Let’s Get the Ball Rolling

Intro/Outro (00:04):

It takes a bit of a blend of art and science to get baking just right and having extra eyes, ears, and hands can make a big difference along the way. That’s where AB Maori, north America comes into play. We are the team behind industrial and artisan bakers that help optimize success. We’ll discuss more on this episode of the oven light. So let’s get going. Flip the switch.

Rick (00:31):

Alright, everybody flip the switch. The switch is back on. We’re back with the oven light and I tell you what, we’ve got a wonderful show for you today. Most recent program we had Nick and Jack from Wang Chong, and I tell you what, let me tell you a little bit about our next guest and I’ll tease it a little bit. She’s the esteemed executive director of the Green Foods Foundation, including a nearly 13 year tenure there, former director with the Commodity Markets Council in Washington, dc. She’s got a Bachelor of science degree in agricultural Economics from the University of Missouri at Columbia Joplin raised as well. Also the recipient of a master of arts degree from Covenant Theological Seminary right here in St. Louis. Let’s welcome Aaron Ball to the program. Welcome Aaron.

Erin (01:21):

Thank you so much, Rick. I’m excited to be here. This is fun.

Rick (01:24):

This is good. We’ve gotten a chance to know each other over the past couple of the years with GFF and we’re excited to have you on the program. So let’s start fresh. We’re going to start fast. We have some questions we’re just going to kind of hit you with called the hot pan. So first one, favorite grain-based breakfast food.

Erin (01:43):

So I’m kind of savory for breakfast and so anything that can be topped with a savory topping. So I kind of float between toast and I like cheese with my toast or I’m kind of into these crispy corn tostadas and I like a lot of things on those. I’ll use a tortilla now and then if it’s like an egg thing. So yeah, it’s a lot of savory, always a green based base and a variety of toppings.

Rick (02:13):

Interesting. Okay. I like it. I like it. But one thing you just said and it hit me with something. I remember growing up in the south in Florida for breakfast in the schools they would have cheese toast, not just regular toast. They would put cheese on it, like a slice of American, and I thought it was so weird coming from upper New York down to Florida to try that, but it’s actually pretty tasty. It’s simple and it worked. I don’t know, cheese toast. Do you ever have that?

Erin (02:39):

I never had it growing up, but we did have this sort of two year stint in Alabama related to my husband’s job and I got into pimento cheese.

Rick (02:47):

Yeah, that’s the master’s specialty, isn’t it?

Erin (02:51):

Yes, on the white bread. It is delicious on the white bread. So maybe that’s sort of the cheese and toast connection. The south, I’m not sure.

Rick (03:00):

Okay. What are you drinking too to get your day going? Is it coffee, tea, juice, energy drink, diet coke. What do you got?

Erin (03:06):

It’s espresso.

Rick (03:07):

It’s

Erin (03:07):

Always espresso. If it’s at home, it’s hot, it’s half calf and it has two tablespoons of my creamer of my choice. If I’m not at home and if it’s in the summer, I like a quad, breve, half calf, two pumps of caramel, lots of room for cream, extra ice.

Rick (03:26):

All right. That’s a lot of stuff. If you go to a Starbucks, Aaron, Aaron, we got your drink here. I don’t want to tell you what it is. I don’t even know. Here we go. Last one. This is kind of a fun question. Never asked this ever on the podcast here. If you were a grain, what kind of grain would you be and why?

Erin (03:44):

Good question.

Rick (03:46):

And we can park it. If you want to think about it during our discussion and come back at a random time, we can do it. I know it’s a lot.

Erin (03:52):

Yeah, I’m sitting between two.

Rick (03:54):

Okay.

