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Target Research Group Acquires Spoonshot

Target Research Group, a leading market research company with 37 years of research experience, has acquired food intelligence platform Spoonshot. This strategic acquisition strengthens Target Research Group’s commitment to delivering advanced, AI-powered insights for businesses in the food and beverage industry.

Over the past two years, Target Research Group and Spoonshot have worked closely together to develop Foodbrain+, an AI that uncovers high-confidence innovation opportunities combined with best-in-class consumer testing. This results in lower costs and shorter timelines for market launches. The successful partnership has led to this acquisition, paving the way for an unprecedented blend of trusted market research methods supercharged by AI.

“We’re thrilled to bring Spoonshot into our family, says Greg Spagna, CEO of Target Research Group. This unique AI platform has transformed how we understand food and beverage trends and consumer behavior. This acquisition enhances our ability to deliver unparalleled, forward-thinking market insights to our clients. Our goal is to further develop Spoonshot’s algorithm to cover all categories and the ability to create new ideas and winning products at pace.”

Spoonshot’s co-founder & CEO, Kishan Vasani, said, “Taking our partnership with Target Research Group to this next level is a fantastic step forward. It means that the reach and impact of our AI research platform will be accelerated. I’m excited about the potential of our integrated offering that will redefine how businesses make data-driven innovation decisions in the food and beverage sector.”

Target Research Group is a premier market research company with over three decades of experience delivering high-quality, data-driven insights. Their expertise spans numerous industries, but they have a specific focus on the food and beverage vertical.

Spoonshot delivers rich food & beverage intelligence by leveraging superior AI and nuanced food knowledge. In answering critical research questions, Spoonshot gives data-backed confidence to make better innovation decisions and ultimately win.

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New Crops of Organic Potatoes Hitting Retailers

Courtesy of Organic Produce Network

Several states are digging and shipping new crops of organic potatoes, and there is potential for promotions, especially with organic russets, according to a report from the Organic Produce Network.

“We have just started to harvest field-run organic russet potatoes, and we will continue to run out of the field until the first or second week of October,” said Lonnie Gillespie, chief organic officer for Farm Fresh Direct of America in Monte Vista, Colorado. “We’re keeping our fingers crossed that by then we will be able to start shipping organic potatoes from storage. You never know what mother nature is going to do.”

Gillespie noted that while harvest is underway, potatoes can withstand normal weather patterns, but it is out-of-the-ordinary conditions that cause issues. “Extreme anything is a problem,” she said, speaking of either heat or cold. “At this time of the year, we don’t want it to be extremely cold or wet.”

But for the time being, Gillespie said the crop looks good, and Farm Fresh Direct could support some retail promotions featuring field-run organic russets. The company has a full line of organic yellows, reds, and russets available, but the yellows and reds are currently coming from the Pacific Northwest and are in lighter supply. She also noted that Farm Fresh will be offering some organic russets from Minnesota shortly.

“In the spring and early summer, we had some shortages and higher prices on all potatoes, but there is no shortage right now, and this new crop does look like it’s going to be more of an average crop,” Gillespie said.

Courtesy of Organic Produce Network

Most of the current chatter about the new crop of conventional Idaho and Eastern Oregon potatoes currently being harvested points to a larger crop and a return to more normal FOB prices, Gilliespie said, rather than the higher prices that have been part of the landscape for the past couple of years.

Nate Jones of King’s Crown Organic Farm in King Hill, Idaho, said Idaho had excellent growing weather throughout the spring, which has led to an organic potato crop that is larger than the last two years.

“We grow four different varieties,” he said, adding that their organic acreage includes russets, yellows, reds, and purples. “The Norkotah (a russet variety) produced an awesome crop of good-sized potatoes, and the yellow crop is also very good. We are getting good yields on both of those potato varieties. The reds and purples didn’t size as well, and the yields are a little bit below average.”

While the conventional acreage of potatoes across the country is up a few percentage points, Jones does not believe that there has been an uptick in organic acreage. “Organic potatoes are not a crop that you go in and out of,” he said. “There are only a handful of us that grow organics (in Idaho), and our acreage is pretty steady.”

Because of this, he said the good market for organic potatoes that has been prevalent the last two years is not going to see much of a dip. “It might come down a little bit, but organic potatoes have maintained the market pretty well into the new season.”
Eric Beck, director of marketing for Wada Farms in Pingree, Idaho, agreed that this season should offer more normal pricing, especially on conventionally grown potatoes.

“We will also have more organics, but demand for organics remains fairly strong,” he said, adding that organic potatoes don’t tend to be promoted very often. “But there could be some opportunities for promotable pricing during the year.”

While there will be more organic supplies total, Beck said there might not be enough to carry throughout the entire storage season. That good demand, he said, will create some supply challenges toward the end of the season.

Beck said the organic potato consumer is a bit different than the shoppers who mostly buy conventional potatoes and will increase their purchase when the price is lower and the value is greater. The organic buyer is typically buying the category for philosophical reasons and is not driven as much by the value proposition that potatoes typically offer.

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Hurricane Hilary Impact ‘Devastating’ on California Table Grape Crop

Hurricane Hilary delivered wind and rain to many California table grape vineyards at peak harvest time for most of the 90 varieties grown in the state. The immediate aftermath of the hurricane brought additional rain and humidity to many growing areas, compounding problems and loss.

“The impact of the hurricane and its aftermath is devastating and heartbreaking,” said Kathleen Nave, president of the California Table Grape Commission. “To say that the grower and farmworker community is in shock is an understatement.”

With approximately 30 percent of the crop harvested when the hurricane hit, it is projected that 35 percent of the remaining crop – 25 million boxes – has been lost. “The revised estimate for the California crop is 71.9 million 19-pound boxes,” said Nave.

“The last time the crop was under 75 million boxes was 1994.”

Noting that it is typical for California to ship over 65 percent of its crop after Sept. 1, Nave said that based on the revised estimate there are still over 45 million boxes of grapes the industry plans to ship.

“Reaching consumers at retail stores is a major focus of the work done by the commission,” Nave said. “Partnering with retailers to get grapes on store shelves and to promote them to consumers is work that will continue throughout the season.”

Nave said that retailers understand the damage the storm caused and the many ways that labor costs will increase as a result.

“Retailers understand that even with skilled workers it will take more time to harvest much of the remaining crop and that accordingly, to keep grapes on the retail shelves throughout the fall the price paid to growers will need to be enough to make it worthwhile to harvest.”

Nave said the industry plans to continue assessing the situation in the weeks ahead, providing updates as needed, and that the commission will continue its retail promotion activities and consumer advertising campaigns throughout the season.

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