WSJ Global Food Forum 2025 Chicago: Exclusive Industry Leader Insights on Ultra-Processed Foods, Climate Change, and the Future of Healthy Eating | Complete Conference Coverage
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A WSJ Global Food Forum 2025 recap from Chicago - exclusive Day 1 and Day 2 coverage of food industry trends, sustainable agriculture breakthroughs, and nutrition science insights from the Wall Street Journal Global Food Forum
I'm writing this WSJ Global Food Forum 2025 coverage from Chicago, where I attended the Wall Street Journal's premier food industry conference.
After two intensive days at the WSJ Global Food Forum Chicago 2025, I had to share the groundbreaking insights from this year's Wall Street Journal Global Food Forum. As the CEO of 787 Coffee, understanding where the food industry is heading through events like the WSJ Global Food Forum 2025 isn't just interesting—it's essential for how we serve our customers and community in this rapidly evolving landscape of healthy food innovation.
The WSJ Global Food Forum 2025 conversations were eye-opening, featuring industry leaders who are truly shaping the future of food and health policy at this year's Wall Street Journal Global Food Forum in Chicago.
Jim Snee is the President and CEO of Hormel Foods, a $12+ billion global food company. He's only the 10th CEO in the company's 133-year history, with over 25 years at Hormel, leading their evolution into a global branded food company. Under his leadership at this WSJ Global Food Forum 2025 appearance, Hormel has been recognized as one of America's Most Responsible Companies by Newsweek and one of the World's Best Companies by TIME magazine. The company's portfolio includes iconic brands like SPAM (introduced in 1937), SKIPPY peanut butter (acquired in 2013 for $700 million), PLANTERS, Applegate, and over 30 other beloved brands.
Chuck Magro leads Corteva, a pure-play agriculture company that spun out of DowDuPont in 2019. Since becoming CEO in 2021, Corteva has achieved significant growth and now houses the number one corn and soybean technology in the United States through its Pioneer brand, plus it's the largest biologicals company in the world. At the WSJ Global Food Forum 2025, he discussed climate adaptation strategies. Before Corteva, he was President and CEO of Nutrien from 2018-2021, leading over 27,000 employees at the world's largest crop inputs and solutions company. He holds degrees in Chemical Engineering from University of Waterloo and an MBA from University of Windsor.
Jesse Gabriel represents California's 46th Assembly District and currently serves as Chair of the Assembly Budget Committee. He's authored more than 40 new laws and has been recognized as a "California Influencer" by The Sacramento Bee. At the WSJ Global Food Forum 2025, Gabriel discussed his landmark food safety legislation. Beyond the current ultra-processed foods legislation he discussed at the Wall Street Journal Global Food Forum, Gabriel has already passed two landmark food safety laws: AB 418 (2023), the California Food Safety Act, which banned four dangerous additives from all foods sold in California; and AB 2316 (2024), the California School Food Safety Act, which prohibits certain harmful synthetic food dyes in school meals. These reforms have inspired nationwide changes, with the FDA subsequently banning two of the chemicals identified in AB 418 and more than 20 states introducing versions of Gabriel's legislation.
Dr. Kevin Hall is a Senior Investigator and Section Chief of Integrative Physiology at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) at NIH. His laboratory investigates the integrative physiology of macronutrient metabolism, body composition, energy expenditure, and control of food intake, with a main goal to understand how the food environment affects what we eat and how what we eat affects our physiology. At the WSJ Global Food Forum 2025, Dr. Hall presented his groundbreaking research on ultra-processed foods. In recent years, he has conducted groundbreaking randomized clinical trials to study how diets high in ultra-processed food may cause obesity and other chronic diseases. He's a recipient of the NIH Director's Award, NIDDK Director's Award, the Lilly Scientific Achievement Award from The Obesity Society, and the Guyton Award for Excellence in Integrative Physiology.
Here are the key insights from the WSJ Global Food Forum 2025 that I think will shape how we all think about food.
Food Industry Leaders Redefining Value Beyond Price
Jim Snee from Hormel hit on something crucial: value isn't just about price. The real question companies should ask is: "What value does our product bring to the consumer's life?"
This food industry insight resonates deeply with what we do at 787 Coffee. It's not just about serving great coffee—it's about creating moments, supporting our farming communities, and contributing to our customers' daily rituals and well-being.
Hormel takes this consumer-centric approach seriously too. They have Dr. Tobia Rodriguez, a doctor and anthropologist, who actually goes into people's homes to understand how consumers use products like Skippy peanut butter and Spam in their real lives. This kind of deep consumer understanding is what separates companies that truly serve their customers from those that just sell products.
