February, 2019 (Chicago). Chicagoland Food and Beverage Network (CFBN) continues to grow fast, bringing together the region’s premier food and beverage companies for networking, education, and collaboration. Launching in 2017, with the mission of driving regional economic growth, CFBN now boasts more than 70 corporate members and over 150 individual members.
Today, CFBN announces its newest Cornerstone member, Deerfield based Curion, www.curioninsights.com, a leader in sensory and consumer product research to top companies across the United States. Curion helps companies mitigate risk of marketplace failure by ensuring that only products of quality and character will be introduced to the market, providing repeatable delight to consumers. They accomplish this with their world-class people, sensory processes, facilities and data insight. In 2018 alone, the company tested 97,000 consumers for 25 leading brands. Their insights provide a wealth of data such as: product readiness for launch, consumer purchase decision process, key attributes for optimization, market and demographic opportunity, flavor and texture profiles, competitive landscape and more. Curion was formed with the merger of Q Research Solutions and Tragon Corporation.
“We are excited to join the Chicagoland Food & Beverage Network in growing and developing our regional food and beverage connections,” says Sean Bisceglia, CEO of Curion. “We’re impressed by what CFBN’s accomplished in just two short years. We look forward to building upon their solid foundation.”
The Chicago area’s food and beverage industry encompass some 4,500 companies with 130,000 employees, equalling $32B in annual sales. Food & beverage is a key factor in the area’s economy. Chicagoland is the second-largest food & beverage industry ecosystem of its kind in the U.S.
In 2019, CFBN is finalizing the establishment of a training institute and certification program for food & beverage manufacturing employees. In partnership with Instituto del Progreso Latino and support from the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, and an anonymous donor, CFBN is developing a comprehensive curriculum that will prepare more people for industry careers.
“The food & beverage industry is uniquely able to provide jobs at all levels, which is critical for a vital local economy,” says Alan Reed, Executive Director for CFBN. “Our nonprofit mission is to work in a different way that will help support industry workers as well as the entire regional economy. We’re excited to now have Curion help us achieve this goal.”
Some additional CFBN members include: Kraft Heinz, Tyson Foods, Simple Mills and Tiesta Tea.
To become a Chicagoland Food & Beverage Network member visit chicagolandfood.org. Memberships are available to all industry enterprises — from early-stage food & beverage entrepreneurs to large, established companies. CFBN member benefits include access to exclusive industry events, affiliate discounts, career center, concierge services, and innovation support.
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For more information, please contact Andrea Carbine at andrea@chicagolandfood.org.
Article originally posted by Chicagoland Food & Beverage Network
