The Startup Pavilion at the Institute of Food Technologists’ annual Food Improved by Research Science and Technology (IFT FIRST) conference in Chicago this month will be twice as big as it was at last year’s annual conference, reflecting the urgency and...
Attendees at the Institute of Food Technologists’ annual Food Improved by Research, Science and Technology (IFT FIRST) conference this month won’t have to wait until they return home to apply what they learn in the hundreds of academic sessions or see...
The alternative seafood segment may be a small fraction of the size of its counterparts in plant-based and animal-free dairy and meat currently, but the sector is primed for growth as demand for seafood outpaces supply and concern about the oceans’ health...
At the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City late last month emerging and established brands were going back to basics with simplified ingredients, streamlined packaging, clear cut benefits and natural – if not always familiar – flavor profiles.
Even though women make up half of marathon runners, only 2.5% of sports nutrition products explicitly target them, and those that do tend to be more expensive and tend to be rated poorly, forcing many female athletes to compromise their health by consuming...
The functional beverage category is growing at a rapid clip as consumers look for fast, easy ways to support their on-the-go lifestyles and their health, but not all ingredients, products and platforms are created equally and the segment faces significant...
Going beyond its initial mission of providing a glyphosate residue-free certification, The Detox Project is turning its attention to the wider food and beverage industry with a new certification program that'll help CPG brands tell a better story...
Recent bad weather in West Africa has threatened cocoa production resulting in record-high prices for the commodity on the Intercontinental Exchange in London.
Industry experts and trade groups are decrying the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer’s pending addition of aspartame to a list of possible carcinogens for humans as unscientific and politically motivated.
Whole Foods Market’s newest store opened this week in the historic Walter Reed Parks in Washington, DC, as an anchor for the redeveloping neighborhood and a new opportunity for area startups hoping to break into the competitive food and beverage industry....
As CPG brands look to grow their e-commerce business in the face of changing consumer behaviors, they are facing several key technology challenges and opportunities in the form of collecting first-party data and embracing AI to deliver on mass personalization,...
As CPG food and beverages companies grow brand penetration, they are met with a consumer who is increasingly savvy in finding the best purchase for their dollar, requiring e-commerce teams to rethink how to attract new customers and keep the ones they...
With the help of technological advancements, CPG brands and retailers are taking a hard look at their carbon footprint through real-time analytics as the push to carbon label standards becomes a bigger focus for governments around the world, Antony Yousefian,...
As alternative protein develops, brewer’s yeast is emerging as a strong driver of the market. Start-up ProteinDistillery has created a protein, developed from brewer’s yeast, that can not only be used for meat and dairy alternatives, but also to replace...
Under a new CEO and with peak-pandemic receding farther into the background, the Consumer Brands Association is “going back to the future” to focus on core values that, while still priorities in recent years, took a backseat during the chaos of COVID...
While most plant-based categories saw year-over-year unit sales slide last year in the face of higher prices to offset inflation, a handful of categories bucked the trend – including plant-based cream cheese, sour cream and spreads.
Within plant-based milks, almond may dominate sales and oat may be the fastest growing sub-segment, but an increasing variety of nut-, seed-, legume- and grain-based options are coming to market – simultaneously fragmenting and growing the overall segment.
Cultivated meat could debut on upscale restaurant menus in the US in as little as a few weeks or months after the USDA on Wednesday gave the greenlight for UPSIDE Foods and GOOD Meat to sell their “cell-cultured chicken” in the US.
Sustainability messages can have a “dramatic amplifier effect” on brands’ reach and appeal when paired with traditional category claims such as “tastes great,” but to fully leverage their power marketers should focus on how sustainability claims benefit...
Meat-packing giant JBS begrudgingly agreed to discontinue “aspirational” claims about its goal to reach ‘net zero’ greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 after failing to convince an advertising watchdog that consumers would not interpret the commitment as...
