How to create FoodTech success in 2020 and beyond?

The secret recipe for creating the future of food
(Hint: it goes well beyond innovation)

I wrote this article exactly 2 years ago as I was reflecting on some of my journey’s learnings from sunny Tel Aviv.

Quite a lot of water has passed under the Forward Fooding bridge since, however, a lot of the concepts that were relevant then, still very much resonate with me now.

Only a few weeks ago, I was assigned a big task: To give a keynote presentation without any slides (which I have never done before) about FoodTech trends in front of a group of C-level executives from the IMF (Institute of Manufacturing, Cambridge University) Food & Beverage Open Innovation forum.

Armed with the intention of not sending my audience to sleep, I tried my best to condense some of the latest FoodTech trends and some of the more interesting stories that have shaped my understanding of FoodTech and entrepreneurship over the last 2 years.

Whether it is fighting climate change, malnutrition, or reducing food waste, what I’ve witnessed is that the world of FoodTech is about impact, and that it is led by entrepreneurs driven by a mission.

It is my belief that the most powerful force that entrepreneurs are using to make their FoodTech businesses thrive, is purpose.

The success stories I see are the entrepreneurs combining tech solutions that can help solve a problem with a great sense of purpose, and that has a positive impact on society.

Second to purpose, the other driving factor in success, in my opinion, is talent.

And guess what? As a result of having to figure out their sense of purpose, these businesses are better suited to actually attract young talents who are seeking to work for purpose-led organizations.

But don’t just take my word for it…According to Google trends, ‘purpose in life’ has seen a spike in searches over the last 10 years primarily driven by the 3 largest generations on the planet (Millennials, Gen X and Baby Boomers) who are trying to understand who they are in the face of this chaos, discover their purpose in life, and activate it.

To add to that, in the past couple of years some of the most internationally renowned magazines like The Economist, Fast Company and Wired, among others, title their covers with witty and provocative questions/slogans such as, “What are companies for?” or, “Reimagining capitalism”.

This, of course, leads even the biggest of corporations to question their purpose.

Employees are asking for ‘meaning’, corporate leaders (read: American Business roundtable) are waking up to fingers being pointed at them and consumers are questioning capitalism as we know it.

If that wasn’t enough, there are external factors like the climate crisis as well as political and social turbulences that are shaking up the entire world. Don’t forget the activists, like Greta Thunberg who are acting as the driving force of change or what I refer to as ‘revolution catalyzers’.

But what does all of this have to do with innovation in food?

Well, in my humble opinion, understanding all these social phenomena and trends is key to innovating in any field and, as any considerate business person reading this would agree, great businesses often start with great talents.

According to Employment worldwide by 2020, by generation — Generation Y, also known as Millennials, will probably make up 35% of the global workforce. By 2030, roughly 2/3 of the workforce will be millennials and generation Z. This leads me to ask, “What kind of purpose are Generation Y and Z (or your kids for that matter) seeking for from the companies they work for?”

And how do you actually attract talent?

I think innovation can’t happen without fresh talent — and I think you have to look no further than any of the businesses you represent to actually find that fresh talent.

The problem is usually identifying (and even understanding) the purpose that drives talent to unite towards a common goal. This is exactly where we see a ton of opportunities that can be leveraged for corporate-startup collaboration.

At Forward Fooding, we believe corporate executives and entrepreneurs can learn a lot from one another by creating mutually beneficial business transactions. However, some of the biggest hurdles faced during meaningful collaborations with startups boil down to ego-fights, fear of embracing new ways of doing business and even biased opinions about startups’ reliability.

The more I investigate into this pressing issue faced by corporates, the more I realize that embracing Open Innovation and changing how big businesses approach it, really does depend on the people who are running the business. Some of them embrace it, such as Unilever, which proudly shared their 10-year journey to becoming a more entrepreneurial organization and developing ‘purposeful’ brands (in this article) while others don’t.

I wish I had a ‘secret recipe’ to share with you about how to effectively work with startups but unfortunately, there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ magic model as it usually very much depends on the company’s purpose, the management’s motivations and first and foremost the people they put on the ground.

To all the corporates out there, I do have one single piece of advice for you: Try and be a bit of a ‘corporate pirate’. That means being more open to work with entrepreneurs towards a common goal, be it yourself, or the business you represent, and you will be surprised about the power of collaboration when working towards something meaningful.

So, find those colleagues of yours who are seeking purpose and invite them to embrace the ‘unknown’ by joining your meetings with startups. They’ll appreciate the learning experience.

After all, you don’t have much to lose, worst-case scenario, you’ll be better equipped to anticipate or better understand what the future holds for future generations.

Have you enjoyed this article? If so, feel free to hit that clap button below 👏 to help other internauts to find it!

For more information about how to begin your corporate-startup collaboration journey and get the most out of the process, get in touch at info@forwardfooding.com or visit our website www.forwardfooding.com for more details.