Fast Company is out with its list of the 10 most innovative people in food, and there are a couple of interesting choices on the list:
Number six is Ed Kaczmarek, director of innovation with Kraft, who created the company’s iFood Assistant application for the iPhone, “which offers Kraft devotees with iPhones thousands of recipes and more, proves not only that brands can create meaningful mobile experiences but also that customers will pay for them. Kraft’s cooking app ($0.99) cracked the iPhone’s top 100 apps list, rising at one point to the No. 2 slot in the lifestyle section, and helped the $42 billion company better understand its customers and what they’re shopping for.”
Number nine is Becky Frankiewicz, vp of portfolio card marketing for Frito-Lay North America, who Fast Company describes as “leading the shift for Frito-Lay’s Smartfood and Baked Lays brands to appeal to women, using design and taste to communicate that healthy snacking isn’t an oxymoron. New packaging is more elegant, appealing, and signals health benefits, and new technology lets flavor be baked into each crisp.”
Number six is Ed Kaczmarek, director of innovation with Kraft, who created the company’s iFood Assistant application for the iPhone, “which offers Kraft devotees with iPhones thousands of recipes and more, proves not only that brands can create meaningful mobile experiences but also that customers will pay for them. Kraft’s cooking app ($0.99) cracked the iPhone’s top 100 apps list, rising at one point to the No. 2 slot in the lifestyle section, and helped the $42 billion company better understand its customers and what they’re shopping for.”
Number nine is Becky Frankiewicz, vp of portfolio card marketing for Frito-Lay North America, who Fast Company describes as “leading the shift for Frito-Lay’s Smartfood and Baked Lays brands to appeal to women, using design and taste to communicate that healthy snacking isn’t an oxymoron. New packaging is more elegant, appealing, and signals health benefits, and new technology lets flavor be baked into each crisp.”
- KC's View:
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The fact that these rankings include two CPG executives demonstrates how the world is changing, and the premium that companies should place on innovative thinking and exceptional implementation.
BTW…the number two person on the list is Dan Barber, owner and chef of New York City’s Blue Hill, which I’ve written about before in this space. Not only has the content Guy and Mrs. Content Guy been there, but several weeks later President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama went there. (Not sure if it was because they read my recommendation on MorningNewsBeat…but you never know.) Anyway, I mention this again because the CIES World Food Business Summit is in New York this week, and any food industry executive who cares about food ought to try to get a reservation there. It may be impossible, but they should try…because it quite simply is one of the best restaurants they’ll ever go to.