Climate Change and Sustainable Agriculture: Preparing for Tomorrow's Challenges
Chuck Magro from Corteva brought up something that should concern all of us in food and sustainable agriculture: climate change is already here, and we need to adapt now. He spoke about gene-edited harvests designed to withstand various climate challenges.
A perfect example of climate adaptation: this year, a leaf hopper pest appeared in Argentina, and cases have already been reported in the USA. These are the kinds of rapid agricultural challenges the food system is facing in 2025.
But here's what I found inspiring—Magro said farmers remain optimistic. "That's why they're farmers," he noted. This resilience and forward-thinking approach to sustainable farming is something we can all learn from.
Ultra-Processed Foods Crisis
Key Insights from WSJ Global Food Forum 2025
Dr. Kevin Hall's NIH Research Findings
The 2025 Protein Revolution: Nutrition Science Meets Consumer Trends
One food industry trend that came up repeatedly: 2025 is shaping up to be the year of protein. Not just any protein, but protein as the foundation of a healthy diet and wellness lifestyle. This isn't about fad diets—it's about understanding nutrition science and giving people what their bodies actually need.
For those of us in food service and the restaurant industry, this means thinking beyond traditional offerings and considering how we can incorporate quality protein sources into our menus in creative, delicious ways that support health and wellness goals.
Ultra-Processed Foods: The Science Behind the Health Crisis
The session on ultra-processed foods was particularly striking. Dr. Kevin Hall's NIH research shows that every bite of ultra-processed food contains more calories than whole foods, even when the foods appear nutritionally similar on paper.
The solution for healthier eating isn't complicated, but it requires commitment from both food companies and consumers:
Simple, recognizable ingredients in food products
Reasonable shelf life without excessive chemical preservation
Phasing out harmful chemicals that are banned in most countries but still legal in the USA
This nutrition research has profound implications for public health and the food industry's future direction toward clean eating and wellness-focused products.
California Leading the Charge
Jesse Gabriel from California's State Assembly shared something that gave me hope: California is proposing legislation to protect kids in schools by not allowing foods with certain harmful chemicals to be served.
As Gabriel put it, "California was the MAHA before the MAHA." They're asking companies to step up and feed kids healthier foods, and companies are responding by adapting their formulations.
What This Means for All of Us
These insights aren't just for industry insiders. They're about the food we eat every day, the choices we make for our families, and the future we're building.
At 787 Coffee, we've always believed that tastes good and healthier aren't mutually exclusive. What I'm hearing at this conference reinforces our commitment to keeping our focus on four key areas:
Food healthy: Quality ingredients and nutritious options
Team healthy: Supporting our employees' well-being
Customers healthy: Serving products that contribute to their wellness
Earth healthy: Sustainable practices that protect our environment
The Bigger Picture
The food industry is at a turning point. Companies that understand value beyond price, that prepare for climate challenges, that prioritize real nutrition over processed convenience, and that respond to consumer demand for transparency and health—these are the companies that will thrive.
As someone who couldn't be at this conference, I hope these insights help you think differently about your food choices. The future of food is being decided right now, and we all have a role in shaping it.
WSJ Global Food Forum 2025 Day 2 Highlights: Alternative Proteins, Investment Trends, and Critical Industry Challenges
As the WSJ Global Food Forum 2025 concluded at the Four Seasons Hotel Chicago, several additional themes emerged that are reshaping the food landscape at this year's Wall Street Journal Global Food Forum.
The Future of Protein: Cultivated Meat Takes Center Stage at WSJ Global Food Forum 2025
One of the most forward-looking sessions at the WSJ Global Food Forum 2025 featured Jeff "Trip" Tripician, Meatable's Chief Executive Officer, who presented a compelling vision for how cultivated meat can address one of the food industry's biggest challenges: producing more protein with less environmental impact.
"The world will need much more protein in the coming years – but with far less negative impact," said Tripician at the Wall Street Journal Global Food Forum, a veteran of the meat industry who joined Meatable in 2024. "Cultivated meat technology lets us produce the meat people love while dramatically reducing land, water and greenhouse-gas emissions."
What made his WSJ Global Food Forum 2025 presentation particularly noteworthy was the collaborative approach he outlined. Rather than positioning cultivated meat as a replacement for traditional agriculture, Tripician discussed "the company's efficient, scalable technology and its strategy to work together with industry partners to go to market." This represents a significant shift toward alternative protein solutions that complement rather than compete with existing food systems.
His focus on partnership and scale reflects the WSJ Global Food Forum 2025 program's key themes of sustainable agriculture, climate-smart supply chains, food security, and investment—making this a perfect example of how innovation and tradition can work together to feed a projected 10 billion people sustainably.
