--- title: Functional Food & Beverages – What’s Next Now description: Learn more about the future shaped by design; hear from Mauro Porcini, PepsiCo's Chief Design Officer about culture, creativity & design's impact. image: https://blog.venturefuel.net/hubfs/WNN%20Function%20F%26B-3-2.png --- ![](https://blog.venturefuel.net/hubfs/WNN%20Function%20F%26B-3-2.png) # Functional Food & Beverages – What’s Next Now Published by [Fred Schonenberg](https://blog.venturefuel.net/pov/author/fred-schonenberg) on Jun 24, 2021 12:03:23 PM ## "Consumers are making the connection between a healthy gut, a healthy mind and a healthy body." Did you know, that Dairy is the original Super Food? With 13 essential vitamins, minerals and nutrients, it is poised to meet the Functional Foods & Beverages trends accelerating across the consumer landscape. What we eat and drink impacts our digestion, sleep, rejuvenation, gut health, focus, energy, immunity, and strength. Our diet plays a major role in both our performance and our recovery. On Tuesday, June 22 we spoke with food and beverage industry leaders about the +$300B Functional Foods & Beverages category. Check out this recording of the event in our series, What's Next Now to learn more about how consumer preferences are evolving, the explosion of functional foods and the opportunity for dairy entrepreneurs to leverage the 'original super food' by tapping into the natural functional benefits of milk. Hear from panelists including: - Elizabeth Crawford of Food Navigator-USA - Joel Hastings of DairyBusiness News  - Donna Berry from Dairy Communications Inc. - Bob Carroll of California Milk Advisory Board - Dr. Michelle Slimko of Dairy Management Inc. - James Crawford of IRI Worldwide.    VentureFuel builds and accelerates innovation programs for industry leaders by helping them unlock the power of External Innovation via startup collaborations.  [![Meet VentureFuel](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/9106794/a45798f5-cdf8-41c7-a319-32b9f9c8276a.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/9106794/a45798f5-cdf8-41c7-a319-32b9f9c8276a)   Tags: [Innovation](https://blog.venturefuel.net/pov/tag/innovation), [podcasts](https://blog.venturefuel.net/pov/tag/podcasts), [Functional Foods](https://blog.venturefuel.net/pov/tag/functional-foods), [Dairy](https://blog.venturefuel.net/pov/tag/dairy), [Health](https://blog.venturefuel.net/pov/tag/health), [Recovery](https://blog.venturefuel.net/pov/tag/recovery), [Performance](https://blog.venturefuel.net/pov/tag/performance), [Consumer Trends](https://blog.venturefuel.net/pov/tag/consumer-trends), [VentureFuel Visionaries](https://blog.venturefuel.net/pov/tag/venturefuel-visionaries) [Back to Blog](https://blog.venturefuel.net/pov) ## Related Articles ## [Innovation By Design - PepsiCo Chief Design Officer Mauro Porcini](https://blog.venturefuel.net/pov/pepsico-design-mauro-porcini) “You still need to jump. You still need to take a risk. You still need the intuition,... [Read More ](https://blog.venturefuel.net/pov/pepsico-design-mauro-porcini) ## [Passing the Baton: Designing Innovation So Pilots Actually Scale](https://blog.venturefuel.net/pov/passing-the-baton-designing-innovation-so-pilots-actually-scale) [Read More ](https://blog.venturefuel.net/pov/passing-the-baton-designing-innovation-so-pilots-actually-scale) ## [Beyond Champions - LogMeIn Corporate Strategy Christian Ponce](https://blog.venturefuel.net/pov/logmein-christian-ponce) “Innovation only happens if somebody is sponsoring you, somebody is giving you a field... [Read More ](https://blog.venturefuel.net/pov/logmein-christian-ponce)