Erin (03:54):

I’m going to say maybe wheat for the versatility because I feel like my life has been about a lot of different things even professionally. But I also like the oat powerhouse because it’s full of fiber and it’s having kind of a very extended halo moment. And I’m not saying I have an halo moment, but I wouldn’t mind having a halo moment like

Rick (04:15):

Those. Okay. I do. Starting the day with oatmeal. It’s a nice little kind of kick to the morning. You throw some raisins and stuff in there. It’s good. Alright, let’s jump into the real business here, Aaron. So thank you for telling us about your type of grain. You’re kind of in between. Okay, so for those that don’t know about the Grain Foods Foundation and some people listening understand the bakery market and some maybe are new to it, but here’s your chance. What’s your elevator speech? Give us two minutes. What is the Grain Foods Foundation and why should this matter to people listening?

Erin (04:49):

Great. I love giving this speech. So ready. Buckle up.

Rick (04:52):

Okay,

Erin (04:53):

So GFF was formed in the early two thousands as sort of a joint venture between green foods manufacturers and flour millers. I think some ingredient folks maybe at the beginning or certainly near the beginning to respond to the Atkins diet craze. So the idea was not only were people not buying bread, but they were starting to believe some misinformation about bread and about grain-based foods broadly. GFF was formed. The idea was a big PR campaign. Some folks don’t know this, but we launched in Times Square. There were people wearing bread costumes. Two or three of them lived in my attic for a period of time in the evolution, the

Rick (05:32):

Costumes or the people?

Erin (05:34):

The costumes.

Rick (05:35):

Okay, all right. I’m just checking.

Erin (05:37):

Yeah, it’s a good clarification. They may or may not have seen some Halloween airtime, however, among my three children, I got it. Anyway, that was a launch. It was kind of this idea of a pep rally around bread. It was writing misinformation, but it was also just a lot of positivity. And I would say we still live in that positive space 21 years later. But the evolution of the foundation has been that now we run a nationwide communications campaign and our unique value proposition is that undergirded or sits upon nutrition science research, which is informed by consumer insights research that is translated and in some ways directed by nutrition science experts.

Rick (06:19):

Okay. Let’s start to peel back the onion a little bit here and talk about maybe some of your members. How difficult is it to join? What kind of makes up your membership base? And then we’re going to talk insights and all that in a little bit.

Erin (06:33):

Great. So joining GFF involves writing a check, and so we are an organization based organization, not an individual space. So our members are companies, groups in the grain foods manufacturing space, in the flour milling space, the ingredient space like AB Maori and other allied folks. So packaging, Lin Publishing is an investor in GFF. We call our members investors. There’s some flux from year to year, but we have about 60 to 65 companies in any given year who have supported the foundation financially and are often then in some ways involved in leadership or directing the work in some way coming to the table to really be a part of a category wide effort to protect and promote. I would say if you walk down a bread aisle in any grocery store, you’re going to see products made by many of our investors. Similarly in the flour space, although a lot of our flour guys are selling a lot B2B, we hope that we look like a snapshot of the green foods category and seek to represent all of those folks’ interests.

Rick (07:42):

So what I picked up out of that, if Connor, who’s our sound technician here or me wanted to join you really can’t you have to be part of an organization or your organization based, your company based, but those individuals can be part of that company, obviously.

Erin (07:56):

Yes. That’s sort of how we do it. Even our board seats are organized by organization and not individuals.

Rick (08:02):

Okay, good to know. Good to know. Alright, let’s talk about some of the issues. I mean, you’ve got so many things that you’re covering. Obviously you do a lot of research studies and you put out things almost weekly on hey, we’re having a call to talk about obesity or to talk about GLP one or maybe some MIS facts that are out there or misinformation, if you will, about health or the healthy plate. Do you want to talk a little bit about what’s on your mind right now? You head up a really important organization, what’s right, what’s wrong?

