We are excited to introduce FoodFutureCo’s EIR Steve Charlton. Steve is a veteran of the corporate world, who now focuses on working with innovative founders and owners as a mentor, advisor, and investor. Steve’s experience spans commercial leadership, business transformation, and people strategy, working in C- level roles in Europe and the US. He has led and coached people at every level of their careers and has a track record of delivering strategic growth to underperforming teams and business units. Recently we discussed with Steve his corporate past, what led him to FFC and why he is passionate about the world of food.
FoodFutureCo held a successful UnDemo Day in June where we celebrated the Cohort 6 graduates — Joy4Greens, Ouma Foods, Sons & Daughters Farm and Winery, Hire My Farmer, and MamaGaia. With so much to celebrate, the virtual environment was a packed Zoom room with investors from across the globe. The event kicked off with a fireside chat with food industry expert Marion Nestle and private equity expert Diana Propper de Callejon.
Zoë Geller is sales, marketing, and fundraising manager at Fire Ox Foods, a company making delicious, vegetable-based foods accessible to all. Before creating Fire Ox, she was the third employee at a local food distributor startup called Common Market MidAtlantic where she helped grow sales of local food significantly. Recently, we interviewed her to hear how she is rethinking the way that sustainable and eco-friendly foods are marketed, packaged, and shared with the world.
At our most recent Demo Day, we had the fabulous opportunity to sit down with Jeff Furman, businessman, and activist, who, up until recently, was the board chairman of Ben & Jerry's—a role he occupied since 1992. He has been with the groundbreaking ice cream company since its inception, and in a discussion with Food Future Co Founder, Shen Tong, he shares some insights into what has made the Ben & Jerry’s brand, and his journey, so unique in the industry.
Kenny Rufino is the EVP / Creative Director of REQ, an award-winning digital marketing agency that works with brands like Sweetgreen, CHOPT, Cava, and a range of other businesses and non-profits. Kenny works with the creative team to deliver imaginative solutions across all media. He practices user-centric communicative design and strongly believes that good design is more than how something looks or works—it's also very much about how it makes people feel. Recently, we discussed his approach to branding, how to communicate social responsibility through branding and what he thinks is ahead for branding in 2020.
Wendy Nunnelley is a beverage industry executive and an angel investor in more than 20 early-stage companies, primarily in consumer goods and services. She is a Senior Vice President at Diageo and was previously a Vice President at The Coca-Cola Company, with experience in strategy, planning, operations, business development, and revenue management, including pricing/promotion. She is on the board of Naturally Austin and advises several early-stage companies. Most of her investments are in minority and women-founded companies, and she often works with emerging brands that serve underserved consumers or are oriented towards health and wellness. Recently, she discussed with us the world of food retailing and the approach to food marketing that takes into account the product, the price, and the packaging.
This month, we are excited to take some time to introduce our new FoodFutureCo program coordinator Ana Ojeda Osmena. Ana is an entrepreneur and Food Studies Masters candidate at NYU. She tells us about the amazing farm and fast-casual restaurant projects she co-founded in the Philippines, as well as her work in the Food Studies program.
Sarah Smith is a Research Director with the Institute for the Future’s Food Futures Lab, where she works with many of the world’s largest food, health, and CPG companies to challenge their assumptions and identify emerging trends and discontinuities that will transform the global marketplace and global food system. We chatted with her about how to envision the role of impact-focused food companies in the future, and what types of values should shape our growing and eating.
We are excited to share the stories of the fabulous founders of our fifth cohort, and how their social enterprises are changing the food system for the better. From Indian snack foods to solar-powered greenhouses, these companies are now a part of our good food community.
Alicia Robb is a managing partner at Next Wave Impact, an early-stage venture fund, a visiting Scholar with the University of Colorado at Boulder and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, and the author of several books on investing in women-run and minority-run companies. Recently, we sat down with Alicia to discuss what she looks for in a company when considering an investment, her thoughts on challenges that impact businesses may face, and the power of investing in women-owned companies.
