Eat For The Planet with Nil Zacharias

Latest Episodes:

#169 - Target’s Inclusive and Interconnected Approach to Plant-Based Aug 23, 2022

Show notes

Le’Spencer Walker is Director of the Merchandising Vendor Development (MVD) team and lends his skills and leads in many areas at Target. Currently leading a team that identifies, develops and on-boards women and minority owned brands aligned to Target strategies. Over his 12 years at Target, he made and continues to make a conscientious effort to align his work with his passions through education with storytelling, creating authentic products, leveraging research to amplify strategy, building tools & resources for small minority owned businesses to help them succeed, and bring joy to all. He designed & developed 1000+ products with 7 patents, co-led the Target Owned Brand team communications strategy, former member of the Black History Month enterprise assortment team, and former chairman of The SQUAD - Target’s Owned Brand team engagement committee. A Jackson Mississippi native who resides in Minneapolis with his wife Lauren and two little ones. Purpose and family drives him; “purpose driven people, lead purpose driven lives and, when we look back, did we do our best?... Because that’s what matters”

Topics Covered

Le’Spencer’s current role at Target.
Target’s approach to partners and building a more inclusive and diverse product set and supplier base.
Culture and lifestyle changes driving food trends at Target.
Target’s approach to the plant-based food category.
Plant-based categories that are showing the most potential.
Target’s long term view on plant-based food and sustainability.
Why Le’Spencer is excited about speaking at and attending Plant Based World Expo 2022 in September.

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#168: Why the Future is Bright for Plant-Based in Foodservice Aug 10, 2022

Show notes

This episode features Vincent "Buddy" Gillespie, Director of Culinary at JBH Advisory Group. Buddy has thirty years of experience in restaurants and hospitality markets with past projects that include fast casual restaurant development, kitchen design, creation of operational policies and procedures, financial assessment, menu and recipe development, operational assessment, manager recruitment and manager training. He was previously the Vice President of Culinary Operations for Dean & Deluca in the US. He developed the menu and all recipes for Dean & Deluca’s first restaurant, Dean & Deluca Stage, which opened in NYC’s meatpacking district in April 2019. He also was part of the development and oversaw the building of Dean & Deluca’s second 12,000 SQFT commissary in NYC for all the retail markets and catering department’s operations. He was one of the creators of Bonmi Restaurant, a fast-casual Vietnamese/Banh Mi sandwich shop with two locations in Manhattan. Bonmi was voted #8 on FastCasual.com Top 100 Movers & Shakers list for 2016. While growing Bonmi’s locations, he opened four Bonmi units within four different Whole Foods Markets locations in NYC and New Jersey.

Topics Covered

Buddy's thirty years experience in restaurants and hospitality markets.
When he noticed the plant-based eating trend and started to take it seriously.
How Buddy helped restaurants craft menus and operations to meet the shifting supply side innovations in plant-based and increased consumer demand.
Tips for foodservice operators looking to create more plant-forward menus (from culinary ideas for menu integration, to branding and marketing).
Tips for food service buyers looking to identify and select the right products.
Trending product categories and new innovations that show great potential to change the food landscape via foodservice.
Why Buddy is excited about participating in Plant Based World Expo 2022.

Plant Based World Expo: The Only 100% plant-based show for retail and foodservice professionals, Sept 8 -9, 2022, NYC.

Reserve your Free Expo Pass with VIP Code: EFTP.

TO REGISTER AND LEARN MORE VISIT PLANTBASEDWORLDEXPO.COM

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#167: Plant-Based Trends and Insights with Rodd Willis of Dot Foods Jul 12, 2022

Show notes

This episode features Rodd Willis, Director of Natural & Specialty at Dot Foods. His 25-year career at Dot Foods has included positions in sales, management, supply chain, and business development. He is based out of St. Louis, MO. He holds an MBA from the University of Missouri.

Dot Foods, Inc. carries 125,000 products from 1,020 food industry manufacturers making it the largest food industry redistributor in North America. Through Dot Transportation, Inc., an affiliate of Dot Foods, the company distributes foodservice, convenience, retail, and vending products to distributors in all 50 states and more than 55 countries.

Topics Covered

Dot Foods’ role in the food industry.
Macro trends in food service and retail as we emerge out of the pandemic.
Current state of the plant-based food industry and why Rodd and Dot Foods are bullish about the future of this category.
Why Rodd believes meat and dairy alternatives will continue to grow and learn which sub-categories have the most (and least) growth potential in the short term.
What food service and retail buyers are looking for today and how brands and buyers can be best prepared for what’s going to be trending next.
Why Rodd is excited about participating in Plant Based World Expo 2022.