Erin (08:34):

Well, thank you for seeing the importance of GFFI say this repeatedly, so GFF has many moments and I think it just illustrates we’re here for this, but this is a moment for GFF. I think suddenly a lot that’s going on in public health is also happening in the consumer space in parallel, and I would say with intersections, GFF lives sort of in a resource world where it makes sense for us to talk to health influencers, but we don’t typically have the scope to reach out to consumers directly. But the benefit of this moment is that those conversations are really overlapping and so we have an opportunity to communicate in a bigger way than ever before. We’re talking and thinking a lot about ultra processed foods. We’ve been watching that unfold on the science side really for more than a decade. And now the conversation is very lively around this topic in the US it’s been big in other countries for a long time.

Erin (09:29):

We’re observing, we’re weighing in, we’re leaning into some of our scientific advisors who are really experts in this space and leading, I would say the reasonable side of the conversation around ups. We’re talking a lot about enrichment and fortification right now. We’re living in a time where even some folks involved in our category may not have been around when enrichment came to be, which that was a 1940s thing. So fortification of course, coming into play, folic acid in the nineties even that we’re reminding folks inside the industry of what enrichment and fortification mean, what they’ve meant for public health as well as of course, messaging external to the category, reminding policymakers, health influencers, nutrition communicators about what enrichment and fortification are and how important they are. Because I think when we don’t understand enrichment and fortification, some of those ingredients get wrapped up in the ultra processed foods conversation and we need to make sure that we’re being very clear about what those ingredients do and how they’ve benefited public health in our country.

Erin (10:40):

We’re also just keeping an eye on the ongoing conversation around carbohydrates because grain foods are a huge part of the carbohydrate conversation broadly watching some low carb initiatives sort of in the public health world and also watching the scientific community kind of investigate this idea of carbohydrate quality. Participating in that through funding some of our own work and actually getting ready probably this summer, fall and winter to start doing some messaging around a project that will be published soon that is about carb quality and factors in things like whole grains, fiber and enrichment and fortifications. At GFF, we tell some really what I would consider timeless stories, but we’re always trying to add color and detail to those stories and to ground those stories even more deeply in peer reviewed science.

Rick (11:31):

So you’ve got the base in dc, right? But how much political activation is there? There’s not really a lobbying entity or is there, I mean, you don’t care who’s in the office, but you do have to be aware of what’s going on, red, blue, green, whatever, right?

Erin (11:49):

Yes. So GFF does not lobby, but I would say in the process of being who we are and creating the assets and resources that we create, we do make sure that some of our lobbying organizations in the category like American Baker’s Association and North American Miller’s Association, we want to make sure those folks have what they need when they go to the hill to make some of the cases that they make on behalf of the category. So I consider GFF kind of the category tool bag, and I encourage folks who are going to the Hill or who are talking to the agencies like HHS and USDA, stop by the tool bag before you go, let us make sure you have everything you need. We do engage to some extent with USDA around the dietary guidelines. Not again in a lobbying capacity, but just submitting comments, but also having conversation sometimes with staff and we’re very engaged in what’s being talked about, but we’re also very careful in the way that we then enter the conversation.

Rick (12:49):

Sure. Well, let’s talk too, when GFF was formed, I would say that social media has evolved since then in a big way. So how has that been differently now in terms of how you try to communicate to your investors, your members, and other people that are going to be in a political capacity?

Erin (13:08):

So social media has sort of multiplied what we can do with any given investor dollar, which is a great thing and an amazing thing really. In the early days of GFF, we were doing some of those very expensive advertising lifts, print ads, particularly we’ve moved into a world where really all of our content needs to be ready to be communicated on social media. We want it to be engaging, approachable. We talk about our friendly nerd voice and that friendly nerd. To your point about how much the world has changed, that friendly nerd exists only digitally only via social. If there was a friendly nerd at GFF, I guess it would be me, but I am not the face

Rick (13:49):

Of GFI didn’t say it Connor. You didn’t say it. Okay. To be

Erin (13:53):

Honest, I would love to be thought of as a friendly nerd. Maybe that’s an aspiration of mine, but the voice exists apart from me. It’s gffs voice and it goes a lot of places we couldn’t have gone 20 years ago because of Instagram X. We do a lot on LinkedIn. We work with ambassadors who their whole sort of reach is digital and social. It makes work like ours in a way easier, but it means everyone has access to the same platform, and so it sort of multiplies the opportunity for those who might be communicating misinformation as well.

