Once a year, RaboResearch takes the Consumer Foods to Go podcast off-piste. Last week, instead of recording from behind our desks, we once again picked up our microphones and visited the Private Label Manufacturers Association’s (PLMA) World of Private Label trade show in Amsterdam. Given the tremendous run that private label market share has had in recent years, the million-dollar questions is: What’s next? Could the widened price gap between name brands and their private label counterparts pro...
May 28, 2025•24 min
Like every year, RaboResearch visited Natural Products Expo West, one of the largest food trade shows in the US. In this episode of Consumer Foods to Go , analysts Tom Bailey, Nick Fereday, and JP Frossard share their observations of this year’s edition. In their view, with more “real food” and products with shorter ingredient lists, the 2025 Expo West trade show lived up to its “Natural Products” name more than previous editions. Of course, there was much more. Consumer favorites such as protei...
Mar 20, 2025•29 min
On February 13, RFK Jr was confirmed as the US Health and Human Services secretary in the Trump administration. That same day, some of his plans were unveiled, all aligning with the "Make America Healthy Again" (MAHA) initiative. While some of RFK Jr's ideas are considered controversial, this is a good opportunity to evaluate the policies at face value and assess their potential impacts. To this end, hosts Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott interviewed their colleague and US resident Nick Fere...
Feb 20, 2025•37 min
Years ago, we released podcasts exploring the fascinating changes and developments in China's food retail sector, particularly in the online space, often referred to as "new retail." However, the growth of online food retailing in China is now slowing, and offline models are making a strong comeback. It's time to update the Consumer Foods-to-Go audience on these rapid changes. To provide insights, Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott interviewed fellow RaboResearch analyst Rena Ma.
Jan 30, 2025•29 min
Energy prices are crucial for food businesses. In the previous episode of Consumer Foods to Go , we discussed the outlook for agri-commodities in 2025. However, energy prices are equally important for food processors. In this episode, Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott interview their RaboResearch colleagues Florence Schmit and Joe DeLaura about the outlook for natural gas and crude oil prices. Interestingly, these prices are unlikely to move in the same direction.
Jan 16, 2025•33 min
As 2024 came to a close, Rabobank released its annual agri commodity markets outlook for 2025. In line with tradition, the Consumer Foods-to-Go podcast highlights the key points of the report and their implications for food companies. In this episode, Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott interview Carlos Mera, Head of Agri Commodities Markets Research, to discuss his predictions for 2025. Key commodities to watch include palm oil, coffee, and cocoa!
Jan 02, 2025•37 min
Over the past 12 months, Ozempic and similar drugs have been hailed in the news as miracle solutions for rapid weight loss with minimal side effects. Weight loss often happens because of the changes in food and beverage consumption that these drugs trigger. In this episode of Consumer Foods to Go, Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott discuss the impact of GLP-1 drugs on the food sector with podcast regular Nick Fereday. There is an impact, but much remains unknown.
Dec 12, 2024•36 min
Private label now has close to 20% market share in US food retail. This is much lower than the share in the UK and other European markets, where private label commands 40% or more. However, private label growth in the US is accelerating. Consumers are demanding affordable products, partly because of the cost-of-living crisis. Growth is not constrained by demand, though. The quality of supply is the constraint. What we notice is that the quality of private label products is improving because reta...
Nov 28, 2024•34 min
Now might just be the time for food manufacturers to think about robots again. Constraints on the labor force are unlikely to go away soon, and help is needed on the factory floor. Also, robots are improving in terms of size, price, and flexibility. In this episode of Consumer Foods to Go, Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott speak with Sebastiaan Schreijen to discuss the findings of his survey on the potential adoption of robots in food processing. Are we on the brink of a revolution?
Oct 10, 2024•28 min
Half a decade ago, everyone in food was all over startups – young, exciting companies set to disrupt the food market. A lot has happened since, of course, including Covid and the inflation spike. Startups felt the impact of both, and there has been a bit of a funding crisis to boot. Still, a lot of startups are trying to bring new ideas to the food market. In this podcast, Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott interview Rabobank’s Foodbytes team to discuss the trends in food startups. Foodbytes i...
