Posted December 1, 2021
Are three square meals a day a thing of the past? According to a recent webinar, “Unlocking the Power of the Snack,” larger, traditional meals are being replaced by a wide array of foods during just about any time of day. The “what” and “when” of snacking were covered, along
Posted January 21, 2021
Every end of year, my inbox gets inundated with predictions for the future. What are consumers going to be looking for in the new year? What trends will take over, and which ones will gain momentum or fizzle out from the year before? We’re almost a month into 2021 (already)
Posted December 23, 2020
Every day at Brightly Creative, it seems, I utter the words, “Huh, learn something new every day.” And, in my daily quest for food and beverage knowledge I truly do. Like the aquafabas and upcycling of years past, 2020 lent itself to verbiage new to my brain like Flammkuchen (German
Posted November 12, 2020
This week the National Honey Board hosted its annual Honey Industry Summit, and since this year went virtual, the content was data driven, centered on research conducted on consumer attitudes and usage. Additionally, volumetric survey data regarding the foodservice and consumer packaged foods industry was shared. The impact that COVID-19
Posted November 5, 2020
Part of our tough job as a food and beverage agency is to taste test the product. We travel the country (when possible), learning from mead makers, brewers, distillers, bakers and more who educate us through formulas, trial and error stories and tours. Sipping the finished result is arguably the
Posted September 15, 2020
At the end of every year, I eagerly await the mountain of trend reports to hit my inbox, predicting what ingredients and diets will be impacting food and beverage new product development in the coming year. It’s like Christmas morning for someone like me who spends their days making decisions
Posted July 31, 2020
One of the most personally overlooked values of my studies when I was in college was how much of a role technology was going to play in my profession. I’ve been fortunate to have a long editorial career that’s seen many technological changes, from copy editing software (anyone remember Quark?)
Posted July 17, 2020
Food has always been a passion of mine. Ever since I was a little girl I can remember being in the kitchen when my mom cooked Sunday dinners, asking questions and offering to help. If you have a love for food, there’s always a pivotal moment where you realized how
Posted March 31, 2020
Part of my job here at Brightly Creative is to research food and beverage trends and innovation. This is also one of my favorite tasks, as I come across new ideas that leave me saying, “Why didn’t they think of that sooner?” But, every so often I see something pop
Posted March 3, 2020
It’s that time of year: The James Beard Semifinalists have been announced, and our team has been glued to our screens to see all the nominees. From bakers to brewers, this list is full of the best of the best in the industry. And the best part? Some of our
Posted January 23, 2020
I decided to stop drinking (well, at least for 365 days). I’ll spare you my reasons why. Because what I think is important is whether craft non-alcoholic beer is “good.” Can non-alcoholic beer replace the real stuff? My answer is NO. But, we’ve come a long way from O’Doul’s (which
Posted January 17, 2020
A large part of my job is to research trends in the food and beverage industry. While I’m used to being wowed by constant innovation in our field that results in new ways of doing things and even new vocabulary (can we say upcycling and aquafaba?), there are some moments
Posted November 12, 2019
Waste not, want not, a saying that’s been around since the 1700s, still rings true today. Food waste is an epidemic in the United States, yet so many people live in poverty. Although the world hunger problem won’t be solved soon enough, upcycling has reached an entire new level of
Posted July 23, 2019
I’m an unabashed fan of tasting menus. Give me 12 courses of small bites over a massive plate of fried “food” any day of the week. It’s not only that I enjoy tasting multiple things during a meal, it’s also that food waste gives me anxiety. Yes, of all the
Posted July 9, 2019
June was a BUSY month for Team Brightly. We went from Providence, RI > New Orleans, LA > Bend, OR > Kent, WA > ITALY > Cincinnati, OH > Springfield, IL > San Diego, CA and probably some more in between. We can’t keep track anymore. But this month, we
Posted June 25, 2019
If you read this blog regularly, you know I’m a foodie. I write about food extensively, love to cook and I get paid to talk about the food industry. I spend a better part of my personal and professional life thinking about food. So, when the family decided to vacation
Posted June 4, 2019
Mornings can be hectic. And we are folks who are always on the go. Between work trips, kids and running to the gym, we try and grab a lot of different breakfast foods on our way to what’s next. These are some of our favorite products from this month. Kashi
Posted May 14, 2019
