Global food suppliers operate in a moment of increasing uncertainty. Climate volatility, geopolitical tension, supply disruptions, and rapidly shifting consumer expectations are reshaping how food is sourced, manufactured, and distributed.At the same time, diasporic movement and human mobility are quietly but powerfully reshaping food demand and trade patterns worldwide.
Diasporic movement is not only about permanent relocation. It includes long-term settlement and demographic formation, temporary migration for work, study, or seasonal labour, circular movement between countries, tourism and short-term stays that influence local food offerings and cross-border flows of ingredients, knowledge, and culinary practices even digitally.
These movements generate economic effects that shape food market dynamics.
We are gathering observed signals of change to better understand how these forces are reshaping food systems and to help suppliers view these cultural shifts as an opportunity.
Please respond based on what you have seen or experienced in practice, whether through your professional work or everyday life.
There are no right or wrong answers. We are looking for early signals and lived realities that help reveal how food systems are changing.
How do we define signals?
Signals are early signs that something is changing in how food is produced, shared, traded, or consumed. They may seem small or local, but they can indicate larger changes underway.
Signals are not opinions or forecasts.
They are observations — things you have seen, experienced, or encountered. They can often be missed and present a lost opportunity when they do scale into larger trends.
Examples of signals:
- In 2018, a small cluster of West African grocery shops in South London began stocking high volumes of fermented locust beans (dawadawa).
- A catering company in Dubai notices that requests for Filipino sinigang (a sour tamarind soup) have tripled in the last year.
