Trends and Opportunities for Start-Up Food Entrepreneurs in 2017.
The global Food & Beverage industry is experiencing a complete revolution fuelled by a fundamental change in consumer values and eating habits. While for many established business this can be a formidable challenge, for aspirant food entrepreneur it represent a huge opportunity to tap into the market.
Whether you dream to start your own restaurant, become a private chef, drive your own food truck around the city or sell your cupcakes on the shelves of local shops and supermarkets, it can be tough to emerge in the crowded food industry, acquire new customers and retain them over time. At a first look the market seems “saturated” and with many options available for every type of consumer it seems impossible to make your product available to the market without any huge investment in marketing and sales. However, taking some time to learn about what is going on in your industry and to understand the trends driving consumers choices and shaping market niches, can help you to uniquely position your products and unlock unexpected growth opportunities.
Explore opportunities in the Artisanal Food market.
Many traditional brands and businesses are set up to serve established products with a large audience to ensure sales and to keep the business running. They aim to be product leaders in their category, craving for shares in a market overwhelmed by similar options. Unless you have the economic power to run huge marketing and sale campaigns, it will be difficult (or next to impossible) for you to compete with traditional brands and become a product leader in a mainstream market therefore you should seriously think about becoming a niche market competitor.
For example, the leading seller of bread in your city may have a 30% share of the total bread market with 5 to 10% net profit margin. Instead of trying to beat your competitor in the race for market share percentage you should focus on the overall profit carving out a 1 or 2% share of the market with 20 to 30% net profit margin.
The artisanal food market has become huge in the past few years because of the consumer demand for quality and transparency. Artisanal foods represents an affordable luxury for consumers and the perfect opportunity to start a new business for aspirant food entrepreneurs. Whether is hand-crafted bread, cheese, soft drinks, pastries, chocolate or other foods, most cottage food businesses start essentially the same way: with one person, hand-making a product using ingredients grown for themselves or sourced from the farmers market. They go door-to-door talking to restaurant owners, chefs, neighbors and local store to reach their first customers. Sometimes they fund their business using crowdfunding website like Kickstarter or Indiegogo, but the majority of them starts with no relevant investment. They keep at it, they grow and eventually become mainstream brands.
“We thought, why don’t we get together and do something fun and be our own bosses and since we liked to eat we should do something with food.” — Jerry Greenfield
One of the most popular examples is probably Ben & Jerry’s ice cream started by two young entrepreneurs, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield. A very little investment supported by an accurate market research enabled them to open their first successful ice cream parlor in a renovated gas station in Vermont. After two years they rented another space in an old spool and bobbin mill to start packing their ice cream in pints. This was just the start of the path which led these two entrepreneurs to build a global ice-cream empire. The company was eventually sold for $326 million to Unilever and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream can now be considered a mainstream product.
Except for a few cases similar to Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, purchases of artisanal foods are still based on “quality and healthy” rather than brand names. New technologies change the way people buy and eat food, and with food trends changing almost every year, very few brand preferences have emerged. Fortunately for aspirant food entrepreneurs, there is still a lot of rooms for experimentation in the artisanal food market.
Work hard at keeping up with trends, developing innovative and unique products, and strengthening brand identity — Myra Sable
Food industry trends that will impact your startup business.
If the opportunities in the artisanal food market are endless, in the past few years we have seen a clear switch in consumer values and eating habits towards clean and healthy eating, artisanal and homemade food, locally produced ingredients, along with a trend toward safety, sustainability and transparency through the whole supply chain.
But according to experts of the industry, with the rise of technology and with consumers looking for more authentic experiences, we’re going to see a few important changes in the trends driving the market for 2017.
Top 10 Hottest Food Trends to Start Your Own Business in 2017.
1. Homemade food.
The number of homemade food marketplaces have doubled from when we started Mealby. Nowadays — thanks also to the support from the local governments — home-cooks and independent chefs are getting the opportunity to show off their kitchen skills in two different ways: concepts similar to Mealby allow passionate cooks and professional chefs to easily and professionally sell homemade food to local residents; and EatWith is a start-up supper club, allowing people to reserve a seat at a dining event in a cook’s home.
Source: Baum + Whiteman — Food & Restaurant consulting company
2. Dosha dining.
From street food to smoothies the Indian Ayurveda culture is spreading all over the world. The remarkable rise of turmeric as a trending ingredient in recent years has become a gateway to people exploration of food as a medicine. According to experts, dosha dining will become mainstream in the coming years thanks to the popularity wave of Indian food culture and yoga.
Source: SRG — Sterling-Rice Group
3. Plant-based everything.
More people everyday are trying to eat less meat and as a result meatless burgers, sausages, meatballs and ribs will gain popularity and there will be space for plant butchery shops like the one opened in Minneapolis and Toronto.
Source: Mintel — Global and award-winning provider of market research
4. Waste-Not and sustainable foods.
Fruit snacks made from “ugly” fruit and mayonnaise made from the liquid of packaged chickpeas. Many food entrepreneurs have started to tackle food waste problems with innovative solutions to help eco-conscious diners cut down costs and eat sustainable food. While seaweed is gaining popularity thanks to its umami and presence in ramen, famous chefs are starting to incorporate in their recipes other greens such as leftover beet, turnip and mustard greens, chard and carrot tops, which are customarily thrown out.
Source: Mintel — Global and award-winning provider of market research
5. Hybrid desserts.
This trend started a few years ago with the Cronut, the delicious combination of a croissant with a donut. It consist on turning a traditional dessert into a new and better version: Freakshakes, Macaron Ice Cream Sandwich, fairy floss and Cruffins are just few examples.
Source: Baum + Whiteman — Food & Restaurant consulting company
6. Goat.
People are already trying new source of protein including crickets and goat meat is low in calories, fat and cholesterol. Goat meat is a widely used staple in some part of the world and it’s estimated to increase in popularity since people are already used to drink goat milk and eat goat cheese.
Source: SRG — Sterling-Rice Group
7. Migratory meals.
Expats and refugees are beginning to carve out their own culinary connections in their new home countries. While they celebrate their cultural heritage, locals enjoy and explore new cuisines. People who chow down on similar dishes are more likely to trust and cooperate with each other and this can help solve racial divides.
Source: SRG — Sterling-Rice Group
8. Trust in traditions.
Consumers seek comfort from modernised updates of age-old formulations, flavours and formats. The trust in the familiar emphasises the opportunity for manufacturers to look to the past as a dependable source of inspiration such as “ancient” product claims including ancient grains and also ancient recipes, practices and traditions. Potential also exists for innovations to something new but recognisable such as cold-brew coffee.
Source: Mintel — Global and award-winning provider of market research
9. Protein-packed snacks.
Just for example, in the last five years jerky consumption has jumped by 18%. Increasingly, consumers are looking for protein-packed snacks that are portable and easy on the wallet and companies are shifting their focus to artisanal preparation methods that features bolder, globally inspired flavours.
Source: THP — leading full service creative and communications agency
10. Cake me up!
Food-chains and restaurants will incorporate a robust breakfast dessert menu in the coming months in response to recent studies from Syracuse and Tel Aviv University linking dark chocolate consumption to positive health benefits which may encourage more consumers to indulge in the morning.
Source: SRG — Sterling-Rice Group
Keeping track of what’s happening in the industry is incredibly important for any business owner, but it’s especially essential when you’re just starting out on your own. By taking inspiration and learning from other people success and failures you’ll become seeing how you can apply their lessons to your own business, and quickly evolve your idea in a successful and shining business.
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