Branchfood’s Spring Meet and Mingle, hosted in collaboration with Brewing the American Dream, and FoodHack Boston, was an evening of food-industry wide connection and collaboration. The eagerness to participate and engage was palpable at the Sam Adams Downtown Boston Taproom where over 130 local and regional attendees from leading industry businesses including Whole Foods Market, Greentown Labs, Unilever, UNFI, Ocean Spray Cranberries, JP Morgan Chase, General Mills, Farmers Business Network, among many others, convened.

The event served as a vibrant hub where colleagues reconnected and new attendees were warmly welcomed into our community. Industry representatives discussed the future of the protein industry, the increasing popularity of functional ingredients, and advancements in packaging. Meanwhile, updates on groundbreaking research were shared by our esteemed academic collaborators from the Harvard Wyss Institute, Tufts University, Babson College, UMass Amherst, and MIT, to name a few. Innovators, investors, and even representatives from government entities including the City of Boston, the State of Massachusetts, The Greater Zurich Area, Swissnex, and more, mingled with the leaders of growing CPG brands like Stone and Skillet, Hillside Harvest, and our Branch Venture Group portfolio company, Chia Smash.

The event also featured insightful keynote speeches from our event partners including Tim Kerrigan, Assistant Head of Innovation at The Boston Beer Company, who emphasized the importance of relationships in building resilient companies. Kerrigan highlighted the invaluable partnership between Branchfood and The Boston Beer Company, and how we’ve helped them inform and advance their work on the innovation team. Since 2008, The Boston Beer Company has been working with burgeoning businesses through Brewing the American Dream, a program that supports startups with mentoring, coaching, access to capital, and other tailored resources.

Sezin Yigit, another event partner from FoodHack Boston, invited guests to join their global community of ag- and food-tech professionals. FoodHack Boston hosts quarterly meetups that bring together the brightest minds in food tech, from seasoned founders to eager investors and passionate enthusiasts. Attendees were treated to samples of Koyo Berries, specialty strawberries that Oishii vertically farms with an emphasis on high-quality taste, and dumplings made with High Time Foods’ versatile plant-based chicken. Photography was provided by Tom Dodge at NewView.Media, expert visual storyteller and our longtime collaborator.

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At Branchfood, we often say that food is, and will always be, a people business. Connecting with mentors, advisors, investors, customers, and experts to support the advancement of businesses’ development goals is at the core of our work. We have been bringing together all corners of the industry for over a decade, creating connections that foster innovation and help evolve our food industry to be more environmentally sustainable and contribute to better health outcomes. If you are seeking deeper involvement in the dynamic Branchfood community, sign up for our newsletter, follow us on LinkedIn, and attend our monthly virtual Community Table. For more information on our bespoke advisory services, please reach out to info@branchfood.com.