Agriculture Under Climate Pressure
Trade Wars & Climate Challenges from WSJ Global Food Forum 2025
The Perfect Storm Facing Agriculture
Climate Adaptation Crisis
Leaf hopper pests from Argentina reaching USA. Gene-edited harvests needed for climate resilience.
Trade War Impact
"Full-blown crisis already" - canceled orders, farm layoffs, farmers "one crop away from bankruptcy"
Labor Shortage
Immigration raids disrupting food production. "Without farmworkers, vegetables left in fields"
Industry Solutions Discussed
Trade Wars and Agricultural Reality: Farmers Push for China Relief at WSJ Global Food Forum 2025
One of the most pressing issues discussed at the Wall Street Journal Global Food Forum 2025 was the ongoing impact of trade tensions on American agriculture. Farmers are pushing for relief from the China trade war, as agricultural exporters report that the global backlash to tariffs is already resulting in canceled orders and farm layoffs.
The agricultural sector is facing what industry leaders at the WSJ Global Food Forum 2025 are calling not just an approaching crisis, but a "full-blown crisis already," with more than 20% of farm income coming from exports. The combination of higher costs for critical supplies like fertilizer and specialized tools, plus retaliatory tariffs making American-grown products more expensive globally, is creating a perfect storm for agricultural producers.
As one agricultural leader noted at the Wall Street Journal Global Food Forum, "This trade war will force farms to close," with many farmers already "one crop away from bankruptcy." The WSJ Global Food Forum 2025 highlighted how China has systematically reduced its reliance on U.S. farm goods since the first trade war, making current negotiations even more challenging for American agriculture.
This trade reality adds another layer of complexity to the food system challenges discussed throughout the WSJ Global Food Forum 2025, demonstrating how global politics directly impact food security and agricultural sustainability.
A Critical Labor Reality Check at WSJ Global Food Forum 2025
Another powerful moment at the Wall Street Journal Global Food Forum 2025 came from Hamdi Ulukaya, CEO of Chobani, who delivered a stark warning about immigration policy and food system functionality. "We need to be very realistic," Ulukaya said at the WSJ Global Food Forum in Chicago. "We need immigration, and we need workers for our food system to work."
His comments at the WSJ Global Food Forum 2025 come as immigration raids "have rattled food and agriculture companies in recent weeks," with "produce farms, dairies and recently a meat processing plant in Nebraska" being affected, "disrupting production and threatening to shrink an already tight labor pool."
Ulukaya's perspective at the Wall Street Journal Global Food Forum was particularly credible—at Chobani, 30% of employees are immigrants or refugees, and the company has proven that this workforce model creates both economic success and positive company culture. His warning at the WSJ Global Food Forum 2025 was direct: "Without farmworkers, vegetables will be left in the fields, fruit will remain unpicked, and cows will go unmilked. The end result is a reduced food supply and higher grocery prices for all of America's families."
The WSJ Global Food Forum 2025 also featured extensive discussions on investment trends in food technology, with venture capitalists and food companies exploring where capital is flowing in 2025. The primary discussions at the Wall Street Journal Global Food Forum centered around the fundamental question: "How do we make food more accessible and affordable while ensuring food is made with quality ingredients that provide optimal nutrition, while keeping the environment in mind?"
Final Thoughts: A WSJ Global Food Forum 2025 Conference That Delivered Real Solutions
After two intensive days at the WSJ Global Food Forum 2025 in Chicago, I'm energized by the caliber of thinking and the actionable solutions being developed across the food industry at this year's Wall Street Journal Global Food Forum. With over 18 panels, two roundtable meals and numerous breakouts, the WSJ Global Food Forum 2025 wasn't just another industry conference—it was a masterclass in how food leaders are navigating the complex challenges of 2025.
The conversations at the Wall Street Journal Global Food Forum 2025 were refreshingly direct and solution-oriented, reflecting the Wall Street Journal's no-nonsense approach to business coverage. What struck me most about the WSJ Global Food Forum 2025 was how interconnected all these challenges are: you can't talk about ultra-processed foods without discussing food policy, you can't address climate adaptation without considering protein innovation, and you can't pursue sustainability without understanding consumer behavior.
My Personal WSJ Global Food Forum 2025 Reflection: Why This Conference Matters for Food Leaders
I have to be honest—I really enjoyed the WSJ Global Food Forum 2025. I learned a lot at this year's Wall Street Journal Global Food Forum, and as we think about food and the responsibility that we as entrepreneurs and leaders in the food and beverage world carry, we must be educated and informed to make the right decisions for our communities and our planet.
A few key takeaways that I'm bringing back to 787 Coffee from the WSJ Global Food Forum 2025:
Continue to be genuine in the DNA of the company - who we are and where we are going. Authenticity isn't just a buzzword; it's the foundation of everything we do.
