Niagara University brought food industry leaders, innovators and experts to downtown Buffalo this week for its 2026 Food Industry Center of Excellence Summit.
Held at the Hyatt Regency Buffalo, this year’s summit was themed “Built to Thrive: Next Is Now” and focused on trends and technologies shaping the future of the food industry, including artificial intelligence, changing consumer preferences, retail and innovation.
Featured speakers included Geoff Alexander, president and CEO of Wow Bao; Amanda Lai, associate partner of the Food Industry Practice at McMillan Doolittle; Laura Strange, chief public affairs and advocacy officer at the National Grocers Association; and AI strategist and business transformation adviser Mary Purk.
Alexander used the evolution of Wow Bao, an Asian fast-casual restaurant and frozen-food brand, to illustrate how businesses can adapt as technology and consumer habits change.
He said the company began experimenting with self-ordering kiosks in 2010, when the technology was still uncommon in restaurants.
“In 2010, I put in self-ordering kiosks into the restaurant, and you’re all looking at me like, big deal,” Alexander told attendees. “But in 2010, you had a bank ATM, you had a kiosk to get your boarding pass, and you had a kiosk to get your movie ticket.”
The company also embraced mobile ordering, delivery and social media. Alexander said Wow Bao later expanded through airports, college campuses, sports stadiums and delivery-only partnerships.
That evolution accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Alexander said Wow Bao launched through more than 1,200 partner locations in the United States and Canada between January 2020 and January 2024.
The company has also expanded significantly into retail.
Alexander said Wow Bao products are now available in more than 16,000 freezer doors across the country, with more than 15 products on shelves. The company also recently opened an approximately 80,000-square-foot manufacturing facility.
But Alexander said technology and new business models alone have not driven the company’s growth. He emphasized the importance of mentorship, relationships and surrounding himself with people who have expertise in areas where he does not.
“What I do know is that a network of people who you can trust, who you can call upon, and who you are willing to pause for, that is what has allowed me to be a better leader, and in return create more opportunity,” he said.
The summit also examined how changes in government policy could affect the food industry and access to food assistance.
Strange discussed changes to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, including increased costs that states could be required to absorb.
She said states are now weighing how those changes could affect their budgets and their ability to support safety-net programs.
“States are trying to figure out what they’re going to be working off of as they are putting their budgets forward, and as they are going to continue to explore how to cover some of these safety net programs for participants,” Strange said.
Strange also pointed to increased attention on nutrition, preventive care and chronic illness as another shift affecting the industry.
“There’s that emphasis on preventative care, the close look at chronic illness in America, and looking at how Americans can use food as medicine,” she said.
Niagara University said the summit was designed to give food industry professionals, business leaders and educators an opportunity to hear from experts and connect with others working across the industry.