Rick (14:30):

Are there any other organizing bodies like yours with GFF that you’re like, boy, they do it pretty well. They could be in the car industry, they could be in the soft drinks or whatever. Is there anybody you’re like, boy, they do it pretty good and we try to model after or maybe take a few cues from ’em?

Erin (14:48):

Yes.

Rick (14:50):

I don’t want to steal any secrets here, but here’s your chance. Well,

Erin (14:54):

I think you’ve heard me talk about this before, but I think the produce people do an amazing job.

Rick (15:00):

Well, let us talk more about that. Us Did

Erin (15:03):

You have that ready?

Rick (15:05):

No,

Erin (15:05):

Just there.

Rick (15:06):

I know you didn’t care at all for that one, but that’s all right. Alright, keep going.

Erin (15:12):

I don’t have any great puns, but I do think they do a good job.

Rick (15:15):

So why? What are they doing that’s making sense?

Erin (15:18):

Yeah. I think consumers right now are really focused on what is in the food. Is it nourishing to me and my family? I think the questions right now are swinging in that space of is this food working against health for me and my family? And so I think what the produce people do, they do a lot visually and produce has its own halo. Notice I’m drawn to things with the halo because those are easy messages and you’re not selling as hard as some of,

Rick (15:49):

Are you going back to your seminary work too on the halo thing? I like that reference. Yeah.

Erin (15:53):

I mean maybe I do say that there are some overlaps here and there, so that could be one. I think they do a good job of making fruit and vegetables just look really beautiful and delicious and they use a lot of, I mean this is just in the weeds, but I mean they use a lot of white and light colored backgrounds, so it just looks pure and I think consumers are looking for purity and everyone would define that differently. What does it mean? I mean, it’s sort of a clean label thing. It’s sort of a whole food thing. I say that in quotes because what does whole foods mean? I also think another great thing that the produce folks do that I’m thinking a lot about at GF is they partner with retailers and retail registered dieticians to talk about produce, to share recipes, to be a voice of when you’re in the store, this is how to choose your produce and this is what you can do with it when you get home.

Erin (16:48):

I think the grain foods category, we don’t have the choice issue as much because we’re a CPG world. The foods are packaged and pretty uniform, but what to do with it when you get home thing. We have a lot of recipes at GF that’s a very sticky part of our website, but I love the voice that the produce people bring with this kind of point of sale person who’s aware that you’re making a choice, but that you’re going to need to do something with that choice at home. So I think they do a great job of that. I also just, I love their chipper voice. It’s not so much the friendly nerd, but it’s the happy neighbor. Maybe

Rick (17:26):

Some of you meet at a farmer’s market, right, that’s willing to talk with you and tell you

Erin (17:32):

Their

Rick (17:32):

Story. I think there’s something special about it of telling your own story. If not somebody’s going to tell a story and it could be inaccurate.

Erin (17:39):

Yes.

Rick (17:39):

So growing up, you and I grew up during the days of a great campaign. It’s still out there, the incredible edible egg. Everybody would say eggs were bad, too much cholesterol or whatever, and look what they did to change that. And there’ve been a few like that. So do you have on a pedestal some sort of campaign? Like you talk about produce is one, but is that kind of what you aspire to create a movement?

Erin (18:05):

Yeah, so I think a movement requires that thing that you just referenced. The incredible edible egg or beef for dinner, the milk mustache, well, I don’t know if you’re aware of this one, but the avocado people, they say eat one today. That’s just their tagline these days. Eat one avocado today and they can parse out why they’ve chosen each word of that. But I think it’s really smart. So I would love to move to a space where we have that kind of tagline for the grain foods category. It’s winsome. It usually speaks to how this food or commodity fits into your life and it just sticks with you. And I don’t think we have that in our space yet, but I think we could get there.

