolling out the red carpet for low-end food.

39

Rapid innovation in food production has proven to be a double-edged sword. It seems the more we make, the more we waste.

THE ECONOMICS

OF WASTE

Markus Miklis

41

In industrialized countries, more than 40% of losses/waste happen at retail and consumer levels.

Global quantitative food losses and waste per year are roughly 30% for cereals, 40-50% for root crops, fruits and vegetables, 20% for oil seeds, meat and dairy plus 35% for fish.

Roughly one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year— approximately 1.3 billion tons— gets lost or wasted.

The American food market generated $640,346m in

revenue in 2017, making it the leading food market

globally (Statista 2018) – ahead of even highly

populated countries like China, with more than

four times the US population. Partly due to new

farming innovations, global food production has

increased by 17% in the last 30 years (Forbes 2018).

While these numbers represent the achievements

of a globalized and industrialized world, there is

a downside to this massive uptick in production.

50% of the land (USDA 2018) and about 80% of

freshwater in the US is used exclusively for food

production, yet over 30% (133 billion pounds) of

the overall food produced for human consumption

is lost or wasted. (EPA 2018) The ramifications of

this statistic are far reaching: it represents a major

squandering of resources used in food production,

including water, land, energy, labor and capital.

The increase in resource-intensive production

techniques has also resulted in higher greenhouse

gas emissions that are a major contributor to

climate change.

Beginning with the production, harvest and

distribution stages, down to retail and final

household consumption, there is a disturbing

pattern developing in which inefficiency results

in needless and huge waste throughout the entire

supply chain. Some responsibility for this loss lies

with the growing agricultural industry, but a hefty

portion also lies with us, the consumer. Whether it’s

rejecting food for cosmetic reasons or shopkeepers

overloading shelves to entice customers, every level

of the chain holds some of the responsibility.

asted food is the pits. It’s one

of the most harmful and far

reaching trends in our modern

culture. If you care about climate

change, deforestation, water

extraction, biodiversity,

the economy or your own wallet,

you care about food waste.

41

Markus Miklis Photo Credit: ChiccoDodiFC

43Photo Credit: ChiccoDodiFC

Taking a step back from all this negativity and

looking ahead, we can clearly see that the world

of food production and mass consumption needs

to evolve. There are positive signs from initiatives

all over the world that are revolutionizing the food

supply-chain from production to consumption.

Food production: think globally, farm locally.The world has become a smaller place and

consumers have become accustomed to eating a

mind-bogglingly wide array of products, regardless

of season. Thankfully, the ‘local’ movement is

driving a number of solutions that aim to utilize

resources more effectively and reduce the pollution

brought on by large scale food transportation. One

example is the rise of nonprofit organizations like

Alaska Community Action on Toxics, who created

Yarducopia — a yardshare program that relies on

sharing economy principles. The program connects

landowners who lack the time to garden with

would-be gardeners lacking the land necessary

to cultivate food. Produce is shared between the

homeowner and the volunteer, and 10% is donated

to a charity of their choice.

Another encouraging production trend is taking

root in a decidedly more urban neighborhood,

taking advantage of undesirable, vacant property

to cultivate food locally. Using free urban land

for agricultural purposes is just the first step in

improving the food system and making it more

community based. City councils across the US are

increasingly aware of cultivated gardens possessing

fruit trees that are neglected. These are places

where fruit goes unharvested and is left to rot.

For example, the City Food Policy Council of Salt

Lake City partnered with the Green Urban Lunch

Box (GULB) organization to tackle the problem

of spoiled and unharvested fruits, by starting the

FruitShare program. Staff and volunteers of GULB

are helping homeowners prune trees and harvest

fruit to avoid waste and the loss of perfectly good

food. In 2016 the FruitShare program harvested

125,000 pounds of fruit which they distributed to

homeowners and local food assistance programs.

Though local food production in urban areas is

no mass revolution, it offers a hopeful signal and

suggests a growing awareness of the problem

in society. Programs that match unused land

with volunteers build social capital throughout

communities, remove barriers to healthy food and

improve the lives of everyone involved.

Food distribution: Dumpster divine.We’ve all heard of bakeries throwing out perfectly

good bread, and have perhaps seen dumpsters full

of edible food at the rear of large supermarkets,

but is it time we begin to consider our part in

that cycle of waste? In industrialized countries

about 40% of food waste occurs at the retail and

consumption stages. This is partly due to the high

‘appearance quality standards’ regarding weight,

size, shape and look of produce. It is further

compounded by an increase over the last decade

in the amount of food available for purchase in all

industrialized countries.

