I just got back from Dublin where I was speaking at the World Food Technology & Innovation Forum and wanted to share this inspiring new packaging idea with you. As I finished my presentation I was approached by a familiar face – Helen Cooper – another ex-Boots The Chemist marketer who showed me her exciting entrepreneurial idea for on-the-go packaging…

Inspired by IKEA and a bendy straw. Yes that’s what it took to come up with this moment of genius that you’ll going to start seeing a lot more of in the years ahead.

The “Hopper Pot” as it’s called is ‘pocket sized and perfect’. When you are on the move and space is at a premium, trying to fit a pot of portable food into your bag is at best awkward and at worst dangerous!

Enter the Hopper Pot(TM) – the new way to “flat pack” your food. Both squash proof and space efficient it’s small when you need to take it with you and expands to size when you want to use it to eat your food from. It’s perfect for putting into rucksacks or commuter bags.

And it’s already been winning awards: Gold at the Lunch 2012 exhibition in London as well as being shortlisted at the UK Packaging Awards 2012.

Find out more here: http://www.grasshopper-foods.com/hopper-pot/

For more information you can contact the Grasshopper Team at: http://www.grasshopper-foods.com/contact-us/

Jeffrey Hyman - Founder of the Food & Drink Innovation Network

“Co-Creation” is something of a buzz in the world of NPD right now. But what is it all about? And how can you make sure you are maximising its benefits while avoiding its less well publicised pitfalls? My friend Jeffrey Hyman, is helping us to find out…

Join the interactive Co-Creation Experiment here.

One way to find out is to get involved with a neat free experiment set up by The Food & Drink Innovation Network (FDIN). The FDIN is the UK’s Best Practice Club for Food & Beverage NPD; a place where those from all areas of the industry can meet, talk, share and learn.

The way the FDIN works is [..]

Readers of this blog know I’m a fan of Roland & Miranda (see their video below) – the entrepreneurial couple who ditched their London life in favour of enterprise back on the farm. Now if they were just an awesome couple who’d made the limelight on the BBC1 show ‘High Street Dreams’ that would be a good story. But it doesn’t end there. You see the fact is there’s something else you need to know. The burgers from MuddyBoots are second to none. They are flat-out the best you can buy in the shops.

So this week I’m excited because my favourite farming couple are stepping into my world – the world of food product development and innovation and launching the latest addition to their range – Handmade Aberdeen Angus Beef Oven Meatloaf.

Lovingly made from a mixture of top cuts of British beef and pork with [..]

Obvious Marketing - Winning without needing to engage consumer effort in thought!

You, me and all our consumers think in two very different ways.

Did you know that if you create your marketing to appeal to one of these ways it is likely to be far more successful?

Can you believe that most people are still trying to design their marketing and communications to appeal to the other way of thinking?

Well, it’s true. And as part of my passionate campaign to encourage you to change your marketing and focus less on the clever and more on the obvious, in this post I’m introducing the Nobel Prize winning work of Professor Daniel Kahneman.

Professor Kahneman’s 2011 book, “Thinking, Fast and Slow” summarises decades of research which goes a long way to debunking that foundation of traditional economic thought, that humans are rational with their decision making.

Let’s take a look at the big idea in the book. While it may seem [..]

“Second Thursday” is the monthly networking event for Newcastle University Business School London Alumni and their guests. Sign up. Turn up. Join in.

"Second Thursday" is the monthly networking meeting for Newcastle University Business School London Alumni and their guests. Sign up. Turn up. Join in.

Join me at “Second Thursday” – every Second Thursday of the month, we’ll be meeting for open networking at 7.30pm for 8.00pm in All Bar One on Finsbury Pavement, just up from Moorgate Tube.

The event is for Alumni of Newcastle University Business School and their guests. The first of these monthly Second Thursday meetings will be on Thursday 12 July. We’ve already got a fascinating combination of members – spanning the worlds of finance, marketing, law, writing, translation and fashion brands.

It’s very informal. No foolish games and we’re more about ‘connecting people than collecting business cards.’

So come as you are, suit or jeans. Just sign up, turn up and join in.

Our principle is based on the idea of “The Strength of Weak Ties” – the true secret to effective networking – in a nutshell, that means the more new acquaintances you add to your social and business network the more opportunities you’ll create for yourself. If more people know what you do, they can refer business and connections in your direction. In short, everyone who is there is interested in what they can do to help you and what you may be able to do to help them.

Second Thursday Event details:

Date: EVERY “Second Thursday” of the month. – starting 12 July 2012

Time: 7.30pm for 8.00pm start

Venue: All Bar One: 127 Finsbury Pavement, EC2A 1NS – just up from Moorgate Tube

Drinks: Everyone gets their own and, if you like, join us for a meal in a nearby restaurant later on.

Sign up here: Click to sign up

Photo credits: Alastair Fyfe alastair@fyfephoto.com www.fyfephoto.com

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Newcastle Business School Alumnus, Commercial Director for LOCOG the Organising Committee for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games presenting a bottle of champagne to a new member. In the background, Newcastle University Business School London Alumni Chairman, Sam Waterfall and Alumni Relations Manager, Tristan Alltimes. Photo Credit: Alastair Fyfe, alastair@fyfephoto.com