Jun 20, 2024•29 min
Once again, RaboResearch visited the Private Label Manufacturers Association's (PLMA) World of Private Label trade show in Amsterdam. This year, we interviewed visitors and exhibitors on the topic of innovation. Innovation is high on the agenda for anyone active in packaged foods. Brands have lost market share to private label, so they need to come up with new products to lure the consumer back. However, private label companies are responding by introducing new products as well. In this podcast,...
Jun 06, 2024•37 min
Professors David Raubenheimer and Stephen Simpson argue in their book, Eat Like the Animals, that over the course of recent decades the share of calories from protein in people's diets has declined (especially in the US). RaboResearch's Nick Fereday covered the topic in a recent report that generated quite some feedback. Therefore, we invited the professors to explain their hypothesis in greater detail. The resulting podcast is a truly fascinating listen. Everything you wanted to know about prot...
Apr 18, 2024•46 min
Once again, RaboResearch visited Natural Products Expo West, one the largest food trade shows in the world with more than 3,500 exhibitors and more than 70,000 visitors. Tom Bailey, Nick Fereday, and Cyrille Filott together with Maria Castroviejo discuss their findings, including how the consumer is being enticed by new types of marketing, some nice packaging innovations, and new food products. All believed that the show – while still carrying a lot of hype products – was more realistic in terms...
Apr 04, 2024•31 min
Sustainability is firmly on the food and agribusiness agenda. Companies in the sector are now moving from making a sustainability strategy to measuring and making changes in many aspects of the food system, but before making improvements, one has to establish a base. To discuss the challenges and opportunities, the team invited Hans de Gier, CEO of IT company SyncForce, to bring his perspective on measuring sustainability and data issues. One thing he is quite adamant about is that current measu...
Feb 22, 2024•36 min
Every year the Consumer Foods-to-Go podcast provides an outlook for agri commodity prices, and this year is no different. Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott interview Carlos Mera, Rabobank’s Head of Agri Commodity Markets Research, to discuss the outlook for key crops in 2024. Overall, the outlook is for slightly lower prices, but not for all commodities. Tune in as they discuss the main drivers, such as energy prices, highlight key commodities, and drop a small bombshell that's sure to be of ...
Nov 23, 2023•34 min
Ultraprocessed foods are everywhere in the news. Some scientists are claiming that processed foods are bad for people’s health and that ultraprocessed foods are especially bad. It's time, therefore, for Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott to dig deeper in the topic with the help of Rabobank Senior Analyst Nick Fereday. In this episode we explain ultraprocessed foods and discuss what heightened attention on these foods means for food companies. Obviously there is one question we cannot answer: W...
Oct 26, 2023•35 min
Soon EU regulation regarding packaging and packaging waste will become law. While we are likely to see amendments to the legislation, we believe it is good to start talking about the proposed regulation and its impact on food companies. We are not talking not only about more recycling, but also about the use of recycled content, for example in drink bottles. Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott quizzed RaboResearch analyst Regina Mestre on all the new targets that may become law, and what they m...
Sep 21, 2023•39 min
Innovation is a constant in food retail. For this episode of Consumer Foods-to-Go, Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott interview Sipke van der Werf, head of innovation at SPAR in the Netherlands. What is new in innovation in retail? What is a company like SPAR thinking about right now and with a five-year horizon? Obviously, growth and cost control are important, but sustainability also plays are very important role in the innovation strategy of SPAR.
Aug 31, 2023•35 min
The Private Label Manufacturing Association (PLMA) trade show in Amsterdam is the largest private label event in the world. As always, the Rabobank consumer foods team pays a visit. And, like last year, we asked companies in attendance for their views. Last year we spoke mostly about challenges in the supply chain. This year we talked about the gains in market share in private label. Because of inflation, times are tough for some consumers, who start buying more private label products. We asked ...
Jun 08, 2023•33 min
Regenerative agriculture is a holistic approach to improving farming practices. Many downstream food companies are talking about encouraging regenerative agriculture practices at the farm level. They do this for various reasons: to achieve emissions reduction goals, to provide better food in general, and to stay within planetary boundaries. In this podcast, Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott interview Rabobank experts Elizabeth Lunik and Cindy van Rijswick on this topic. Listen to their discus...
