One bold idea from a food and bev trade show

Earlier this week I attended the ‘Fine Food’ trade show in Melbourne.

It’s Melbourne’s biggest trade event for the food and bev industry, featuring up and coming brands and new ideas.

There was a lot of hype about this event.

Today I’m sharing three key themes from the event, and the most interesting businesses I came across.

Coke & Pepsi have nothing to worry about

I’m still recovering from drinking 28 different pre or pro biotic sodas. 

& I’m still not any clearer on why I need these sodas, but I can certainly tell you why I don’t need them:

1. Most taste average at best 

2. “Health benefits” are vague, unclear and lack believability 

3. Pack designs reinforce 1 & 2, instead of convincing otherwise

Now there is certainly a market for alternative sodas and I’m not trying to downplay anyone’s hard work, because there are loads of inspiring founders out there building great businesses.

But given the global rise of ‘better-for-you’ soda category, I was kinda hoping to see something more interesting in this space. 

Maybe next year…

The grass is always greener 

One consistent theme was the idea of ‘diversification’. 

Food service businesses want to build retail brands.
Retail brands want to crack into cafes and restaurants.

Co-manufacturers want to develop proprietary brands.
Brand owners want to set up their own manufacturing. 

All of these ideas are fine and make sense in theory. 

But they generally lack a clear idea about one critical element: 

Sustainable competitive advantage 

These diametrically opposed businesses are usually set up this way because the company has a clear source of competitive advantage that they exploit. 

What makes a company excellent at selling into cafes and supplying unbranded condiments to restaurants, is typically a different skill set to building a consumer brand and dealing with national grocery buyers. 

I get it, we all want growth. 

But have you thought about your sustainable source of competitive advantage?

What are you exceptionally good at that makes running your business easier for you and your team than anyone else? 

And does that apply to the new business models you want to develop? 

That said - there are businesses that can do it all and do it exceptionally well.

But it requires resourcing and running two very different business models, there really isn’t a cheat code or shortcut. 

Simply food for thought, I’d love to hear your take on it.

The economic environment is being felt

Most operators and founders I spoke to all had a similar sense of caution.

Business is tough right now and the downstream impacts on grocery shopping behaviour are real. 

Buyers are becoming more cautious about what they put on shelf.

Brands are becoming very sensitive to investment and focus.

The good news is that if you are keeping your head above water right now, you are basically playing on hard mode and if you can survive, you’ll be much stronger when things turn around. 

The highlight businesses

Freeze-dried foods is a trend

Simple idea - turn whole foods into an on-the-go snack.

I had a good chat with the founder of My Berries, Allison, and it was super inspiring. They take the rejected berries from mainstream supermarket supply and turn them into snacks!

Untapped potential

The business idea of the day

Okay so this was probably the standout idea for me - mostly because it is simple yet widely applicable.

Chocolate birthday cards by Yours Truly

I think this is a genius idea.

Take a low value product like a birthday card, add a high value product like luxury chocolate and whack them together in a new format that is different and interesting.

It follows a solid framework of innovation where it’s familiar, but different.

Maybe I have a personal bias towards this idea because I hate spending $12 on a piece of cardboard but always give in as I feel obliged to.

But the idea of spending $16 instead and giving someone a slightly more useful birthday card is brilliant.

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