Shelley Balanko

March 15, 2023
Speaker Biography Feature Image

Shelley Balanko, Ph.D. , Senior Vice President, The Hartman Group

 

Shelley BalankoShelley Balanko has an informed understanding of social and cultural influences impacting the marketplace. Shelley regularly engages diverse audiences spanning foodservice, consumer packaged goods and retail as she shares leading-edge consumer insights and implications.

Shelley graduated from the University of Windsor with a Ph.D. in Applied Social Psychology. She has a MA in Applied Social Psychology from the University of Saskatchewan and a BA in Psychology from the University of British Columbia.


About The Hartman Group

The Hartman Group is the premier food and beverage consultancy. Since 1989, The Hartman Group’s anthropologists, social scientists and business analysts have been immersed in the study of food and beverage culture, using ethnographic observation, quantitative tracking surveys and deep study of trends. What we have learned and continue to uncover allows us to upend many notions of our traditional eating and drinking patterns, thereby identifying unique opportunities and winning strategies for our clients. For more: www.hartman-group.com.

Global Food Forums Presentations by Speaker

2023 Clean Label Conference

Food and Technology 2023: Consumer Trends and Tensions

Abstract: While consumers have accepted, even embraced, many scientific and technological innovations in their food lives, they remain most guarded regarding what they put in their bodies. A mounting sense of urgency around the challenges facing the food system is helping to soften consumer resistance to science and technology in food. Consumers evaluate novel food production methods through interrelated, overlapping criteria that reflect deep-seated concerns about the impacts of science and technology on (and in) food. How these tensions play out at the shelf will ultimately depend on how these production methods are embodied in real-world products and categories. This presentation will deep dive into consumer awareness of novel food production technologies, their concerns, and the likelihood of trial. Key themes for successful communication with consumers to facilitate the adoption of new food technologies will conclude the discussion.