Plant Based World Expo: The Only 100% Plant-Based B2B Show, Sept 8 -9, 2022, NYC.

SAVE 20% ON YOUR PASS WITH VIP CODE: EFTP20.

TO REGISTER AND LEARN MORE VISIT PLANTBASEDWORLDEXPO.COM

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#166 - WayFare Foods: A Family's Health Journey Inspires the Creation of a Plant-Based Food Company Jul 07, 2022

Show notes

This episode features Kelly Coffin, the Founder and CEO of WayFare Foods, a company that takes the finest whole, plant-based ingredients in the world, and turns them into products that are truly Simple, Delicious, and Amazing. You’ll find WayFare’s food foundations are always based on whole ingredients, and nothing else. WayFare’s mission is to bless our world by creating incredible products – all from plants.

WayFare is sold in retail locations across the country and direct to consumer via their website. WayFare products are also used as ingredients by restaurants and bakeries in the U.S. and Canada.

Show Page: https://eftp.co/wayfarefoods

Newsletter signup: https://eftp.co/newsletter

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#165 - Plant Based World Expo 2022: A Critical Moment for the Plant-Based Foods Industry Jun 29, 2022

Show notes

This episode features Julie Emmett, Sr. Director, Marketplace Development at Plant Based Foods Association and Sabina Vyas, Sr. Director, Impact Strategies at Plant Based Foods Association and is co-hosted by Ben Davis, VP of Content at Plant Based World Expo.

Topics Covered

Overview of partnership between Plant Based World Expo and Plant Based Foods Association and how it has benefited plant-based food companies
Current priorities of retail buyers - questions they are asking and information they need to guide their decision making.
What sales strategies have worked for brands in recent months and years + success stories
Current food service landscape - what buyers are prioritizing and which areas are seeing some early momentum and opportunities.
What attendees can expect from Plant Based World Expo 2022 - what's going to be different and how are buyers and brands approaching the show.
Key issues that will be discussed during the conference.
How does Plant Based Foods Association and Plant Based World Expo define success for this show.
Why the spirit of collaboration and community is a unique part of the plant-based foods industry and how Plant Based World Expo embodies that.

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#164 - Matriark Foods: Creating Access From Excess Jun 20, 2022

Show notes

Anna Hammond is the Founder and CEO of Matriark Foods, a social and environmental impact food business that upcycles farm surplus and fresh-cut remnants into healthy, shelf-stable vegetable products for institutional foodservice. Matriark is building a circular food future, creating products that solve for inefficiencies in the supply chain while combating climate change and providing greater access to healthy food—at scale.

Show Page: https://eftp.co/matriark-foods

Newsletter signup: https://eftp.co/newsletter

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#163 - Karana: Meat From Whole Plants Jun 01, 2022

Show notes

Karana is a Singapore and US based company that makes meat from whole plants.

Show Page: https://eftp.co/karana

Newsletter signup: https://eftp.co/newsletter

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#162 - Garrett Broad: A New Vision of Food Tech Justice May 02, 2022

Show notes

Garrett Broad is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University. His research and teaching focus on contemporary social movements, digital media technologies, and the food system. He is the author of More Than Just Food: Food Justice and Community Change, as well as a variety of articles on food's relationship to environmental sustainability, economic equity, and the health of humans and nonhuman animals. An engaged scholar, Professor Broad writes for both academic and public audiences, and works to develop collaborative research projects with a variety of social change-focused organizations.

Show Page: https://eftp.co/garrett-broad

Newsletter signup: https://eftp.co/newsletter

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#161 - Nowadays: Clean Label, Delicious, Nutritious Plant-Based Meat is The Future Apr 25, 2022

Show notes

Max Elder is the co-founder and CEO of Nowadays, a venture-backed foodtech startup making plant-based meats with only a few simple ingredients and unparalleled nutritional profiles.

Show Page: https://eftp.co/nowadays

Newsletter signup: https://eftp.co/newsletter

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#160 - VegTech: Impact Investing in Alternative Proteins Apr 11, 2022

Show notes

Elysabeth Alfano is the Co-Founder and CEO of VegTech™ Invest, an investment management company that advises the thematic ETF, VegTech™ Plant-based Innovation & Climate ETF, ticker: EATV.

EATV invests in companies that are actively innovating with plants and plant-derived ingredients and that produce primary products that are animal-free. We believe these companies positively impact climate change, planetary health and sustainability, human health, and animal health. We also believe that we are on the cusp of a long-term secular trend that will result in the disrupting of the global food and materials supply chain for a more efficient, climate friendly and cruelty-free system.