The plant-based revolution is here. As consumers globally are shifting towards more eco-conscious and health-oriented choices, the demand for plant-based products has never been higher. From food and beverages to cosmetics and clothing, the plant-based industry is blossoming with opportunities. But how does one tap into this growing market? What are the key ingredients to launching and scaling a successful plant-based product business? In this interview series, we are exploring the world of plant-based entrepreneurship. We are talking to founders, product developers, industry experts, and innovators who have successfully navigated the plant-based business landscape. As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Graham Humphreys, CEO of The Culinary Edge.

Graham has spent the last 20 years designing experiences to delight our senses, fulfill our unmet needs, and build our businesses. Working with teams of diverse backgrounds has taught him an empathic, human-centered approach to design. At The Culinary Edge, Graham leads his team to invent the future of food & beverage, partnering with brands including Dunkin’, Red Lobster, Nando’s, McCain, and First Watch. Prior to The Culinary Edge, Graham learned about innovation at some of the world’s leading design firms, marshaling over 250 programs for organizations including PepsiCo, General Electric, Paypal, Nivea and Starbucks.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

Impostor-in-chief. Okay, so I am being deliberately provocative here. Yet despite achieving my share of success, I’ve never felt “qualified” for a single job I’ve had. I studied music, then sold advertising space, then I bought that advertising space, then I made those advertisements, then I designed the brands and products that were advertised, and now I work with an incredible team designing the future of food & beverage. I’ve always been driven to pick a challenging pair of “new shoes”, and then find out how to fill them. I never felt like I knew it all. So I’ve never stopped driving myself to learn and grow. And somehow, none of that winding path is wasted. Everything is used.

Zealot for hire. I am passionate about what I do. More than that, I’ve done many different things and had the same passion for them all. It’s not that I “followed my passion”, but that my passion always seems to come with me, attached to what I’m working on, and the people I get to work with. To many, it might seem that I’ve had very different roles in my career, but to me they have a common thread: opportunities for creative challenge, for new solutions, for realizing potential, and for the joy of purpose.

Introvert. I live for collaboration. How can I then be an introvert? To me, being an introvert does not mean I don’t love being with people. It just means that it’s the time alone where my batteries get recharged. This means I get to reflect on events, and my reactions, take learnings and apply next time around. Introversion helps me teach myself.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?

Often, my team works on moonshots — cultivated meat and next-generation protein analogs, for example. These projects can be world-changing, and shape our future over the long term.

Equally importantly, we work on projects that move our (food) culture just one step forward. The magic is in finding the “right” step to take. In hindsight, the path of innovation looks obvious. But when you’re looking ahead, it’s anything but. It’s rewarding to find ways to harness cultural drivers, and remove social barriers, to find the “right” next step — right for the consumer, for the marketplace and for our food system. Most things that change the world happen one step at a time. And those steps can add up real quick.

One example on deck right now is WildPie — a Vegan Pizza restaurant opening at the end of this year in Jacksonville, Florida. The point is, you might not know at first that it’s Vegan; the most important thing is that it’s great Pizza. And when — two slices in — you “click” that it’s Vegan, that’s still not the most important thing about it; it’s still great pizza.

As an innovator and designer, *demanding* change can be self-defeating. Instead, you help people, and the planet, when you can *offer* change without demanding that consumers compromise in return.

The story of the electric car is a great example of how — after decades of worthy nichedom — the proposition of change without demanding compromise has driven the electric car into the mainstream.

What inspired you to enter the plant-based product industry? Did you have a turning point or eureka moment that led you into the plant-based industry? Can you share some key milestones that helped shape your journey to success?

You cannot possibly innovate in food today without addressing plant-based and what it means. So for me it’s inescapable. It’s a very significant creative challenge, and, the more significant the challenge, the more deeply I’m involved.

What do you believe are the key factors behind the recent surge in demand for plant-based products, and how can aspiring entrepreneurs authentically tap into this growing trend?

There’s no one, two, or even ten “bullets” that are sufficient to explain the complex of factors that give rise to this. But I’ll pick out one angle that’s less talked about than others. Social Permission might just be the biggest single factor influencing the increase in demand. There has been a complete change in Social Permission over the last few decades. Not so long ago, to eat vegan — or even vegetarian — was a unique lifestyle choice. You either were, or you weren’t. Back in the day, what you decided to eat was high social stakes. This created an incredibly high social barrier for vegetarian, let alone vegan, options.