May 22, 2023•29 min
Launched in 2017, Nutri-Score is a front-of-pack label to indicate a food product’s nutritional value. Quite a few food retailers and food companies have embraced Nutri-Score, but how consumers are responding to scores has remained unknown. In this podcast, Consumer Foods-to-Go interviews Elke Godden, a researcher who has explored this topic at the University of Antwerp. The key takeaway: Consumers are not all the same, and they interpret scores differently. Other attributes matter as well, like...
Apr 13, 2023•36 min
Rabobank's Consumer Foods research team visited Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, one of the largest food shows in the world. It's always fantastic to walk the floor and see new trends and products with your own eyes, and this year was no different! In this episode, the team shares their insights from the event together with hosts Cyrille Filott and Maria Castroviejo.
Mar 23, 2023•31 min
2022 may not have been the year the foodservice industry hoped for, but the post-Covid recovery was still quite strong. 2023 will be a year of continued uncertainty. Commodity prices are declining, but are still higher than in 2021. Consumers were fairly resilient in 2022, but it is unclear how they will behave in 2023 as economies may struggle to show any growth. In this episode of Consumer Foods-to-Go Maria Castroviejo and Tom Bailey share their views on what might happen in 2023 in foodservic...
Feb 09, 2023•30 min
Deflation of input costs is happening across the food sector, but the cost of labor is actually going to increase... by a lot. There are two main drivers behind this increase: 1) a catch-up effect related to high inflation in 2022 and 2) low unemployment. Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott quiz Rabobank economist Elwin de Groot on what may happen in the labor market in 2023 and in the long term. They also discuss the implications of the tight labor market for downstream food companies.
Jan 19, 2023•34 min
It is the time of the year to look back at 2022 and look toward 2023. Maria and Cyrille gathered the entire team of Consumer Foods analysts at RaboResearch to discuss the learnings from the year for the sector. And what a year it was! They also talk about next year. What should be on the corporate agenda? What will happen to sustainability? Anything new emerging? Find out in this episode of Consumer Foods to Go!
Dec 22, 2022•47 min
In terms of prices and price volatility, 2022 was an incredible year for agri commodities. The conflict in Ukraine, adverse weather conditions, and currencies impacted prices a lot. What will happen in 2023? Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott quiz Head of Agri Commodity Markets Research Carlos Mera on what's in store for 2023. They talk about the main drivers for agri commodity pricing and go one level deeper by singling out the commodities that may see interesting price actions.
Nov 24, 2022•40 min
Resilience is the buzzword in the food sector. Companies are very focused, in the short term, on preserving margins by shifting resources around and by being very aware of input costs and pricing toward customers. Many of the challenges that are impacting performance in the short run will also be important factors in planning for the long run. Companies should continue to look for resiliency. So, what is on the menu of options for food companies?
Oct 20, 2022•32 min
Michael Every joined the Consumer Foods-to-Go podcast a couple of times before to discuss inflation and the impact of the war in Ukraine on the food sector. Due to popular demand, Cyrille Filott and Maria Castroviejo invited Michael back. During the podcast, Michael shares his (gloomy) outlook for the geopolitical landscape and how any shifts might impact economic thinking and the food sector.
Sep 08, 2022•39 min
Prices for transportation – across land and sea alike – skyrocketed in the last couple of years due to a boom in demand during the pandemic and, more recently, disruptions from the war in Ukraine. It's time to assess what might happen next. In this podcast, Maria Castroviejo and Cyrille Filott quiz analysts Xinnan Li and Viet Nguyen about what's happening with the supply and, perhaps even more importantly, the demand for goods and transportation. They also discuss current and future sustainabili...
Jul 21, 2022•28 min
Manufacturers from around the globe gathered in Amsterdam at the end of May to showcase their products at the Private Label Manufacturers Association trade show. Sebastiaan Schreijen and Cyrille Filott were on the scene asking food & beverage producers about the hot topic of the moment: the supply chain. Sebastiaan and Cyrille asked five exhibitors five questions about their supply chain challenges, including risks, strategy, and sustainability. The answers they received were definitely unex...
Jun 09, 2022•33 min