Working in the food industry, we love a good food holiday. Taco and pizza day…we’re all in and have lunch plans settled early. Cupcake day? Let’s have them for breakfast. Even healthy foods like Kale will receive our dedication to finding foods or making a meal as long as it’s
Posted May 7, 2019
Alright. You have heard enough from us about beer, spirits and cocktails. But we swear that’s not all we drink! In fact, here are some of our favorite non-alcoholic beverages we’ve been sipping recently. Honey Cinnamon Kick, Superior Switchel Cinnamon combines with apple cider vinegar and honey to create a
Posted April 30, 2019
We work pretty heavily in the spirits industry, so I have been on my fair share of distillery tours. And you tend to see a lot of the same stuff: copper equipment, bearded tour guides and an overuse of rustic wood and exposed brick that screams you’re modern. Unless you
Posted April 9, 2019
Finally, the food bar category has some excitement outside of the countless new entries that seem to appear daily. Here’s the scoop. Clif Bar uses organic ingredients, KIND Snacks does not. In a clever marketing ploy designed to appear as a “let’s do better together” moment, Clif Bar took a
Posted April 2, 2019
We’ve been thinking a lot about snacking lately at Brightly Creative, and how our clients can capitalize on the fact that more than 50% of all eating occasions are now snacks. Think about that. We’ve come a long way from three square meals a day. Consumers, including us, our noshing
Posted March 26, 2019
I’d normally welcome two consecutive weeks in Denver, but after experiencing the bomb cyclone snow storm, I was dreading heading back to the Mile High City just three days after said snowstorm forced me to drive home 13 hours from Denver to St. Louis. But, the American Distiller’s Institute was
Posted March 19, 2019
This was my second year at Natural Products Expo West. Last year, I was totally unprepared for what I was walking into. This year, I had to give myself a pep talk before walking into the Anaheim Convention Center compound, and I still could not prepare myself for what was
Posted March 5, 2019
There are two types of packaging innovations. The first: gimmicks designed to increase product sales. Think Coca-Cola putting people’s names on cans. Super cheesy, but also super effective. The second: structural or graphical enhancements designed to improve the flavor, freshness or experience of a product. Think tuna being sold in
Posted February 26, 2019
You submitted your beer or spirit to a competition. You’ve shipped your product. You wait in anticipation for the results. And, when they finally come, you’ve won a medal! Now what? It takes real investment (literally and figuratively) to enter a beer or spirits competition. And that’s not factoring the
Posted February 19, 2019
Let’s talk about cannabis and food product development. It’s inevitable and already happening, so no need to debate whether it’s a good or bad thing. It’s going to happen. The conversation now needs to move to formulation challenges and obstacles. I recently read a really smart Q&A on BakingBusiness.com with
Posted February 12, 2019
“Okay everyone, take a look at this. We put stuff in here and the move it over here. Everyone, look at this. From here we add this stuff and then cook it. Before we put it in here, it goes in there. After that, it goes into something smaller and
Posted January 29, 2019
‘Tis the season for stouts. In this new monthly feature, we’ll be looking at our favorite products every month based on the time of year. Up first, we’re bundling up and writing about our favorite stouts we tasted in January. Abraxas, Perennial Artisan Ales What more can we say about
Posted January 24, 2019
January 24 is National Beer Can Appreciation Day. Why might you ask? Well, this day in 1935 was the historic and thirst-quenching day beer was first sold in cans. Want to know how you can celebrate? Buy a can, marvel at its design and drink in delight – it’s a
Posted January 22, 2019
In the December issue of Prepared Foods magazine, “botanicals” were pegged as a top trend. It makes sense. Consumers are trying to eat healthier, and for years, healthy food has been branded, rightly or wrongly, as flavorless. Unlike sugar, botanicals have the ability to bring flavor to food while still
Posted December 13, 2018
It’s next to impossible to narrow down the food and beverage industry to three trends. I could have easily listed 15 things that will influence what you eat next year. In paring my first large list to three items, I eliminated quite a few sure things. However, the list below
Posted December 12, 2018
If I had the money to invest in a brewery, distillery or winery, I would throw all-in on the distillery. The craft spirits market is still in its infancy and all demographics point positively toward spirits being the preferred alcoholic beverage for the generations that matter most. I took a
Posted December 12, 2018
