“To stay ahead of snacking trends, you must understand what the consumer drivers are,” said Suzy Badarraco, president, Culinary Tides. “Anyone can tell you what the trends are, but if you don’t understand the drivers, you won’t know the origin, longevity or trajectory of the trends. You’ll be blind.”
Badaracco will speak at the welcome and opening session of Petfood Essentialsan interactive, informal educational preconference seminar, held on April 29, the day before the opening of the Petfood Forum. His session, “Unlocking revenue potential through pet snack conservation,” will focus on helping pet food professionals cross-analyze trend data to create actionable intelligence, enabling informed decision-making, and developing an improved ability to anticipate opportunities and map paths to ensure the success of their pet snack products.
Badaracco is president of Culinary Tides, a private forecasting think tank that engages with all aspects of the food industry including food service, retail, manufacturers and ingredient suppliers. He has a bachelor’s degree in criminalistics, an associate degree in culinary arts, and a master’s degree in human nutrition. And he was trained in military intelligence, chaos theory and predictive analysis techniques. Badaracco has been practicing trends intelligence and predictive forecasting for more than 18 years.
“Our analytics are designed to cross analyze dozens or hundreds of pieces or research and news items within a single diagram,” he explained. “These analytics paint a story with a beginning, middle, end – now – and a future trajectory that includes explaining WHY a trend is happening. How else can you stay ahead of trends or as in my old career – catch the bad guy?”
Using these techniques, Badaracco has successfully predicted and profiled government, technology, adversaries and allies, food, flavor, consumer, industry and health trends. Culinary Tides helps food industry partners navigate trends by revealing relevant patterns so they can create products that connect with customers, specializing in predicting the birth of a trend and forecasting its origin, trajectory and longevity. The forecast results are used to create entry, navigation and exit strategies.
3 drivers behind today’s pet snack trends
Based on his analytics and deep experience, Badarraco offers these forces influencing today’s pet snack trends for 2024:
- Owners will start using pets as part of the pet’s main diet.
- Abandoned maintenance – temporarily – due to cost.
- Owners will look for functional benefits in snacks, not just indulgence.
Petfood Essentials was an interactive, informal educational pre-conference seminar, held on April 29, the day before the opening of Petfood Forum 2024. Suzy Badarraco, president, Culinary Tides, will open up the experience in her session, “Unlocking income potential through pet snacking,” by providing an in-depth understanding of the driving force behind pet snacking trends.
