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By any other name: Beyond Meat grows beyond belief

Linda Popky Food & Beverage

In 2016, a Los Angeles-based company called Beyond Meat introduced the first plant-based burger to be sold in the meat section of a grocery store. Not only do these products look like a real hamburger, but they taste almost meat-like, too. The company’s revenue is expected to more than double this year, and the total market for plant-based, meat-like products is expected to shoot up to $5.2 billion by 2020. There's a lesson here for your business: Rather than continue to make incremental changes in a crowded or constricted category, try taking a leap forward with innovations so dramatic they change the category itself.

McDonald’s eliminates CMO, forms new partnership with DoorDash: Is…

Linchi Kwok Marketing

McDonald’s recently announced a new organizational structure in its marketing division and formed a new partnership with DoorDash. According to CNBC, other companies such as Uber and Johnson & Johnson (J&J) also took a similar approach to restructure their marketing division. Additionally, besides restaurants and food-delivery startups, major retailers are also getting into the delivery competitions. Walmart and Nordstrom, for example, are building physical stores that surprisingly do not sell anything.

How to build a good rapport with online influencers

Joseph Brady Marketing

The most powerful marketing tactic that has worked wonders for small and large businesses alike is word of mouth. Online influencers have gained instant popularity as they can spread the word about a brand to a large number of people immediately. This is why it’s predicted that, by 2020, influencer marketing will become a $10 billion industry. Finding and collaborating with influencers for your business is a big task by itself but establishing a relationship with them is as important. Follow these practices to build a good rapport with online influencers.

House passes $15 minimum wage bill, but its prospects are dim in Senate

Seth Sandronsky Business Management, Services & Risk Management

On July 18, the majority-Democratic House of Representatives passed the Raise the Wage Act to gradually increase the federal minimum wage, now at $7.25 and unchanged since 2009, to $15 in 2025. Some Republican House members did cross party lines to vote to increase the federal minimum wage. "This critical policy would lift wages for more than 33 million workers, 90% of them age 20 or older and 58% of them women," according to Heidi Shierholz, a senior economist and the director of policy at the Economic Policy Institute.

Is the current market too tough for upscale restaurants?

Linchi Kwok Food & Beverage

Operating a restaurant is never easy, but is it particularly challenging for upscale restaurants? Restaurants Unlimited Inc., for instance, which operates 35 fine-dining and "polished casual" eateries, filed for bankruptcy in Delaware last week. In June, the Four Seasons Restaurant, an iconic spot for power lunch in Manhattan, also closed for business less a year after its reopening. Are these two examples isolated cases or the tip of the iceberg? If upscale restaurants are struggling to survive in today’s market, what challenges are they facing?

EPA approves bee-killing pesticide use as populations of the insect crater

Scott E. Rupp Food & Beverage

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in June approved the use of a bee-killing pesticide and, more recently, the White House said it would stop collecting data on declining honey bee populations. Those who follow such developments say this move could make tracking the effects of the chemicals on bees impossible. The Department of Agriculture's Honey Bee Colonies report, compiled annually since 2015, had been designed to help scientists and farmers assess the decline of honey bees, which are responsible for pollinating one in every three bites of food taken by humans.

Farms try to stay afloat amid troubled financial, commercial waters

Seth Sandronsky Food & Beverage

Farm cash flow is down, along with loans from big banks, as the China-U.S. trade war widens, Reuters is reporting. Beijing’s soybean tariffs are hurting American farmers, and spring flooding propelled in part by climate change is making bad matters worse. As farm cash flow slows, "JPMorgan and other Wall Street banks are heading for the exits," according to an analysis of the farm-loan holdings reported to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

Why meatless madness won’t be going away any time soon

Dave G. Houser Food & Beverage

There’s no doubt about it — we Americans love our meat. We eat more of it per-person than any country in the world except Luxembourg. Health experts and environmentalists tell us this is not a good thing. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that meat — red and white — contributes directly to heart disease, stroke, diabetes and various types of cancer. The heavy environmental impacts of conventional meat production are a major concern as well. Under such circumstances, it should come as no surprise that vegetable-based burgers that look like meat and taste like meat are winning over millions of skeptical consumers, taking Wall Street by storm and prompting Big Ag to jump into a potentially lucrative business that began on the vegan fringe.

3 ways AR and VR are reshaping efficient work

Joseph Zulick Science & Technology

Some people believe that the entire concept of "work" will be reimagined and reexamined in the near future. In fact, "work" is already changing, and augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are playing a significant role in that change. There are already large corporations and small businesses that are preparing for this shift, too. Here are some of the ways in which AR/VR will change the way work gets done in the near future.

5 fresh ways to boost interest in an aging brand

Lisa Mulcahy Marketing

As a marketer, you know that when a brand starts slipping out of favor with the public, you need to act fast to stop the bleeding. The problem with this strategy is that it can make you seem desperate. For example, you may start making choices that seem like obvious ploys for consumer attention. Focused, intelligent shifts in strategy that respect your audience's core emotional needs are more effective ways to recapture their attention and attract new consumers.

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