Shaun Weston | FoodBev.com

Interview with Alasdair Lennox of Fitch

Shaun Weston — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 15:34:24 +0000

Alasdair Lennox and I enjoyed a quick Skype chat earlier, where he talked about how design consultancy Fitch has helped Morrisons with its ‘M local’ convenience store format.

You can listen to the podcast right here, and sign up to iTunes if you prefer.

The new FoodBev.com live Twitter feed

Shaun Weston — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 16:00:20 +0000

I’m interviewing design consultancy Fitch on Monday 18 July. They’re the team behind the new Morrisons ‘M local’ convenience store concept.

If you have any questions you’d like me to ask them, drop me a line. If all goes well, I’ll be posting the interview as a FoodBev.com podcast, which you can listen to on this blog or if you subscribe to the iTunes feed.

At the end of the week, I’m travelling to London to attend the Coca-Cola Enterprises press conference, where it will launch its sustainability report. You can stay up to date with the press conference by following the new FoodBev.com Twitter feed called FoodBev Live.

Adapt and thrive in the digital space

Shaun Weston — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 13:14:54 +0000

Have you paid attention to the young people around you today? They’re leaving university with degrees in digital broadcast technology, digital music, digital humanities and digital media.

Their concept of ‘internet’ isn’t discrete from how they live their everyday lives; it’s not a tool for emailing Uncle Derek in South Africa, it’s a part of how they learn, entertain themselves and communicate. It’s second nature to them.

And despite the internet having been around (in earnest) since about 1995 (that’s 16 years ago, folks), many of the ‘grown-ups’ in our respective industries are still struggling to come to terms with the change.

In the last decade, we’ve seen the digital arena come into its own as a catalyst of change, and it’s the young guys who will have a say in how our businesses adapt and thrive. And the clever businesses are already doing it, such as Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Starbucks. They didn’t get where they are today by thinking backwards or resisting change.

A curious affliction of the traditional ‘old guard’ is that if they don’t know something, it’s not worth knowing. Yet, time and again, they’re proved wrong, and it’s the adaptable and clever ones who relinquish control and begin to trust in the digital specialists to simply get on with it.

I believe it’s OK to not know something. Either learn or attract people to your business that already know what they’re doing. And don’t interfere (too much).

Changing the publishing industry with digital editions

Shaun Weston — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 10:26:57 +0000

We launched our first edition of the Functional Drinks ‘digital edition’ today since taking over from Zenith International. Please let us know what you think of it.

Subscribe to Functional Drinks here.

Keen followers of FoodBev.com will know that we won an award recently for ‘Best Commercial Innovation’ at the inaugural Online Media Awards in London, UK. We won specifically because we’ve forged ahead with the concept of digital editions of our print titles, successfully integrating digital media to pack some editorial punch.

This latest magazine is the latest product in our digital media portfolio, and we expect it to do well in enhancing our editorial offering. This is where we think the business is seeing the most development, and it’s where we believe the publishing industry is going.

I’m an enthusiastic advocate of digital media in all its forms. I’m not narrow-minded enough to believe that the internet will kill printed magazines and newspapers, but it’s changing the way we publish information; offering a new medium that in turn affects new innovation in device access, commercial opportunities and payment mechanisms.

The Functional Drinks digital edition is a new horse in a stable we’ve already built. I very much look forward to embracing the new standard of digital publishing that’s on the horizon and beyond.

The Avex 2011 Podcasts

Shaun Weston — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 10:11:33 +0000

Adam Green from Green Drinks

I don’t get to attend many events in the F&B calendar as much as I’d like, but I hope to bring you more coverage of the big events over the next year.

At Avex 2011, which took place in Birmingham, UK, in June, my colleague Bill Bruce conducted three interviews that we turned into podcasts for FoodBev.com.

Interview one

Bill talks to Michael Rice of Follett, and discovers more about trends in ice usage in Europe. You can visit the podcast page for the Michael Rice interview here.

Interview two

Bill caught up with Adam Green, the founder of The Green Drinks Company. Listen to the Adam Green interview here.

Interview three

Bill talks to Matthew Baldry from Think3e, a social enterprise that focuses, among other things, on reducing landfill waste. Listen to the Matthew Baldry podcast here.

I hope you enjoy catching up with our Avex 2011 podcasts. Please leave a comment if you want to know more about the interviews, or if you’d like to feature on a FoodBev.com podcast.