Rick (18:46):

I like it. I like the aspiration. Okay, we’re going to turn back the clock now. We’re going to go back to maybe your college days. By the way, I’m a big fan of Boch’s and Shakespeare’s Pizza in Columbia, Missouri. Nice Covenant Seminary. Looking back to the commodity markets council, I don’t know anything about that, but how did you get here from student and ag and that makes sense. And then seminary, what? And then the commodity markets. What are you talking, how did Aaron Ball get to be Aaron Ball? And you’ve been there, what, 13 years at gff? So give us a snapshot.

Erin (19:24):

I grew up in suburban, rural, southwest Missouri or rural suburban. I never know how to describe Joplin, but if you know Joplin, it’s something like that. I grew up there, not on a farm at all, but in sort of an environment where there were farms nearby and I went to college at Mizzou like many folks do when they go to Mizou. I was going to be a journalist.

Rick (19:45):

Great school for that. Yeah,

Erin (19:47):

Yeah. I was all in. And then I observed some of my other Prej friends and how they were, the amount of work those journalism students do, and just the angst and the relationships with editors so much. Maybe I wasn’t courageous enough to pursue that.

Rick (20:04):

So you’re like, I’m out. I’m not doing

Erin (20:06):

It. I’m

Rick (20:06):

Moving schools.

Erin (20:07):

I admire you all. But no, not for me. I switched into this pre-law mindset spoiler, as we’ve already discussed. I’m not a lawyer, but thinking that way, I was like, I need just a really practical businessy major. My dad’s an accountant. I knew accounting wasn’t for me, but what was it? So Mizzou has a really great ag school, and I kind of was like, what if I found a home here? And agricultural economics was sort of, I thought the closest fit to what I was looking for. Had an amazing four years that I remember sitting in classes at Mizou being so intimidated by the farm kids because the farm kids knew all the answers in some of my classes, and I had no idea what they were even talking about.

Rick (20:47):

But your shoes were cleaner. I mean, seriously,

Erin (20:51):

But I didn’t have the boots. Their boots were dirty, but they have the boots. I eventually didn’t get boots, by the way. So I enjoyed that four years, but at the end, I just wasn’t sure what I was going to do next. I didn’t feel like it was law school after all. And so I spent a couple of years in the country of Hungary working with a Christian group and had tons of European adventures. Loved it.

Rick (21:12):

Budapest or Budapest, right?

Erin (21:14):

Thank you. Hungary, obviously, I actually lived in Page, which is south, just kind of north of the Croatian border. But we went to Budapest all the time, and that’s where all the good food was and the good groceries and all

Rick (21:25):

The things. I mean, even where you lived, you tried to pull food in. You lived in Hungary. Sorry,

Erin (21:30):

I don’t want to make you feel a little bit, my grandfather used to make that joke.

Rick (21:35):

I love that guy. He’s a great guy, great man, great man.

Erin (21:38):

Yeah, really, really is. Yes. So anyway, yeah, and came back and I sort of had this idea, I mean this is the real journey. I wanted to be a writer. I wanted to be a theologically informed writer. So I landed at Covenant Seminary. I have a master’s of Arts, as you noted in the theological studies. And I got married during that time. We moved to Alabama for my husband’s job and I did a few different things. I did some teaching in a boarding school, a high school, and also at the college level. And I loved it, but I didn’t really have the credential to be college faculty. So anyway, we move again with my husband’s job. We land in DC and DC is like the land of opportunity. If you did an undergrad in ag econ, it’s the land of opportunity for almost any undergrad actually. But I was finally in a place where my undergraduate degree could be really relevant. And so I started looking at jobs at USDA actually, and I ended up getting in touch with a friend who I had grown up with in Joplin and gone to college with and at Mizou, who was working at the Commodity Markets Council. And it was Christine Cochrane who ended up being the mood bread assessor at Green Prince Foundation as well. By the way, you should totally have Christine on this show. Just a little plug for her.

