Innovation, Optimism, and the Future of Food: Top Takeaways From the Future of Food Awards
The Future of Food Awards once again offered a powerful snapshot of the ideas, ambition, and creativity shaping how we’ll grow, make, and enjoy food in the years ahead. As a judge representing System1, I had a front-row seat to an inspiring mix of innovation, from bold new consumer products to genuinely transformative technologies, all united by a shared ambition to build a better food future.
The energy in the room was unmistakable. Founders were cheering each other on, teams were openly sharing learnings, and the judges were fueled by the sheer creativity on display. With System1’s focus on helping brands innovate through emotional understanding, this year’s event reinforced a clear truth: the future belongs to ideas that delight people while solving real, meaningful problems.
Below are my top takeaways, brought to life by the incredible finalists, alongside our two System1 Innovation Champion Award winners, Better Nature and Grub Club.
1. Innovation Starts With Mindset, Not Just Ingredients or Technology
One of the clearest themes this year was that innovation is less about a single breakthrough and more about a way of thinking. The most compelling brands treat progress as an ongoing journey of experimentation, testing, and listening to consumers.
Several finalists embodied this beautifully:
- Bold Bean showed how a traditionally overlooked FMCG category can be reimagined through passion, creativity, and genuine reframing. Proof that with the right mindset, even beans can become something people truly love.
- Freddie’s Farm demonstrated how simplicity, authenticity, and clean-label thinking can transform children’s snacking. A farmer-led idea growing into a national challenger brand speaks volumes about curiosity and customer obsession.
- Field Doctor highlighted how mindset fuels meaningful innovation in ready meals, pairing personalised nutrition with a home-delivery experience that feels premium, thoughtful, and health-first.
These brands are a reminder that innovation is not about scale. It is about thinking differently, listening carefully, and having the courage to keep evolving.
2. The Best Innovations Blend Human Insight With Technology
One thing that really stood out was how well technology is being used to serve people, not overshadow them. Consumers want food that is healthier, more sustainable, and more enjoyable, and the best technology simply helps make that happen.
The finalists brought this human and tech balance to life in powerful ways:
- Hoxton Farms combines machine learning, biology, and culinary insight to create cultivated pork fat that is scalable, cost-efficient, and, crucially, delicious.
- Auralytica tackles invisible challenges like spoilage using advanced chemical sensing to enable safer, less wasteful supply chains.
- KluraLabs applies technology to reduce food waste and strengthen supply chains, innovation that resonates emotionally because it supports food security.
- Kyomei uses biotech to develop cleaner-label ingredients, including Sweet Proteins, showing how technology can enhance both health and taste.
- No More Lids rethought everyday packaging with a one-piece cup that removes plastic lids entirely, using a water-soluble membrane without disrupting the consumer experience.
These ideas show that when technology is purposeful, reducing waste, improving safety, elevating taste, or simplifying life, trust and emotional connection follow.
3. Community and Collaboration Are Fueling the Future of Food
Even in a competitive setting, the atmosphere felt genuinely supportive. Founders swapped insights, encouraged one another, and were refreshingly honest about what it takes to build something from scratch.
This sense of community came through strongly in:
- Change-Box, whose dignity-first approach to food poverty shows how empathy and technology can combine to createreal societal impact.
- Farm Urban, empowering families and schools to grow food and build healthier habits, a reminder that behavior change often happens collectively.
- Grow Up, one of the few vertical farms making meaningful commercial progress, demonstrating how shared learning can help emerging sectors mature.
- Wildfarmed, a leader in regenerative agriculture, highlighting how collaboration across farmers, brands, and retailers is essential for change at scale.
The Future of Food Awards made it clear that this industry is moving forward together, not in isolation.
4. Celebrating System1’s Innovation Champions: Better Nature and Grub Club
This year, choosing just one winner felt impossible. Two brands stood out for their distinct yet equally powerful approaches to emotionally resonant innovation.
🏆 Better Nature
Better Nature is redefining plant-based protein which is gut-friendly, clean-label, and genuinely enjoyable to eat. Their tempeh innovations tap into sustainability, nourishment, craftsmanship, and the simple joy of cooking. They make better choices feel rewarding rather than restrictive.
🏆 Grub Club
Grub Club’s insect-based pet food brilliantly normalizes a radical idea through smart storytelling, nutrition, and sustainability. While their focus today is pets, their vision hints at a future where insect protein plays a wider role in our food systems. Bold, thoughtful, and deeply mission-driven, they embody what innovation with heart looks like.
Both brands stood out because their ideas feel inevitable, not trendy, but emotionally meaningful and grounded in real consumer value.
5. The Future of Food Belongs to Emotionally Intelligent Innovators
Across the finalists, one thing was consistent: innovation works when it connects with people on an emotional level.
- Hope (Bold Bean, Field Doctor)
- Joy (Freddie’s Farm, Better Nature)
- Safety (Auralytica, KluraLabs)
- Sustainability (Wildfarmed, Hoxton Farms, Grow Up)
- Empowerment (Farm Urban, Change-Box)
- Curiosity and delight (Fable, with its clever, shiitake-based meat alternatives)
- Optimism for what’s next (Grub Club’s vision beyond conventional proteins)
At System1, we help brands test and strengthen innovation by understanding these emotional drivers, because emotion shapes behavior, fuels brand growth, and drives long-term effectiveness.
The Future of Food Awards made one thing abundantly clear:
The innovations that win are not just the ones that make people think, they are the ones that make people feel.
Looking Ahead
Congratulations to all the finalists, an inspiring group of builders and thinkers proving that the future of food will be more sustainable, more joyful, more inclusive, and more emotionally intelligent.
And a final congratulations to Better Nature and Grub Club, two brands that capture the creativity, heart, and human-centered thinking defining the next era of food innovation.
We’re excited to see where this momentum leads next.
