PBFA Partner Spotlight: How These 4 Leaders Can Help Your Plant-Based Business Grow

Written by: Annie Taranshansky

This month, we are excited to continue our Partner spotlight series. In this series, we take a moment to shine a much-deserved spotlight on the plant-based foods industry partners that provide invaluable services to our industry’s food manufacturers, and who stabilize and support this sector’s growth, often from behind the scenes. Partner members can range from brokers and consultants to incubator kitchens, from marketing/design firms to nonprofit organizations deeply invested in the plant-based cause. Championing the pillars of the plant-based movement – whether aligning with sustainability, animal welfare, social justice, and/or nutrition – is tantamount to Partners’ personal investment in our industry’s success.

For this series, we hosted a written Q&A between PBFA and our Partners, who are working hard everyday to bolster the plant-based foods industry. We learned more about these companies’ backgrounds, brand missions, and the critical products and services they provide – this time with a spotlight on market data specialists, fractional sales management for the Natural CPG category, omnichannel marketing campaign development, and high-quality laboratory services. With this third edition of our Partner spotlight, we invite you to learn more about Expana, JFC Market Management, Parabolic, and Eurofins GeneScan, four Partners who are ready to help plant-based CPG companies achieve the success needed to disrupt the retail and foodservice marketplaces and create a positive impact for people, planet, and animals.

Expana

1. Can you tell us a bit more about the history of your company and the inspiration behind its founding?

“With over 200 years of combined expertise, trust, and leading market intelligence, we help create a more resilient, transparent, and sustainable food supply chain. The inspiration behind Expana's founding was to improve visibility on price trends and latest cost drivers, mitigate risk, and maximize profit.”

2. What do people need to know about your company's mission? Can you speak to your company’s core values?

“Expana is committed to providing every segment of the agrifood and industrial markets supply chain with transparent pricing data and reliable market insights. Our unbiased positioning means that we have a solution for you irrespective of your role in the industry. Whether a buyer, seller, trader, analyst or finance professional, we can empower you on your journey to making informed business decisions, maximize profit, minimize cost and mitigate risk.”

3. What products/services do you provide?

“Proprietary pricing for categories including protein, grains, feed additives, tropical softs, nuts, fruits, energy, and packaging. We are also the only price reporting agency to have IOSCO accredited plant-based protein price series, which means our data is audited each year to ensure we are meeting a certain level of compliance and standards through our reporting.”

Learn more about Expana on Linkedin and make sure to visit their website at https://www.expanamarkets.com/.

JFC Market Management

1. Can you tell us a bit more about the history of your company and the inspiration behind its founding?

“Founded in 1986 to help natural foods brands scale into retail and foodservice as a fractional VP Sales, I've [James Curley, President and Owner] now returned to this business having left The Planting Hope Company where I was a co-founder. JFC Market Management clients have included Tofurky/Turtle Island Foods, Mamma Chia, Nutpods, Nile Spice Foods, So Good So You and many others.”

2. What do people need to know about your company's mission? Can you speak to your company’s core values?

“My company's mission is to grow the availability of natural, organic, sustainable and plant-based brands in an efficient and ethical manner.”

3. What products/services do you provide?

“I am a fractional business development executive for emerging brands in the Natural CPG space who are focusing on retail and/or foodservice development. My approach and services are detailed at https://jfcmarketmgmt.com/”

Check out JFC Market Management on their website or connect directly with Owner and President James Curley on Linkedin.

Parabolic

1. Can you tell us a bit more about the history of your company and the inspiration behind its founding?

“Parabolic was founded in 2015 to leverage our decades of big CPG sales and marketing experience to help brands with a mission (plant-based and other sustainable products) “sell in” and “sell through” at retail. We were tired of the traditional marketing agency model which is often slow and inflexible and relies heavily on junior staff to increase billings. We deploy highly experienced professionals and agile processes to develop and execute insights-based, creative solutions in a more agile and efficient manner.”

2. What do people need to know about your company's mission? Can you speak to your company’s core values?

“Our core values include proactivity, passion, innovation and collaboration. By leveraging our depth and breadth of experience across multiple categories and retailers, we help emerging brands “punch above their weight” to drive targeted shopper awareness and velocity at the stores where their products are available.”

3. What products/services do you provide?

“Retail sell-in decks and trade show booths, omnichannel marketing campaign development and execution, retail specific marketing planning and execution including pre/post ROAS modeling, digital shelf management and PDP content, retail display and POS design, and complementary brand partnership solicitation and negotiation. We are proud to have been the agency partner for PBFA Marketplace Development since 2018 and have worked with many plant-based brands as part of our PBFA retailer programming and several others directly including Amy’s, Good Foods, Kite Hill, Kuli Kuli, Ozo and Second Nature.”

Find more information about Parabolic at https://www.parabolicagency.com/ or connect directly with Mary Tarcynski on Linkedin!

Eurofins GeneScan

1. Can you tell us a bit more about the history of your company and the inspiration behind its founding?

“Eurofins GeneScan was founded in the late 1990s as part of Eurofins Scientific, driven by the growing need for reliable testing solutions in biotechnology and food safety. The company emerged in response to increasing concerns about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the food supply, providing cutting-edge molecular biology techniques to detect and quantify GMOs and other contaminants. Today, Eurofins GeneScan remains a leader in food and environmental testing, helping ensure regulatory compliance and consumer safety in the global food industry.”

2. What do people need to know about your company's mission? Can you speak to your company’s core values?

“Eurofins' mission is to contribute to global health and safety by providing high-quality laboratory services that ensure the safety, quality, and authenticity of products in industries like food, pharmaceuticals, and environmental testing. Eurofins is dedicated to advancing scientific innovation to solve real-world problems and improve lives.

The company’s core values focus on customer focus, quality, and innovation. Eurofins is committed to delivering reliable results through rigorous testing, maintaining high standards of quality and integrity, and continuously pushing the boundaries of science to develop new solutions that meet evolving market needs. Sustainability and corporate responsibility are also integral, with a focus on protecting the environment and improving the health of communities worldwide.”

Learn more about Eurofins GeneScan on their website and make sure to keep up with them on Linkedin.