Robots, automation, state-of-the-art technology, never-before-seen ways of doing business. This is the future. The future of the food and beverage industry. And, we’re taking you back to the future. At 88 miles per hour. With 1.21 jigawatts of power.

How do retailer and e-commerce providers coexist? What are consumers’ roles in new product development? How does sustainability, packaging and the environment play into the way companies do business going forward?

Welcome to Refrigerated & Frozen Foods’ annual State of the Industry report, complete with trends, statistics, analytical charts and a peek into the future of this ever-changing industry.

This year, we reverted back to the themes format, selecting what I deem as the most pivotal futuristic movies of our time to explain trends for each category. From Back to the Future to Flight of the Navigator to The Matrix, each segment tells a story about what’s in store for the future.

This report delves deeper into discovering how many of today’s grocers and e-commerce providers are working together to coexist, allowing consumers to shop however, wherever and whenever they want.

It talks about how cross-industry acquisitions and new product developments are redefining the cold food and beverage market.

It discusses how industry leaders are developing incubators to help sculpt the future of tomorrow’s food supply.

It examines product positioning, marketing, the economy, taste trends, business and consumer spending and the direction of the consumer packaged goods (CPG) sector with relation to the future of packaging trends.

And, Millennials, what are considered to be one of the first demographic groups to actually be labeled a trend. What are Millennial households doing to shape the future of the grocery retail industry?

Go to https://bit.ly/2xGenDI to uncover exclusive online-only content such as direct links to the studies discussed throughout this report as well as additional charts.

And, discover the Top 5 winners of this year’s Best New Retail Products contest. To be included for next year’s annual contest, be sure to send press releases and high-res jpg images of newly released products to me, so we can share online and in print, when applicable.

Roads? Where the cold food and beverage industry is going, it doesn’t need roads.