371. Weaver Popcorn Manufacturing’s Jason Kashman on emerging trends in food + getting ahead of market demands

podcast.agrinovusindiana.com

Agbioscience

This weekly podcast dives into the agbioscience sector, where agriculture, life sciences innovation and cutting-edge technology converge. Agbioscience is an in-depth conversation with leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs across food, animal health. pl...

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reports that the food ag industry contributes roughly 1.5 trillion to the country’s GDP – that's a 5.5% share. It’s a market that continues to evolve as many factors – from consumers to regulatory challenges – create new opportunities for innovation and new products. This week we are joined by Weaver Popcorn Manufacturing CEO, Jason Kashman, to share perspective on food, health and what’s ahead. We dive into:   The overall landscape in the food manufacturing market, what Jason is seeing and what’s driving growth for brands  Popcorn is a commodity and a finished good – are the challenges and turbulence the same on both sides of the coin?  Weaver Popcorn Manufacturing’s history, how it became its own entity in 2019 and their overall innovation portfolio   The massive footprint that is Weaver Popcorn – from grocery brands to private label  Jason’s take on emerging trends on snack foods and where popcorn fits in the market  How food has changed over the last decade, including difficulty for startup innovation to grow in the space, better for you ingredients and automation on the manufacturing side  The supply chain lessons learned from COVID and how companies have maybe pivoted to vertical integration to eliminate uncertainty        If and how the regulatory challenges are affecting Weaver Popcorn Manufacturing’s business  What’s next for the company