Rick (22:50):

Yeah, no, we know her well. Yeah,

Erin (22:52):

She has a lot of interesting things to say about snacks these days. She was a commodity markets council. She was looking for some part-time help someone who could think with her, but also do a lot of other things. And that began a professional partnership that lasted for the next 15 years. She left CMC and moved to GFF, and I honestly just thought Christina and I would be professional partners forever. I thought we would just always move together.

Rick (23:17):

Good tag Tim abt, Costello, Simon and Garfunkel. I’m just, yeah,

Erin (23:23):

We’re not as funny or as talented as either of those, but we do have a synergy. I would say she landed at GFF. I eventually landed here as well, and I actually fell in love at GFF with the nutrition piece, which it’s related to agricultural economics and that it engages with the food value chain or supply chain, but it was a different spin and it was just really interesting. I had also never worked with large advertising agencies before and GFF has worked with a series of agencies and I thought that was really interesting. I think the organizational psychology of an agency is so interesting, and Christine actually went on to snack and I’ve stayed at GFF and it’s been a really great world. It’s been some exciting years. A lot has gone on in green foods in these years and it’s been incredible to be here for that and to sit in the seat as executive director now. It’s been amazing.

Rick (24:20):

Well, GFF is lucky to have you, I’ll say that. Alright, so we’re going to lighten the mood a little bit. Thanks for bringing us up to speed on your background. So a few more hot pans. Are you listening to any podcasts on a regular basis outside of the oven light, obviously. And if so, which ones are you reading? Any books? Where are you getting your inspiration from?

Erin (24:40):

Yeah, good question. So I find myself, I think many other people, whether they admit it or not, to be overstimulated, a lot of the time I’m all in with whatever I’m doing in the moment. And so when I’m not doing something in a focused way, doing G fff, raising three kids kind of stuff, I like to zone out a little. So I’m not a podcast person. I’m the only adult I know who’s not a podcast person right now.

Rick (25:05):

Well, that’s okay. Is there a certain type of music or a certain act or individual that you’re like, I’m a swifty, this is my era? Or you’re like, I am a fan of the Beatles and time to get back or what?

Erin (25:20):

So I’m a fan of the eclectic playlist and that is what defines me in my family and perhaps in other spheres.

Rick (25:27):

What does that mean? Eclectic? Give me some acts.

Erin (25:30):

It means that my children say they get whiplash listening to my playlist because it’s country, it’s Broadway, it’s all the things, and they’re all mixed. I don’t group them by category. I don’t have one for each mood or whatever.

Rick (25:48):

It’s such a scattered list, but you are the most scattered person I know.

Erin (25:52):

Maybe that’s where I express it. I mean, for Mother’s Day, one of my children was like, can I please organize your liked list on Spotify? That’s awesome. I let her, she just made a sub list, but I still have my big list. So I think I lose myself in music. I walk a lot and so if I’m unplugging and seeking to go somewhere mentally, but maybe less directed, I’m walking and I’ve got my AirPods in and I’m listening to my eclectic,

Rick (26:17):

Hey, everybody’s got their own right. I will tell you on a recent road trip with my son and my wife, we all have, there’s some similarities, but we all kind of fight for the right to manage the sound in the car. And it’s like my son and I are like, Cindy’s doing it again. It’s a lot of country and we’re like a lot of Hamilton and I’m like, I can’t do it anymore. I can’t do it. Cameron’s a little closer to a lot of the seventies, eighties rock. So we tend to go that way

Erin (26:46):

If we’re voting. I’m team Cindy, I think.

Rick (26:49):

Okay. Alright. Here’s the next question. Beach, lake or city, if you had to choose, where would you be?

Erin (26:58):

You didn’t offer my first choice. So I’m going to add Beach, lake, city or Mountain.

Rick (27:03):

I

Erin (27:03):

Picked Mountain. Well, I kind of

Rick (27:05):

Assume mountain with a lake, but I get it.