Consumers expect to see fully stacked shelves.

Often perfectly edible products are discarded

when they reach their sell-by dates. Now, due to

the popularity of discount supermarkets it is easier

and more ‘affordable’ to let food ‘get lost’ – at least

financially speaking.

A recent report by the Wallace Center at

Winrock International, summarizes the scale

of the challenge: “Despite its productivity,

the conventional food system in the United

States is fraught with inequity, negative

environmental impacts and threats to

human health” (CommunityFood 2018).

43

Markus Miklis

45

Fortunately, there are many initiatives to prevent

and reduce food waste. Berlin-based shop ‘original

unverpackt’ (translates to ‘orginally unpackaged’)

opened in 2014 stocking food in an old-fashioned

way: instead of mutiple brands fighting for

attention, the store features far fewer choices — for

example only two choices of rice are on offer. This

is paired with a bulk shopping experience where

customers must bring their own containers to carry

food home. The initial goal was to reduce waste

generated by food packaging — but it ended up

helping to avoid overly stacked shelves and ‘taught’

consumers to be make decisions more consciously

(NY Times 2018). In the last few years operations like

this have started to appear in many countries.

Learning to love waste.It’s not just the little guys making a difference:

nations and trade associations have recognized the

problem too. The U.S Department of Agriculture

and the Environmental Protection Agency launched

the, “U.S. Food Loss and Waste 2030 Champions,”

where businesses and organizations aim to reduce

their own food loss and waste by 50% by the year

2030 (EPA 2018).

Three leading food industry bodies — the Grocery

Manufacturers Association (representing food and

beverage companies), the Food Marketing Institute

(representing food retailers), and the National

Restaurant Association (representing the food

service industry) — are partnering to form the,

“Food Waste Reduction Alliance.”

Alliance members reduce food waste within their

own operations and support programs such as,

“Reducing Consumer Confusion on Product Date

Labels” by simplifying the labeling procedure.

The current range of date labels creates much

confusion. Consumer are faced with sell-by

dates, use-by dates, expires-on labels, best-before

instructions and best-by dates. It’s no surprise

many people play it safe and discard food

prematurely (EPA 2018).

Food-recycling is another way to reduce waste.

In June 2017, west-coast retailer Salt & Straw

sought to raise awareness of food waste by

launching their ‘Rescued Food’ ice cream range.

The ice cream shop partnered with local non-

profit organizations who supplied them with food

collected from restaurants, grocery stores and

markets, while still fit to eat.

Salt & Straw chose to pay full market price for this

unconventional source of ingredients in order to

prove the economic value of surplus food.

Using this ‘rescued food’ they created new

ice cream flavors including whey-preserved

strawberry ice cream and Banana Bread Pudding

ice cream.

France takes food waste even more seriously,

becoming the first country in the world to forbid

food waste by supermarkets. Recently introduced

legislation compels French supermarkets to

donate unsold, edible food to charities and

food banks.

French supermarket chain, “Carrefour” not only

donates unsold food to charities but creates

additional value by transforming damaged and

inedible produce into biofuel that powers the

supermarket’s trucks.

As yet such innovations are scattered and

relatively small in scale. However the threat

of regulation looms and may prompt more

businesses to take action in the hope of avoiding

the imposition of legislation. And while industry

is traditionally resistant to regulation, it is

much more responsive to consumer preference

and pressure.

Consumers ultimately hold the power to demand

more responsibly sourced and produced

products. And the signs suggest we’re increasingly

favoring brands placing an emphasis on

sustainability. So go ahead, grow those beans

in a neighbor’s yard, eat tomatoes from the

garden of your local playground, and pick up that

misshapen apple.

45

We are a transformation business.Magpie is published by BrandPie. We are a global transformation business that uses the power of purpose to help clients transform their brands, cultures, strategies and business models. Transformation breeds new kinds of organizations. We combine the smarts of a strategic consultancy with the impact of a world-class creative agency.

47

Offices:BrandPie New York33 Irving PlaceNew York, NY 10003

Contact:

marylee.sachs@brandpie.com+1 917 887 3202

BrandPie London6 Regent’s WharfAll Saints Street, London, N1 9RL

Contact:

sally.bye@brandpie.com+44 20 7831 4834