Host: Maeve Webster

Maeve Webster

Maeve Webster 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, trend prioritization and implementation, concept development 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 just 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 and a culinary degree from the Le Cordon Bleu. Before launching Menu Matters, she honed her skills at two large industry research firms, and for 4 years ran a successful café/bakery in Bennington, VT, which was named “best café” in each of the years it was in operation under her leadership.


The Mess Hall
The Mess Hall brings you messy conversations about the topics that matter to the food and beverage industry -- the thorny topics that don't have a simple solution and require nuanced discussion, ideas, and thought. Hosts Maeve Webster and Mike Kostyo of food industry consulting firm Menu Matters bring in expert guests -- chefs, anthropologists, beverage consultants, marketing experts -- to dive into one provocative topic each episode. Plus, Maeve and Mike start each show with a look at attention-getting research, data, and news that impacts food industry professionals, and each episode ends with five questions, from "What is your hospitality pet peeve?" to "What is something you've changed your mind about?" This conversational, funny, and thought-provoking series is a must-listen for anyone who works in foodservice or CPG: chefs, R&D, sales, marketing, supply chain, regulatory, nutrition, agriculture, C-suite, and beyond. For more information about Menu Matters, visit menumatters.com...