KANSAS CITY — This month marks the 20th anniversary of Food Business News. What began as a magazine that published every other week has evolved into a multi-faceted news platform tracking the trends and developments that have led to significant changes in the business of food and beverage product development. Among the many dramatic changes the industry has witnessed in the past 20 years has been an acceleration of the pace of changes at businesses large and small. The explosive growth of the internet propelled by the proliferation of smartphones and now the emergence of artificial intelligence are all combining to require managers to make decisions rapidly in response to changing market conditions.
The pace of food and beverage product development offers evidence of this trend. In 2005, it took many companies 9 to 12 months to develop and bring a new product to market. Today, even at the largest companies in the industry, that timeline has been reduced by half if not more.
Food and beverage manufacturers also have greater visibility into their supply chains and product performance. Today, input costs are tracked in real time, and the level of granularity managers have in product performance at the store level is significant.
Consolidation at retail together with the growth of other channels including foodservice and now ecommerce also stand out as leading trends during the past 20 years. In 2005, manufacturers were grappling with the growing presence of mass merchandisers and warehouse stores. Walmart was expanding its food assortment then, and it continues to do so today. Target Corp. followed suit with its own food strategy, and Costco has established itself as a leader in the warehouse/club category.
The emergence of these retail powerhouses together with large niche players like Trader Joe’s, the dollar channel, drug stores and convenience stores have both provided opportunities for the food sector and weakened the market clout of large food and beverage companies.
In 2005, ecommerce was an aspiration rather than the established and growing business it is today. Amazon was focused on selling books, music and videos at the time, and early attempts to establish online grocery businesses had foundered, leaving long-lasting scars. Today the segment is thriving and has yet to achieve its full potential.
“The goal of Food Business News is to keep its readers fully abreast of developments within the food industry that will determine the well-being of their businesses,” the late Morton Sosland, then the editor-in-chief of Food Business News, wrote in the editorial leading the publication’s first issue on March 8, 2005.
That sentiment still guides Food Business News’ approach to covering the industry and the issues and technologies executives must grapple with daily. Looking ahead, such change agents may be the next stage of AI development, climate change, precision fermentation or cell cultivation. All are in nascent stages of development and offer the potential for generational change.
So far as this platform is concerned, we remain committed to keeping readers informed about the industry developments that must be adopted, avoided, understood and/or overcome to ensure the well-being of their businesses and look forward to experiencing with the food and beverage industry what promises to be even more monumental change in the next 20 years.
