Weekly Food Industry Insights - October 6, 2023

The Lempert Report Live broadcasts live on Mondays at 2:30pm ET.? All episodes are also added to our podcast archives.?LISTEN HERE. Follow us on LinkedIn for updates, additional content not found in our newsletter, and discussions with industry professionals.?

SPECIAL REPORT: Last night I joined Chris Cuomo on his Primetime show?discussing how weight loss drugs are affecting the foods we eat.? Watch the YouTube short here.? Find out why Ozempic poses a threat to the packaged food industry.? WATCH

INSIGHTS FOR THIS WEEK

THE BULLSEYE

Heinz, Taylor Swift, and Travis Kelce

On the Bullseye - There's no denying it – pop culture plays a powerful role in shaping our purchasing decisions. Brands have long understood the value of leveraging celebrity partnerships, moments, and movements to promote their products. But every now and then, a partnership emerges that's so unexpected yet perfectly pitched, it captures the collective imagination. FULL STORY.

Instacart Wars Are Here

A war is brewing in a big way. We look at Instacart?on September 18th went through with their IPO at $30 a share. Last time I looked a couple hours ago it was about $27.66 a share, and this morning a report came out that Instacart's first couple of quarters on the public markets could come with slower revenue growth and lower profit than it reported in the first half, according to private forecasts from analysts at the banks that underwrote Instacart's IPO. The low expectations could further dent Instacart's stock price, which has still been hovering around its IPO price. If the company can surpass forecast, analysts at Goldman Sachs and other banks expect Instacart to report between 7 and 8% revenue growth in the second half. Two people familiar with the matter said that's down from growth of 31% in the first half and 50% growth in profits. At the same time that Instacart is floundering, and I would use that word, what we find is Uber Eats and DoorDash?picking up steam and trying to get to the grocery business.??FULL STORY

National Food Waste Fight

Martie is a new app?and a new website started by two food entrepreneurs who really wants to make food waste front and foremost throughout the entire country.?What I love about Martie is they operate the way a dollar store does or the way a grocery outlet does, where they buy from major companies and smaller companies. They've got over 2,500 different brands, including folks like Kellogg's and Quaker and Pepsi and the like, so they're buying the brand's surplus and overstock inventory and they give it to consumers at a deep discount.?FULL STORY

Pandemic Food Marketing

There's a great article in?Fast Company?about what the pandemic has taught us about food marketing,?written by Megan Teates, Executive Vice President with Affinity Group, which is a food service sales and marketing group. She points out four must-haves. One is that social media can be used to gauge consumer perceptions in real time. Two, globally inspired flavors are in high demand. Three, the definition of healthy continue to evolve. And four, it's about the experience. And what she points out on the experience is the dining out is fun, but carry out can be fun too. FULL STORY

Startups on Menus

It all started with Impossible Foods -- when they introduced their plant-based burger, they decided to go to upscale restaurants before they went to supermarkets to get it on their menus. Now we're seeing a whole bunch of new?food and beverage startups that are working with restaurants?to try to get on their menus.?FULL STORY

Carbon Neutral Food Claims

There's some new information that's coming out across the pond from the European Union, where?they reached an agreement to ban generic environmental claims, including climate neutral, by 2026.?FULL STORY

Thank you to all who joined us for the first National #FoodNotPhones Day!We hope you will join us for our next challenge, November 23, 2023, Thanksgiving Day! Join us here. https://www.foodnotphones.com

Loneliness is now a public health crisis. Sharing food has always been a way to inspire joy and community across all cultures. We invite you to join us in a new movement,?#FoodNotPhones, by way of pausing from our phones during mealtimes and enjoying fellowship with friends and family on Thanksgiving,?November 23th, 2023. Make the personal commitment by signing up today!