Emerson Jones
Sustainability and Data Researcher
14 articles on The Pie
Industry InsightsThe Whey Protein Shortage Is Rewriting Product Roadmaps: What CPG Formulators Need to Know in 2026
Your whey protein supplier just quoted you 250% above last year's price. Your contract is up, the next allocation window is 2027, and your product launch is in Q2.
Industry InsightsHow to Build an Internal Ingredient Database Your Whole R&D Team Will Actually Use
Most ingredient databases at CPG companies aren't really databases. They're a folder on a shared drive, a spreadsheet someone built in 2021, and three versions of the same spec sheet living in three different inboxes. Your R&D team is managing ingredient data for a serious operation, and the infrastructure underneath that work is held together with email threads and good intentions.
Industry InsightsWhy Is Food Supply Chain Management Important? A Plain Answer for CPG Teams
Food supply chain management determines whether your product reaches the shelf on time, at the right cost, and with the ingredients you actually specified. That's the plain answer. But if you're an R&D director or procurement lead at a mid-market CPG brand, the stakes are higher than that. A single sourcing failure can delay a launch by months, spike your cost-per-formulation, or force a last-minute reformulation that nobody on the team has documented properly.
Industry Insights7 Signs Your CPG R&D Team Has Outgrown Spreadsheets for Ingredient Management
You already know spreadsheets weren't built for this. The CPG R&D spreadsheet problems your team is living with — version conflicts, broken cost models, supplier data scattered across inboxes — aren't signs of a process failure. They're signs of a scale failure. The tool stopped fitting the work somewhere around your fifth active formulation.
Formulation & R&DHow to Reduce CPG Product Launch Risk Using Ingredient Data Before Pilot Production
Most CPG product launches don't fail in market. They fail before the first pilot batch runs.
Industry InsightsHow to Use Biodiversity Scoring in Ingredient Selection: A Guide for CPG Sustainability Teams
Sustainability teams at CPG companies have spent the last decade getting good at carbon. Scope 3 emissions, cradle-to-gate CO2e, lifecycle assessments — the vocabulary is established, the tools exist, the reporting frameworks are mature.
IngredientsFunctional Ingredients 101: What Food Scientists Need to Know About Adaptogens, Nootropics, and Botanicals in 2026
Functional ingredients are no longer a niche play. Adaptogens, nootropics, and botanicals have moved from supplement aisles into mainstream CPG formulations, and the R&D pressure to get them right has never been higher.
News & EventsThe Top 5 CPG and Supply Chain Data Signals from 2025
2024 taught us that price-led growth was a sugar rush. 2025 is forcing the industry to remember how to actually sell more units—while navigating private label dominance, GLP-1 appetite shifts, freight roulette, and commodities that won't behave.
IngredientsThe Top 3 African Ingredients that Dominated Supplier Trends in 2025
African ingredients are an underutilized and overlooked topic in the food and beverage CPG industry that have incredible potential to make unique and nutritious products.
Labeling & NutritionOld vs. New: Chobani and Yoplait Yogurt Comparison
When going to the dairy isle of any supermarket it is nigh impossible to miss the daunting wall of yogurts that are bound to be there. The food made from fermented dairy is indeed
IngredientsIngredient Insights: Top 7 Functional Ingredients Driving Mood and Mental Wellness in 2025
For brands formulating with these top mood-boosting ingredients, leveraging advanced data and sourcing intelligence is critical. Journey Foods offers real-time ingredient trend analysis, sustainability metrics, and regulatory data, making it seamless for product development teams to design, prototype, and launch innovative mood-supporting foods and drinks that meet today’s consumer demand.
News & EventsJourney AI by Journey Foods: Building AI for Human Good
At JourneyAI by Journey Foods, the future of artificial intelligence in food technology is not just unfolding—it is being consciously designed to improve lives, systems, and communities. Rather than seeing AI as an inevitable force, we believe its true value lies in how thoughtfully it is shaped, trained, and deployed to serve both human and planetary needs.
Industry InsightsThe Evolution of Smart Supply Chains
In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, the integration of advanced technologies into supply chain management is not just a competitive advantage but a necessity. Smart supply chains, powered by innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and blockchain, are revolutionizing logistics by enhancing efficiency, transparency, and responsiveness. The Evolution of Smart Supply Chains
News & EventsThe Impact of Severe Weather on Agriculture and the Food Industry
Severe weather events, particularly hurricanes, significantly impact agriculture, causing billions in losses and leading to increased food prices and disrupted supply chains. In 2020, hurricanes damaged 2.5 million acres of farmland, highlighting the urgent need for resilient solutions. Journey Foods leverages advanced AI to provide real-time insights into supply chain vulnerabilities, helping food companies optimize sourcing and enhance their resilience against climate disruptions.