Winter is stout season. Big, barrel-aged monsters with high ABVs, syrupy viscosities and hints of chocolate, cinnamon, vanilla and chilis. I’m a seasonal beer drinking, shifting styles as the weather turns. I’m knee-deep in stout season and loving it, but duty calls and I’m obliged to set my stout aside
Posted December 7, 2018
This isn’t a humblebrag. I promise I’m making a point here. I’m an ultramarathoner. In fact, I just completed a 50-mile race a couple weeks ago and was the fifth fastest male at doing so. I also eat really healthy. I read labels, avoid processed foods where possible and am
Posted November 19, 2018
Turkey may be the traditional center of the Thanksgiving table, but that’s just one of so many delicious ways to serve up an impressive holiday dinner. Whether you’re just not a fan of the big feathered bird, are a rebel of tradition or just want to get a little more
Posted November 14, 2018
Featured image courtesy of cleanmeat.org. In my role at Brightly Creative, I have the pleasure of attending and speaking at quite a few food industry conferences every year. The Food Evolution Summit in San Diego was one of my favorite events this year. Why? First, I had the opportunity to
Posted September 5, 2018
This is our first “Tradeshow Express” post. In between the events we host for our clients, we exhibit on their behalf at A LOT of trade shows in the food and beverages industries. IFT18 was one of our stops this year. We didn’t see anything earth-shattering this year, but we
Posted September 4, 2018
What did you do for your summer vacation? I used to hate writing those essays in school. Now, I’m kind of excited to write this blog post detailing what the Brightly Creative team has been up to this summer. It was packed to say the least. We had meetings, conferences,
Posted June 18, 2018
Beards, bees, brewing science and a lot of honey. Those elements are standard of any Honey Beer Summit. But what was unique about our recent Austin event, the sixth Honey Beer Summit we have hosted? Barrel-aging honey, honey sours, hops and honey, increased honey usage, goats, and countless chigger bites.
Posted May 9, 2018
The year is 2013. Our client, the National Honey Board, had started to field quite a few calls about the use of honey in the brewing industry. We knew it was an emerging market for honey, but we also knew it was a small market at the time. With a
Posted April 19, 2018
Before becoming an agency guy, I was an aspiring journalist armed with a pencil, notebook and a briefcase full of ambition. My writing chops were mediocre at best, but I made up for it with my curiosity, ability to take critique very well and position under an immensely talented editor
Posted February 23, 2018
As expected, Boston Beer Company’s 2017 financial results failed to impress analysts and continued to spotlight some fundamental flaws in the beer industry. In my opinion, the most foreboding number from the company’s 2017 results: 3.8 million barrels shipped. That may seem like a lot of beer, but it’s actually
Posted February 12, 2018
An interesting segment ran on the Today Show recently naming the top 50 healthy foods and snacks. The website, Eat This, Not That!, was responsible for the list, and they did a great job. Not necessarily in determining the 50 snacks and beverages, but in setting the criteria for what
Posted February 7, 2018
I took my kids to McDonald’s for breakfast before school yesterday. It’s a rare occurrence, as I love providing my family with three home-cooked meals a day when possible, and I’m a bit of a health nut. However, the girls were being sweet, mom had an early morning conference call
Posted January 31, 2018
Keurig Dr Pepper. The name just rolls off your tongue, right? Not really, but those three words were uttered or printed by thousands of newscasters, newspapers and bloggers analyzing the latest mega merger in the food and beverage industry. But before we get into that, did you know that there
Posted January 20, 2018
The number of new craft breweries in the United States is exploding through the roof. The number of people drinking beer has remained stable. Something’s gotta give, and recently released sales stats from IRI Worldwide provide a bit of insight. I’ll attempt to mine this insight into a cognitive blog
Posted January 20, 2018
A blog post in which I join the countless others making predictions about what to expect this year in the food and beverage industry. Hopefully, I mined some insights in here others have not covered. Without further ado….predictions about the food and beverage industry in 2018. Authenticity will become imperative
Posted January 5, 2018
We work quite a bit in the beer industry, and we quite enjoy the products that craft brewers craft, from hazy IPAs to tart Berliner Weisses. Through our travels in 2017, we’ve had the opportunity to taste some amazing beers, whether it’s at one of the Honey Beer Summits we
Posted January 5, 2018
Dates: April 10-14, 2017 City: Washington, D.C. Brightly Team: Keith, Jonathan and Alison One of my favorite shows of the year! Great beer, great friends, great coworkers and a new city to explore. Plus, three days talking about honey. What’s not to love about the Craft Brewers Conference (CBC)? Jonathan,