Today it’s different. It’s about whether you prefer to eat Vegan on Tuesday, and no-one will look at you strangely for making that decision. By comparison to previous decades, there are really no barriers to entry. And this is what’s behind the surge in demand: It’s not those who make the “unique” decisions to be Vegan or Vegetarian; rather, it’s the “Vegan on Tuesday” cohort, who, equipped with the Social Permission to eat what they want when they want, are at liberty to enjoy a more diverse (and likely better balanced) diet.

How do you envision the evolution of consumer preferences in the next 5–10 years?

I’m optimistic that we are headed towards a more diverse, better balanced, and healthier place. Part of this is driven by the fact that fat- sugar- and calorie- rich foods are having an impact on our national health that’s increasingly impossible to ignore. I believe that in the next few years, this in itself will drive change.

I think one small clue to the future is the popularization of Mediterranean and Middle-eastern cuisines and brands in the United States. These are positioned to provide healthier, but approachable, alternatives to the burgers, fried chicken, and pizza staples in our market space.

What is your favorite plant-base (not necessarily your own) and what makes it stand out? What can we all learn from the appeal of that product?

McCain’s new V’DGZ portfolio of appetizers is a current favorite. It stands out because, rather than process vegetables to imitate traditional proteins, it shows how vegetables can perform the roles that animal protein has traditionally played, while retaining their integrity and identity as vegetables. This has been a successful “next step” in plant-based innovation because, “it’s okay to eat vegetables now,” but also through an innovation process that melds real-world consumer insight with real-world production conditions.

Developing and marketing plant-based products often involves unique challenges, from sourcing quality ingredients and sustainable packaging to building a brand that resonates with consumers. What strategies have you found most effective in overcoming these hurdles?

You have to meet the consumer where they are. Start with a clear consumer need, and finish with a consumer proposition which is as good, or better, than their traditional solutions. That is easy to say and even seems blindingly obvious; and I think everyone starts here, with the best intentions, looking for better ways to fulfill existing needs.

And yet, in the process of innovating something new, we have to get into the weeds: Of substrates and food science; product formulations and comparison; manufacturing constraints and ownable technologies. Oh, and not forgetting the very necessary desire to change the world.

In the swirl of all these competing drivers and barriers, we often see end products coming to market, whose nature is no longer primarily driven by consumer need. Products that offer new alternatives, but require the consumer to adapt to the product. Whereas successful products should adapt to the consumer — and in a way that’s compellingly better than existing alternatives.

What advice can you offer to individuals looking to launch their own plant-based product businesses? Are there any critical lessons or insights you’ve gained along the way that you’d like to share with aspiring entrepreneurs in this field? Based on your experience can you please share your “5 Things You Need To Create A Successful Plant-Based Product Business”. If you can, it would be insightful if you could provide real-life examples.

-Start with a simple, real, actual, consumer need.

-Don’t lose your thread. Make sure your final product (after 1,000 twists and turns) still connects with the original consumer need.

-Don’t ask consumers to think, don’t demand that they “change”.

-Be approachable. Speak to familiar forms, needs and archetypes.

-Innovate one step at a time. Handle moonshots with extreme care.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

When you’re truly blazing a new trail, you will inevitably be faced with crises. I encounter crises continually. Crises are turning points, and our response to them defines if they turn positive or negative.

For a long time, this has been my favorite Ancient Chinese Proverb on crises:

“When your cow falls into a ditch, the first thing to be done, before anything else, is to get the cow out of the ditch.

*Only* when the cow is safely out of the ditch should you permit yourself, or those around you, to pontificate on how the cow might have been prevented from falling into the ditch.

And *only* when you have resolved this, should you allow for group speculation on Systems For The Optimal Future Management Of Cows And Ditches.”

I just tried to google the origin of the quote, and I could find no trace, so I can only assume that I made this up at some point and invented an ancient Chinese attribution to give it more credibility. Regardless, it’s a favorite and has proven an invaluable tool on countless occasions.

If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

Earlier I talked about a “right next step” approach to World Change. For the last 10 years, I’ve instigated a movement in my companies that takes this approach quite literally; taking 50% of meetings while walking. Walking together = even better. Hard problems and hard conversations can be better addressed, and our minds are better attuned for creativity. It worked for Einstein. Not to mention, there is an increasing base of research that indicates that sitting for as long as we do presents a serious health risk.