Webinars

Mike Kostyo, Vice President of Menu Matters, has been a leading voice in food industry trends and insights for over a decade, known for digging through the messy information landscape in order to uncover unique insights that help brands think differently. Viewing food through a human-first, anthropological lens shaped by his master's degree in gastronomy, Mike brings depth and expertise to industry research and analysis. He excels at collaborative problem-solving with clients, bringing high energy, humor, and a personal touch to every project.

His cross-disciplinary background, ranging from magazine journalism to advertising to political communications, allows him to communicate complex trends and ideas with clarity and impact, earning him coverage in the New York Times, a featured profile on Huffington Post (“This Food Trendologist Knows What We’ll Be Eating Before Anyone Else”), on NBC Nightly News, as a recurring guest on Fusion TV’s “The AV Club Show,” and even as a judge on Food Network’s “Eating America.” He’s also a sought-after speaker who has presented to over a hundred industry events on topics like innovation, AI, as well as his still-talked about “How to Be Weird” presentation.

Based in Chicago, Kostyo is also a freelance writer who regularly contributes to food industry publications. In addition to his gastronomy degree from Boston University, he has certificates in the culinary arts, baking arts, wine, and artisan cheese production and he proudly serves on the advisory committee for the Arkansas Food Innovation Center at the Market Center of the Ozarks.

Maeve Webster, President of Menu Matters, has been a go-to thought leader, consultant, and trend expert in the food industry for over 20 years. Her clients rely on her to identify critical trends that impact the industry, consumers, and their business specifically, and to explain the relevance of those trends in a way that is engaging, approachable, and actionable.

Working closely with manufacturers, national account operators, commodity boards, and agencies, Maeve has supported menu strategy, product concept development, opportunity assessment, trend prioritization and implementation, and operational efficiency efforts.

She is a sought-after speaker for everything from client sales meetings and customer events to large industry events such as the RCA Conference, New Products Conference, MISE, VIBE, and Flavor Experience to name a few. She has been quoted as an expert on the food industry by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, NPR, and BBC Radio.

Maeve has an MBA from the University of Illinois, a culinary degree from the Le Cordon Bleu program, honed her skills at two large industry research firms, and for 4 years ran a successful café/bakery business in Bennington, VT, which was named “best café” in each of the years it was in operation under her leadership.