Influx

Marketing is a really a game of trying anything you can to create some form of differentiation for your brand. The beauty of it being that this innovation can from anywhere and impact anything. The flavor of the moment is packaging because it can materially impact the product experience. Denny's is...

The Daily Show puts the idea that Americans are now hoarding and stockpilling basic supplies like rice, into very sharp focus. Sam's Club now restricts rice purchases to four bags per visit.Of course, we know The Daily Show's stock in trade is satire, but the WSJ?"I don't want to alarm anybody, but...

Interesting idea from design student Agata Jaworska. She imagines a world where we shift from thinking about "best before" and move to "ready by", as a new way of food production. Food could be made in transit and trucks into turned into growing factories!ViaPosted by Ed Cotton

With food prices going out of control and everyone in recession mode, are we all going to start growing our own? Will chickens soon be heard all over suburbia? Will we be abandoning our lawns and growing wheat? Obviously, this is a little OTT, but there's certainly something going on out there. The...

Since I live in the Bay Area, I take it for granted that we have amazing restaurants great wine and fresh abundant ingredients, then I saw this store signage in Columbus, Ohio and realized the Bay Area is probably THE foodie mecca of the US. A place that has a big enough story to anchor a business...

The folks at Tesco just posted a video of a quick tour through one of its new Fresh & Easy stores. From the fleeting video, it looks like a brand with values, not perhaps as extreme as Whole Foods, but a step-up from your average grocery chain. The same can be said for the overall experience....

If you've read the Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, you will be well aware of how the influence and impact of corn on America's diet, now there's a new documentary, King Corn, that covers the topic.Posted by Ed Cotton

For four days next May, the Slow Food movement will descend on San Francisco's Fort Mason Center, for Slow Food Nation (a festival about all things Slow Food). Influx caught up with one of the organizers, Aron Heygi, to learn more. 1. What is Slow Food Nation about?Slow Food Nation is a campaign to...

For years, the Hartman Group has been one of the country’s leading market research authorities on the consumers’ relationship with all things natural and green. They recently published a report on “Sustainability”.Firstly, they researched the term itself and found it has...

It might help the environment, but ethanol is wrecking havoc with food prices. Ethanol production is expected to take 27% of the US’s corn crop, taking corn out of the food supply chain and pushing up prices. Back in February, Influx warned readers about this trend. Hershey recently announced...

Tesco's entry into the US market with Fresh and Easy stores is being watched with considerable interest. The company has clearly done their homework to identify a "Blue Ocean" in the cluttered grocery store space. There seems to be considerable opportunity for the concept and it could be enough to...

DDB Dallas- 1996