Lisa Harris and Alex Hayes are food and drink consultants specialising in innovation and insights.
The Sunday Times contacted us for comment on the news that Taytos, the iconic Irish crisp brand, has created a cheese and onion flavoured crisp chocolate bar. We are always delighted to read our names in the Sunday papers. The print and online coverage was a small section of a longer interview we gave about this kind of fusion food trend in development.
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We developed three new breakfast concepts for plant-based food brand Pollen + Grace. The brief was to take their on-the-go breakfast offering forward and develop compelling, consumer-focused products that would help them win the morning market.
We are fascinated by the industry’s evolving understanding of our microbiome and how brands are activating new products in the gut health space.
We explored this issue for Canvas8 and interviewed three industry experts on the future of gut health in the US, including children’s gut health, drinkable formats and the rise in postbiotic and synbiotic products.
iNews interviewed us for our expert opinion on hot cross bun trends over Easter. We’re always delighted to work with press, and it’s a pleasure to be featured in a national newspaper in print and online.
With the advent of chilli and masala and even tomato and red Leicester hot cross buns from the big supermarkets, we explored how and why these wacky flavours come about.
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We partnered with leading Dutch food innovation agency Food by Design to create a food safari for one of their national food retailer clients.
We put together two central London routes, which best demonstrated current and emerging trends relevant to the brand, and showcased a range of key opportunities within health, technology, sustainability and the future of convenience.
Unilever invited us to host an interactive webinar on the future of instant noodles as part of their NPD and ideation event.
Our session was informed by consumer, market and product trends and was supported by industry and category insight. We addressed the current context, global examples and inspiration, and future opportunities.
Taste exciting new products and immerse your team in emerging trends with our trends in a box service. Perfectly suited to remote working, team building and new product development, our trend-led food and drink boxes are delivered to your home or office.
We worked on a plant-based product development project for an iconic British butcher.
Using a phased approach, we inspired the client with trend-led ideas and new ways of thinking, keeping their current customer in mind, whilst also providing opportunity to attract new customers.
A robust Insight and Discovery phase informed more detailed paper concept work, which was handed over to the in-house culinary development team to make up kitchen samples.
Harris and Hayes host immersive food trends tours to inspire NPD and bring clients up to date with emerging trends. In October 2021, we hosted 24 delegates from Vandemoortele bakery manufacturer over the course of a two-day food tour and mini-conference.
We developed an innovative, consumer-driven concept and product range for premium high street ice cream brand Beltane & Pop, recently launched into Westfield.
Unexpected colours, instant flavour hooks, and truly innovative formats were all part of a dynamic approach to the future of soft serve and slush.
We were invited to identify some near > far innovation opportunities for a growing snacking challenger brand.
We proposed eight concepts as strong NPD opportunities to take the brand beyond the snack bar. The concept shortlist provided new direction for the business, tapping into emerging consumer, market and product trends.
After our successful viennoiserie project, we were delighted to be invited back to collaborate with Délifrance on their future of bread research.
We advised them on emerging ingredients, formats and consumer behaviours in bread consumption, and assisted with their research process. Once they’d collected the data, we provided expert commentary and insights to shape their industry report. A press webinar launched the report to the media, where we discussed the findings with journalists and trade specialists.
Amid growing demand for fresher, more convenient, and sustainable products, our report into at-home eating post-Covid explored how brands are reformulating familiar products to deliver innovation beyond gimmicks. By re-engineering them from the ground up, challenger brands are redefining categories to reduce waste and give consumers a new perspective on a everyday product they might otherwise take for granted.
An international client commissioned us to report on emerging consumer behaviours and product development in children’s snacking. We can never resist snack o’clock, so we enjoyed exploring market-leading ingredients, formats and nutrition in the sector. We made expert recommendations based on how the category is changing, and suggested the most appropriate European based brands for them to collaborate with. Our research will lead to an international export project, with selected challenger brands sold via their online market in China. The project is ongoing.
Our next-gen drinks innovation report was published on food consultancy platform, Canvas8.
We investigated how newcomers are defying the rules of the game by reevaluating terroir, developing new processes, and even forging their own category-disruptive descriptors. Established players in the spirits segment are being challenged and consumers are enjoying a drinks scene that’s evolving at a rapid pace.
Courier Media invited us to be part of their food and drink issue round-table; discussing the emerging trends shaping the industry. We gave our expert opinion on what’s shaping the post-pandemic food and drink landscape including the rise of challenger brands, digital meets physical stores, and how brands can muscle in on traditional retailers. Read more
Manifest brand communications agency commissioned us to work on an insights project for their plant-based client, Future Farms.
We identified new horizon food trends and behaviours such as biohacking, holistic immunity and next-gen protein sources, which Manifest used in a UK-wide questionnaire to explore consumer’s responses and level of engagement. Findings included astounding levels of flexitarian eating, meat becoming taboo in the future, and new opportunities for lunch as the next big occasion for meatless meat. Read more.
We were interviewed by The Guardian for our food-industry take on the hard seltzer trend.
We explained why hard seltzer hits that sweet spot between hydration and hedonism, and how they’re satisfying a more mindful, health-conscious customer. Read more.
Read our trends report on why snacks are the new self-care, published on the Canvas8 trends and insight platform.
We explore why snack culture has increased, and how it’s been absorbed into the wellness and self-care industry, including trends in holistic, scientific, and subscription snacking. Read more.
One of the pandemic’s more positive repercussions is that it’s put an even fiercer spotlight on sustainability. Real innovators are setting themselves apart through clever collaborations, open-book environmental values, or by developing revolutionary waste-free food and drink products from the ground-up.
We explore five emerging trends in conscious consumerism, including the climatarian diet, waste-less engineering, and plant-based meat replacement technology. Read more.
