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Virginia Lee
Food & Beverage Consultant and Trendspotter | Writer, Content Creator, and Speaker on Food & Drinks Trends | Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) Market Research | Consumer Insights
Virginia Lee, Contributing Writer at The Food Institute
Virginia Lee is a Market Research Analyst and Consumer Insights Analyst specializing in the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industry, particularly the food and beverage sector. She is a Contributing Writer for The Food Institute and shares her knowledge of food, beverage, and CPG trends through various media outlets and speaking engagements.1
Key Facts about Virginia Lee:
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Current Roles:
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Past Experience:
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Education:
- Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in History from Dartmouth College1
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LinkedIn Username:
- virginiaalee1
Virginia Lee combines her passion for consumer packaged goods with her skills in trendspotting, market intelligence, and storytelling to provide actionable insights to companies in the CPG industry. She has worked with global research and sales teams at Euromonitor International and Innova Market Insights, advising clients across various industries.1
Highlights
Foxtrot is planning its comeback by cleaning its stores and applying for liquor licenses.
I visited Foxtrot’s Gold Coast location on Saturday, August 10 and recorded this TikTok. At this location – 23 West Maple in Chicago – I saw that they had cleaned the store since my last visit. Their beverage alcohol selection on shelves looked full. I saw a dishwasher in the front of the store.
I incorrectly stated in the video that Foxtrot had applied for a liquor license for the Gold Coast store on July 7. After checking the City of Chicago’s website (link in Comments), the correct application date was July 9. The website shows that Further Point Enterprises (owner of Foxtrot 2.0) has filed liquor applications for six locations: in the past six weeks.
-23 W Maple St (July 9) -1562 N Wells St (July 9) -1722 W Division St (July 18) -171 N Green St (July 19) -401 N Wells St (August 13) -1576 N Milwaukee Ave (August 13)
Curious about what I tried at the grand opening of Impossible Foods pop-up at Chicago’s PlantX on August 13?
The plant-based food company opened its first in-person foodservice experience - Impossible Quality Meats - as a pop-up in XMarket Food Hall.
The menu includes a Breakfast Sausage Sandwich, Nachos, Chicken Nuggets with Fries and Oatly Soft Serve.
I tried six items. -Asian Style Meatballs -Chicago Style Hot Dog -Crispy Asian Chicken Salad -Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad -Italian Meatball Sliders -Smash Burger
I lucked out because I had budgeted ordering three items from the menu but saw Monica Eng from Axios Chicago. We ordered six dishes between us. Unfortunately, the service was slow so Monica was unable to try the Chicago Style Hot Dog.
I was unable to finish my eats so I shared the chicken Caesar salad, hot dog, and smash burger with a pescatarian (He said that he eats fish in addition to vegetables.) who had jokingly offered to eat our leftovers. His favorite of the three: the Impossible Smash Burger. My favorites were the Smash Burger and Italian Meatball Sliders.
It's not a surprise that Impossible decided to create a restaurant pop-up promote its line of plant-based meat alternatives with consumers. When he was at Chobani, Impossible’s president & CEO Peter McGuinness oversaw Chobani Café in New York’s SoHo neighborhood. I remember walking into Chobani Café on my way to a beauty trade show, seeing Peter, and introducing myself to him. I had not expected to see a chief marketing and brand officer of a major food company visiting his own café.
What is XMarket Food Hall? It is a vegan food hall with six restaurants, a full bar, coffee shop, and a vegan bodega-style grocery store. It is located in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood at 804 W. Montrose Ave.
The Impossible Quality Meats pop-up will be open through September 30 (Tuesdays through Sundays). They will be offering samples of Impossible hot dogs and burgers on Saturday, August 17 starting at 11am while supplies last.
I turned my visit to the Impossible pop-up into my first YouTube Shorts - will put a link to it in the Comments. Nemanja Golubovic, CEO of Kale My Name, and I chatted while he shot this video. Kale My Name is one of the other restaurants in the food hall.
#chicagofood #plantbased #popup #vegan
