Tom Vierhile, MBA, VP Strategic Insights,
North American, Innova Market Insights
Tom Vierhile is VP of Strategic Insights North America for the Netherlands-based Innova Market Insights and has over 20 years of experience in fast-moving consumer goods reporting and analysis. Based in Fairport, New York, he is an internationally recognized expert on new product marketing and has been quoted in media outlets like Bloomberg, Ad Age, The Wall Street Journal, BBC News, and NPR.
Tom has authored many articles on new products for a variety of publications, has given presentations on new product trends at various industry conferences in the U.S., Europe, Asia, and South America, and is a regular contributor to Prepared Foods magazine.
Tom has a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing from St. Bonaventure University and an MBA from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Global Food Forums Presentations by Speaker
2022 Protein Trends & Technologies Seminar — Pre-Conference: Protein Business Strategies
“The Rise & Rise of Proteins: Global Consumer & Innovation Trends Driving Protein to New Heights”
Protein is the engine driving new product innovation in fast-moving consumer goods today. According to the Netherlands-based Innova Market Insights, launches of global packaged food and beverage products making a “high in protein” or “source of protein” claim grew at better than a 25% compound annual growth rate for the period from 2014 to 2018. That’s over three times faster than new food and beverage launches grew over the same period. Protein sources are also broadening. Soy helped popularize plant-based protein, but soy is now losing ground to a bevy of alternative proteins like pea, almond, oat, rice, and more. Attend this session and find out where protein innovation is coming from, where it is going, what types of protein are prospering, and how consumers really feel about protein.
2017 Sweetener Systems Conference
“Sweeteners in the Cross Hairs: How do Consumers Really Feel about Sweeteners & Are These Feelings Changing?”
Humans are hard-wired to prefer sweet-tasting foods. But this tendency has become worrisome given the global rise in obesity and type 2 diabetes. Cries to extend behavior-influencing sugar taxes from soft drinks to other foods like confectionery products ensure that sweeteners will remain controversial for the foreseeable future. This presentation will look at how consumers are navigating these turbulent waters. Do consumers play favorites when it comes to sweeteners? Are views toward so-called “artificial sweeteners” changing? How is this all impacting product innovation? Attend this session and find out how consumers really feel about sweeteners.
2016 Clean Label Conference
“Clean Label Focus: What are Consumers saying and How is the Industry Responding?”
If there was an Olympic medal for industry buzzwords, “clean label” would take home the gold. Few topics have commanded so much attention in so little time. But the concept of clean label is deceptively complex. What does it really mean to consumers? How do they feel about issues like transparency, food processing and specific ingredients? This presentation looks at what consumers are saying about key clean label concepts. Find out what resonates with consumers and what doesn’t. Learn how the food industry is responding with innovation in ingredients and new products. Attend this session and sharpen your focus on where clean label is today and where it may go tomorrow.
2013 Protein Trends & Technologies Seminar
“Muscling to the Top: Insights, Growth and the Promise of Protein”
If you could design the perfect nutrient, what would it look like? If you wanted it to keep you fit, feeling full and perhaps even energized, it may look a lot like protein. This nutrient is not only vital to human health, but is increasingly recognized as a key to good health. A comprehensive yet intriguing exploration of protein’s rising popularity in the food industry will be made. Through an analysis of innovative ingredients and consumer products entering the market, along with an examination of changing consumer attitudes toward protein, actionable intelligence for new product success is provided.
