Food Entrepreneur - September 15, 2020 - 10

FOOD ENTREPRENEUR

Brands featured in the first-ever Food Entrepreneur Expo tap into top trends
BY MONICA WATROUS

en brands participated in the
first-ever Food Entrepreneur Expo, a
digital tasting event hosted by Food
Business News in late August. Featured
among the products sampled by dozens of
attendees were cauliflower crisps, sprouted buckwheat clusters, crispy salmon
skins and more.
"What stood out to me was the amazing diversity of ingredients showcased
in this mix of products," said L. Joshua
Sosland, president of Sosland Publishing
Co. and editor-in-chief of Food Business
News. "From aronia berry and buckwheat

to lupini beans and kelp, it's really quite
a mix. The single-minded focus of the
entrepreneurs seeking to develop and
perfect an appealing, highly differentiated
product really shines through and helps
me understand why excitement around
food entrepreneurship continues unabated at such a high level."
The coronavirus pandemic has
resulted in the cancellation of dozens
of industry events, limiting opportunities for up-and-coming brands to
sample new products. The editors of
Food Business News launched the Food
Entrepreneur Expo to offer an interactive

experience for retail buyers, marketers,
product developers, ingredient suppliers and founders to remain engaged
with leading industry trends from the
safety of home.
Registrants received a curated box of
shelf-stable food and beverage products
and a scorecard to rate each on taste, innovation and branding. During a webinar,
the audience was guided through the
tasting and scoring of each product while
viewing brief videos submitted by each
participating brand.
Read on to learn more about each
brand.

EDITORS' CHOICE WINNER:

12
12Tides
Tides
12 Tides, a San Francisco startup,
produces organic seaweed puffed snacks in
flavors such as sea salt, chili and everything
seasoning. The company sources sustainably harvested North American kelp, which
is nutrient dense and supports ocean restoration, according to the company.
Before launching the company,
founder Patrick Schnettler worked in
the commercial fishing and aquaculture industries and witnessed the negative impacts of overfishing, pollution
10

Food Business News

and coastline destruction.
"Kelp can grow up to 18 inches in a day,
and while it's growing very quickly, it also
absorbs an enormous amount of carbon
from the ocean," he said. "It absorbs carbon
10 times more efficiently than terrestrial
crops on a per-acre basis, and that excess
carbon in the ocean is what causes acidification, which has a number of negative ramifications for various oceanic ecosystems.
"It's also a zero-input crop. No fertilizers, no fresh water, no arable land ... it's

12 TIDES

September 15, 2020

Food Entrepreneur - September 15, 2020

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