KEY INTERVIEW: Disruptive Technologies are Challenging the Food Industry

Since joining General Mills in 1999 as a product developer, Gruess has seen the changes to the development of these types of technologies which are becoming increasingly more valuable to General Mills’ business. Gruess believes the key to success is to use a balanced approach of internal and external expertise, and always putting consumer needs first.

 

Gruess explained to FoodIngredientsFirst what it means to be a Disruptor: “I am charged with developing implementation strategies for disruptive technologies across all businesses within General Mills, which essentially means not only do I seek out technologies, but also manage how to seamlessly make them a part of our daily business.”

 

Gruess goes on to outline how disruptive technologies play a growing role in the food industry: “A disruptor is often using an emerging technology delivering on a new or changing consumer need under a business model that has the potential to gain significant share of a category in the food industry,” claims Gruess, “These emerging technologies are often the enabler for a disruption in the consumer marketplace.”

 

“The emergence of Greek yogurt is a perfect example for a disruptor,” says Gruess, “If you look at the yogurt aisle in the supermarket here in the US and compare it to several years ago, you will see the impact that Greek Yogurt had on the entire category. There are many more varieties of Greek compared to regular yogurts available. But the impact is not only visible in the dairy category, but other categories as well. Cereals, bars, dips, sauces, fruit snacks and even cosmetics containing Greek yogurt are now available and are disrupting other categories,” Gruess explains.

 

Gruess also notes that General Mills is looking at several potential disruptors in the areas of wearables, food delivery and personalized health. “Personalized nutrition is a very important factor for all food manufacturers,” he says, “You can customize everything to your personal liking so why shouldn’t you be able to do that for your food based on your health needs? Approaches across disciplines and collaboration between large companies, SME’s and early start-up companies will provide the most robust solution.”

 

He adds: “We are not only looking at one technology that could enable the disruption but we are trying to find the intersection of different disciplines, fields and capabilities that could develop into a broad disruptor to General Mills’ categories.”

 

“For example, what if a wearable device detects a specific nutritional need of a consumer and transmits that information to a local food manufacturer? This manufacturer then produces a food product, e.g. a cereal bar or a yogurt with those individualized nutritional requirements and delivers it to your house the next morning,” he says.

 

“There are several technologies in this equation that could disrupt the food industry, including manufacturers and grocery stores. The possibilities are equally alarming and endless,” states Gruess.

 

Strategic partnerships
“We are building and leveraging strategic partnerships with several suppliers and research organizations. Secondly we are participating in several research consortia around the world that cover a broad range of science and technology areas. Through that we are constantly exposed to the front end of innovation but are also building new ‘Networks of Networks’,” says Gruess.

 

General Mills announced their multi-year sponsorship of MassChallenge Boston’s non-profit accelerator program in October 2015, a network of early-stage entrepreneurs and corporate partners promoting emerging technologies. The world’s largest startup accelerator program provides global entrepreneurs the resources they need to develop, launch and succeed through world-class mentorship, training, and access to funding, partnerships, and media exposure. Besides Boston, MassChallenge runs accelerator programs in the UK, Israel, Switzerland and Mexico.

 

“Our involvement with MassChallenge will expose us to trends not only in the food industry but also in adjacent disciplines that have transferable applications,” he explains.

 

“Being exposed to new and emerging technologies, products, start-ups and trends on a daily basis is extremely exciting. Developing a strong understanding of those technologies and ultimately being able to transfer them into practice is both challenging and rewarding,” explains Gruess.

 

“It’s energizing not only to provide General Mills’ expertise and resources to emerging startups, but also to learn from them and gain insight on new technologies that can make us more efficient in how we bring food innovations to our consumers.”

 

In terms of addressing the major challenges for food production in the future, Gruess says working together on innovation is essential: “We have to work together across industries, disciplines and borders to solve major challenges in the future. By using a connected innovation approach we will be able to identify and solve major challenges faster and more holistically.”

 

“You need to build and maintain networks and actively look for these opportunities,” concludes Gruess.