Meet the Panelists: An Interview with Futurologist Dr. Morgaine Gaye

On July 24, The World Taste & Smell Association will present Future Trends in Taste and Scent, an online presentation offering an insightful look at how we’ll engage with smell and flavors in the future, and what innovations will be part of the consumer products of tomorrow.

Stephanie Feuer interviewed panelist Dr. Morgaine Gaye, food futurologist and founder of Living Source, who is one of the three panelists. Dr. Gaye is a food futurologist exploring food and eating from a social, cultural, economic, trend, branding, and geo-political perspective. She also the Director of Bellwether Food Trends, a London-based team producing a full bi-annual compendium of food trends. She provides consulting to food companies, as well as produces written content for online forecasting sites, PR companies, and ad agencies.

SF: Please tell us what you do as a Food Futurologist.

MG: To forecast the future, I look at patterns of behavior and indicators around what is likely to happen. I analyze fashion, interiors, design, and social trends around the world and often follow trends from Asia to West Coast US, East Coast US and then UK. I look at economic cycles, current political agenda, and some historical timelines. I develop some unproven ideas and then go about trying to find examples of emerging ideas across category, from fashion to design to architecture to try to develop a new hypothesis.

My research is a culmination of years of continuous study. I compile a master document at the beginning of each year, which I use as a foundation for the trends ahead, I also review the past years research which has amassed in 12 months, and I carry forward any ideas/concept which I still consider to be pertinent. Obviously, trends do not end and begin on 1st January! I typically break down future trends into six or seven macro trend themes with concept words, e.g., survival. I then collate four-to-six micro-trends in this category. I conceptualize and research, what I consider to be the zeitgeist for the future.

I look across category for ‘moments’ and anomalies or responses to events. Fashion, interiors, design, politics, geo-politics, economics, social behaviors, are all key in finding a cultural pulse to define aspiration and trend. Because food exists within similar parameters as other cultural phenomena, I collate many threads to underpin how I predict the future of food.

I attend diverse lectures, travel extensively, have conversations with a range of experts and people who have their own areas of expertise (from color forecasters to astronaut moon walking advisors to practitioners exploring niche theories). I also trawl the internet extensively and have a global network of contributors and a small core staff. I use the skeleton trend deck as my guide to research the specific topic and client category for each bespoke briefing which I create uniquely each time.

SF: You’ve consulted with some big companies including Pepsi, Cadbury, Kraft, and General Mills. How far in advance do you have to project trends so companies can apply this intelligence to new products?

MG: Food companies need an absolute minimum of three years and I tend to give five-to-seven-year forecasts. The product innovation takes time, along with consumer testing, packaging, and marketing—food and beverage brands are unlike fashion brands in their long lead time.

SF: What’s one macro trend we should be on the lookout for in the next few years?

MG: Kindness as an actual commodity, a value system which companies will trade on and in.

SF: One goal of The World Taste and Smell Association is to elevate our appreciation of our senses of smell and taste. What’s something new you’d suggest people try to enhance their appreciation or understanding of taste?

MG: Rub the soles of your feet with a cut clove of garlic and see it you can taste it in your mouth a few minutes later. The power of our sense of taste is a complete body system not to be underrated.

Hear more from Morgaine Gaye during our present Future Trends in Taste and Scent presentation on July 24 from 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM (EST) on Zoom. Tickets are $25 and available here.