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Industry Research

Guide to industry research

Food & Beverages

Below are some of the top resources for finding market and industry research:

Note: For general overviews and market research reports search for terms like: 

  • Food industry OR food market OR food products
  • Grocery OR supermarket 
  • Food retailing 
  • Restaurants OR fast food OR fast casual

For more specific research, consider adding terms or product categories like:

  • Coffee OR beer OR soft drink
  • Dairy OR ice cream

Watch for variations in spelling like: 

  • Yogurt OR yoghurt OR jogurt

Listed below are links to trade publications and relevant industry news:

Note: A trade publication (often a magazine) is an information source that is intended for a very specific audience and will have content that appeals to that audience. The content may come directly from people within the industry, or it may come from freelance or staff writers that have vast experiences writing for that particular trade.

Professionals often subscribe to trade magazines in order to gather valuable information that will help them achieve something within their industry or field. Trade publications are a Marketer's secret weapon and can be helpful for tracking recent industry developments, identifying competitors or uncovering market opportunities. 

Below are links to key industry associations:

Note: If your industry is not represented here, search Google with your industry name + "association".  Not all content on these websites is free; you may need to be a member to access exclusive reports and data.

In some industries, associations might be referred to as;

  • Guild OR federation OR society
  • Foundation OR council
  • Bureau OR forum

Food Fraud

Food fraud is "the deliberate substitution, addition, tampering or misrepresentation of food, food ingredients or food packaging, or false or misleading statements made about a product for economic gain." - USPC

Buying Guides

Find key government data, including reports and statistics using the following resources:

Books and Reference Sources

For more, search USC Libraries Catalog for books and periodicals using the following words and phrases, or find full-text books online through ProQuest Ebook Central:

  • Food industry and/or trade
  • Food or Beverage and Retail
  • Grocery or Supermarket
  • Produce trade
  • Restaurants