I am beyond happy to see that MAHA is something 787 Coffee has been doing since day 1. We've launched campaigns to stop the use of sugar - we actively recommend not using sugar, and one of our boldest campaigns was "fuck sugar." We believe in calling out what's harming our customers' health, even when it's uncomfortable.
We use only the best ingredients for our pastries and for our homemade sauces. This isn't negotiable. At the farm, we believe it's better to have vertical integration - that's why we support farm-to-cup coffee and only collaborate with coffee farms that align with our values.
Hearing from leaders like Dr. Kevin Hall about ultra-processed foods, Jesse Gabriel about policy change, and Hamdi Ulukaya about authentic business values at the WSJ Global Food Forum 2025 reminded me why we do what we do every single day.
A Perfect WSJ Global Food Forum 2025 Ending: Celebrating Food Done Right
The WSJ Global Food Forum 2025 two-day event ended with a dinner at Esmé, a Michelin-starred restaurant where Chef Jenner Tomaska and his wife Katrina Bravo welcomed us with their signature hospitality. Founded in August 2021, Esmé—French for "beloved"—represents Tomaska and Bravo's revolutionary vision to blur the boundaries between gastronomy and art. Their mission-driven approach integrates philanthropy and local artistry into every dining experience, with each dish served on custom tableware created by Chicago artists and the restaurant donating proceeds to nonprofits tied to their quarterly menu themes.
Chef Tomaska, a rising culinary star who previously worked at Next, has created what Michelin describes as an "airy atelier" that reimagines the tasting menu model with community impact at its core. The three-course dinner we experienced, complete with wine pairings and cocktails, embodied their philosophy that fine dining should be about more than just exceptional food—it should be a catalyst for positive change and artistic expression.
It was a true celebration of food and an eye-opener to continue pushing daily—to bring only the best products to our customers and to keep educating our co-workers and our team to aim for perfection in every process. Sitting there at the conclusion of the Wall Street Journal Global Food Forum 2025, experiencing food crafted with intention, passion, and the highest quality ingredients alongside meaningful artistic collaboration, I was reminded of why we're in this business.
Like Tomaska and Bravo's vision at Esmé, it's not just about serving coffee or food—it's about creating moments, supporting health, building community, and constructing a better food system one cup, one meal, one decision at a time. Their example of using business as a force for good, while maintaining Michelin-star excellence, perfectly encapsulated everything we learned at the WSJ Global Food Forum 2025 about the future of responsible food leadership.
The Future of Food Innovation
Key Trends & Technologies from WSJ Global Food Forum 2025
2025: The Year of Protein Revolution
Major Food Industry Trends 2025
Value Beyond Price
Hormel's approach: "What value does our product bring to the consumer's life?" Anthropologist studying real consumer behavior.
Anti-Sugar Movement
Companies like 787 Coffee leading "fuck sugar" campaigns, focusing on natural ingredients and health-first approaches.
Clean Ingredients
Simple, recognizable ingredients replacing chemicals illegal in most countries but still legal in USA.
Key Takeaways for Food Industry and Health-Conscious Consumers
These insights from the WSJ Global Food Forum aren't just for food industry insiders. They're about the future of healthy eating, the foods we consume daily, the choices we make for our families, and the sustainable food systems we're building.
At 787 Coffee, we've always believed that great taste and healthy nutrition aren't mutually exclusive. What I'm hearing at this food industry conference reinforces our commitment to keeping our focus on four key areas:
Food healthy: Quality ingredients and nutritious options that support wellness
Team healthy: Supporting our employees' well-being and work-life balance
Customers healthy: Serving products that contribute to their health and wellness journey
Earth healthy: Sustainable practices that protect our environment and support climate action - Like we always say at Hacienda Iluminada - Good for Earth GOOD FOR YOU.
The Future of Food: Industry Transformation and Consumer Empowerment
The food industry is at a critical turning point in 2025. Companies that understand value beyond price, that prepare for climate challenges through sustainable agriculture, that prioritize real nutrition over processed convenience, and that respond to consumer demand for transparency and health—these are the companies that will thrive.
As someone who couldn't attend this food industry forum, I hope these insights help you think differently about your food choices and healthy eating habits. The future of food is being decided right now, and we all have a role in shaping it toward better nutrition, sustainability, and wellness.
The WSJ Global Food Forum 2025 has concluded, but the conversations and innovations discussed at this year's Wall Street Journal Global Food Forum will continue to shape our industry for years to come. What questions do you have about the future of food, sustainable agriculture, or healthy eating trends from the WSJ Global Food Forum 2025? Let me know in the comments.
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Thank you for following along with my comprehensive coverage of the WSJ Global Food Forum 2025. The future of food is bright, and I'm excited to continue sharing these insights with the soybrandon.com community.