Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 3/1/18

A cadre of leading food entrepreneurs gathered at a Food Tank meeting in Washington on Wednesday, had a message for would-be food entrepreneurs in the audience: Just do it. It's a great time to dive on in. 

The roster included Seth Goldman, co-founder and "TeaEO Emeritus" of Honest Tea (now owned by Coca-Cola) and executive chairman of Beyond Meat; Scott Norton, Co-Founder of Sir Kensington's, a fast-growing condiment brand; and Scott Nash, Founder and Owner, MOM's Organic Market, a mid-Atlantic grocery store. 

All three agree the time is ripe to start an innovative food company because consumers are looking for new products and the market is in upheaval. Oh also, there's way more capital available to get those businesses started. 

"There's more [venture capital] money than there's ever been in this space," said Norton, who noted that entrepreneurs also have other options, including crowd-funding. In 2010, Norton co-founded Sir Kensington's, a new-wave condiment company that makes "hipster mayo." Unilever acquired Sir Kensington's last year for a reported $140 million. 

The big break up: "It's like these big icebergs are starting to break apart... in food," said Goldman, who's got a unique view of the business landscape after having sold Honest Tea to Coca-Cola for an undisclosed sum in 2011 and now also working with Beyond Meat, which now counts Tyson Foods as an investor. "These icebergs are breaking up and they're not going to get put together. It's the opportunity to unite impact and growth and innovation. I say go for it."

The undoing and redoing of food: Goldman sees two major trends happening right now. The first is what he calls the "undoing of food," which is similar to what Honest Tea did by introducing lightly sweetened teas with organic and fair trade ingredients. It also made food simpler to appeal to changing consumer tastes. 

"That's one big direction," he explained. "Another one that's happening is a re-doing of food." By that, Goldman is referring to the boom in food companies that are trying to create alternatives to meat and dairy products. "We've basically re-created a burger using only plants," said Goldman, referring to Beyond Meat.