Soul food's history, challenges and future in natural CPGSoul food's history, challenges and future in natural CPG

As natural and organic packaged foods expand to include global flavors, entrepreneurs should keep an eye on one American tradition: soul food.

Black consumers are looking for foods that are culturally relevant, convenient and a good value. At the same time, they want that food to help them develop healthy eating habits and experience new foods, according to Nourishing equity: Meeting Black consumers’ needs in food, a 2022 report from the McKinsey Institute for Black Economic Mobility.

Companies that offer the foods Black consumers want could take a share of a $340 million opportunity between 2022 and 2030, according to the same report.

Adrian Miller, The Soul Food Scholar and James Beard Award-winning author, speaks at Newtopia Now in Denver, Colorado. Credit: Victoria A.F. Camron

This Newtopia Now session, From Legacy to Leadership: Black Culinary History & the Future of CPG, opens with Adrian Miller, The Soul Food Scholar and James Beard Award-winning author. Miller presents a history of soul—the words, the music and the food—and a look at where soul food is going as consumers seek more nutritious meals with the flavors they grew up with.

Then Miller moderates a panel on the state of Black cuisine with three experts:

Related:‘The Black Nutritionist’ examines nutritional advice in a multi-cultural world

Watch the video of “From Legacy to Leadership: Black Culinary History & the Future of CPG,” recorded at New Hope Network’s Newtopia Now trade show on Aug. 27, 2024, in Denver, Colorado. The next Newtopia Now is scheduled for Aug. 20-22, 2025, also in Denver.