The next evolution of food retail: Pivot, or you’re out

So much has changed in one year. And it’s still changing. As the world evolves, the food supply chain is looking to the COVID-19 retail landscape to prepare for the future.

“The pace and breadth of change has been stunning and is really putting a premium on your ability as a retailer to be agile and to adopt and be willing to make changes on the fly,” said Walter Robb, former longtime co-chief executive officer of Whole Foods Market, Austin, Texas, and current executive-in-residence at S2G Ventures, Chicago, during a Dec. 1 webinar hosted by Spark Change and presented by Naturally Chicago and New Hope Network. “Why does retail matter? Because retail mirrors, reflects and captures the rhythms of our lives. Everything that happens at retail touches everything across the entire food supply chain.”

A recent report from S2G Ventures, “The Future of Food: Through the Lens of Retail,” was the catalyst for the webinar. Mr. Robb and co-author S2G vice president Audre Kapacinskas wrote, “The pandemic has shined the brightest of lights on our food system, and retailers sit squarely in the middle. Each new day brings new innovation and evolution in customer choice and system changes.”

S2G Ventures’ mission is “to back the best entrepreneurs that are improving the overall health and sustainability of the food system.” COVID-19 helped them identify opportunities for more improvements.  Mr. Robb explained that the changes the natural products industry has seen this year were not revolutionary but rather accelerations of evolutionary trends already in progress.