Erin (27:07):

Well, that is the dream, the retirement spot. I mean, I’m a few years out from retirement, but the retirement dream is mountain lake. We have done mountains and the beach this very summer and I am solidly a mountain person, although one of my children loves the beach and I’m happy for her to have some time at the beach from time to time.

Rick (27:27):

Awesome. Awesome. Hey, you got to find your place and what makes it special. Okay, so we’re nearing the end of this thing, but I kind of want to give you an open forum. Here’s your chance to tell what’s really impactful for G fff right now. I know you’re working on some great insights programs. You guys do a lot of communication to your members and your investors, but what’s really topical that you’re like, well, you got to know this as we get ready for 2026,

Erin (27:58):

This is a newer endeavor at GF. It’s not new for a lot of our investors, but we’re really working on consumer insights and we’re in the middle of a big project with Nielsen IQ right now. There’s actually this guy named Rick who is actually chairing the work from our board. Maybe you know him.

Rick (28:14):

I

Erin (28:14):

Think understanding the consumer right now and having a real time sense of what the consumer is valuing and talking about, it’s never been more important. I’m sure that at any given time you could say it’s never been more important to understand the consumer. But I think in our space where we’re representing a whole category, we haven’t always emphasized kind of a really fresh understanding of the consumer, maybe from year to year or even more frequently. But we’re doing that right now. We actually have a survey of 5,000 respondents fielded, and we’re going to kind of hear more from consumers about what do they understand about ultra processed, how do they understand grain foods and its grain foods relationship with processing. We’re also going to try to understand what choices are folks making for health, how that might interact with obesity, drugs, and folks who are using those to move towards better health.

Erin (29:07):

So I think I’m a little bit on the edge of my seat in terms of these findings, but I’m eager for them. I think they’re going to fuel a lot of what we do in terms of next steps at GFF. I also just think keeping our feet firmly grounded in science even as we’re translating consumer friendly messages about the goodness of grain foods, about the importance of enrichment and fortification and about looking at a food’s nutrition and the overall plate and the overall meal plan over a week rather than identifying an ingredient you’re avoiding or this is too many steps of processing. Let’s think about food as nutrition and make choices that way. And I think grain foods really, that might be where our halo is to be honest. And it’s a moment of opportunity, I think.

Rick (29:54):

And don’t forget that these consumers you’re hearing back from are different. There’s different buckets and it’s based on where you are lifespan wise, the boomers, the Xers, the millennials, that’s a big thing, isn’t it?

Erin (30:07):

Yes. So last year, something we learned from our consumer insights is that boomers and Xs think of grain foods as staples largely, and millennials and Zs don’t know what a staple is, and they have no use for staples in their lives. And so part of what we’re doing in some work we’re going to be rolling out this fall at GFF is thinking about could we reintroduce the staple as if it’s this novelty? And I think there’s certainly a message there. So we’re working on that. We also just want to figure out how to help millennials understand grain foods as solutions. We think millennials are looking for convenience. They’re on the go. They’re right in the thick of it with raising families how to be a solution. And for Gen ZI think we just need to educate about grain foods a little bit, that staple message, but also sort of introducing, you’re looking for novelty. There’s a lot of variety across this category. Let us show you novelty.

Rick (31:06):

I like that.

Erin (31:07):

So that’s some of sort of the undergirding of our thinking and that will evolve as we’re getting some new consumer results later this summer.

Rick (31:15):

Fantastic. Great work. Hey, that’s it everybody for the oven light today. Really like to thank Aaron Ball from the Grain Foods Foundation, a really good session. We enjoyed it. Aaron, thanks again. Hey, for now, the switch is off the oven, light is off. Thanks for listening and we’ll see you again soon. We hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of the Oven Light. Until next time, when we discuss more about the wonderful world of baking technology trends and more, the switch is officially off. Goodbye for now. See you next time.