This week Wendy talks to Stuart Wilson from Food Strategy Associates.
Stuart has worked for nearly 30 years in the food supply business, from Cadbury to Kraft to Premier Foods. He has extensive knowledge of how our changing lifestyle and habits drives food manufacturing businesses. Stuart is passionate about health and wellbeing, but is pragmatic about the challenges food manufacturers face.
There are several ‘aha’ moments for Wendy this week, including the realisation that as consumers our demand low price and consistent quality puts enormous pressure on the food industry. That there is a constant balancing act between making sure that manufacturers comply with food standards, reacting to consumer demand, protecting profits. And simply put it’s not as simple as it first appears.
They discuss food trends, and Stuart definitely feels that consumers have been moving towards healthier foods, plant based foods and ‘free from’ ranges. However the CV-19 epidemic has put a halt to that and whilst there is not an issue with stock levels, the changing habits definitely caught out over the fast change in buying. Whilst we had plenty of flour and pasta in the warehouses the big challenge was getting it out to the supermarkets.
Stuart is still very excited by the trends and changes in the industry and loves to help businesses navigate these changes. They discuss a very diverse range of foods from Wagon Wheels to rice pudding and insects! Stuarts passion for food clearly shows through in the podcast.
Contact Stuart at Food Strategy Associates
Stuart is keen to stress that ‘Big Food’ isn’t the enemy and he wanted to share some links for those that want to understand more about the food industry.
Food and Drink Federation: www.fdf.org.uk
Institute of Grocery Distribution: www.igd.com