AI technologies can help reduce food waste and increase efficiencies while improving the overall digital customer experience, Alex Weinstein, chief digital officer for Hungryroot, shared in a fireside chat with FoodNavigator-USA at the Digital Food and...
Even in the face of widening price gaps, Kraft Heinz is unwilling to bring back the deep-discounts that were prevalent pre-pandemic – preferring instead to elevate and invest more in marketing and R&D so promotions and products are better tailored...
Sustainability and future-proofing the food system
Alternative proteins hold significant potential to help combat climate change by offering a more environmentally sustainable alternative to animal agriculture – a benefit that could help them unlock much-needed funding and strategic support to refine...
As CPG brands and retailers respond to shifting consumers behaviors -- from trading down to private label to more brick-and-mortar shopping -- they need to put aside preconceived notions of what consumers want and use data and their internal resources...
USDA will crack down on animal-raising claims, such as ‘grass-fed’ and ‘free-range,’ and could require lab testing or launch a new verification sampling program for negative antibiotics claims, such as ‘raised without antibiotics,’ as part of a broader...
A slight uptick in the price of food at home in May from April after months of steady decline isn’t as worrisome to some industry stakeholders as it could be given year-over-year food prices continued to slow and remained far lower than the double-digit...
In response to consumer demand for more plant-based and sustainable foods and ingredients, Nuritas’ “precision AI technology” identifies and delivers rare plant-based peptides at a faster rate than the industry standard, which can often take decades,...
Nearly 2,000 companies and 270 trade groups, including those representing grocers, convenience stores and other retailers that sell packaged food and beverages, are calling for the swift passage of legislation that could lower credit and debit card swipe...
With Climax Foods’ unveiling today of its new plant-based casein Caseed, the biotech startup claims to have cracked the code on recreating the functionality, flavor and performance of dairy cheese – but without the animal and without any of the top eight...
Despite efforts to upcycle ingredients, promote so-called ugly produce and educate retailers and consumers about how to sell and use food before it spoils, food waste in the US remains at a stubborn 30%, in part due to inaccuracies predicting consumer...
Critical supply chains are finally “normalizing” after the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine disrupted transportation and slowed production, triggering bottlenecks and driving up inflation to 40-year highs, according to a White House report card...
Legislation reintroduced yesterday could add another layer of oversight – and office – for food safety at FDA as the agency reimagines and tries to repair what many consider a broken review system for the nation’s food supply.
Sustainability and future-proofing the food system
Improving the sustainability of the food system is no longer optional from an optics and long-term business perspective, but short-term challenges – including consumer engagement – threaten immediate and mid-range returns and margins, complicating the...
While the cultivated meat industry has overcome significant upstream processing and regulatory hurdles in the past year, new market research suggests startups still face notable downstream food manufacturing challenges that could place them – along with...
Swiss-based flavor house Givaudan is using AI-based capabilities with its Customer Foresight platform to predict upcoming market trends and provide opportunities to co-collaborate with CPG brands on new and innovative food and beverage products, Nandita...
Animal agriculture accounts for more than half of all green house gas emissions from the food system, but asking consumers to cut back for the sake of the environment likely won’t go very far given demand for high quality protein is on the rise as the...
A new alternative protein made from brewer’s spent yeast has scaled up and will now transition to full production. The protein, which is made by the EGGcited consortium and coordinated by NIZO, can act as a substitute for egg and dairy, and can replace...
Food ingredient company Kerry is expanding its range of sugar reduction solutions to help CPG brands meet increasing consumer demand for low- and no-sugar foods and beverages, Ian McGarvey, SVP of technology and innovation for taste at Kerry, told FoodNavigator-USA....
Power Leaves says it's breaking the monopoly on the supply of coca leaf extract and bringing on a ‘new age of coca’. Through an exclusive agreement with indigenous communities, the ingredient manufacturer and supplier has developed a legal Colombian...
Apple juice with more than 10 parts per billion of inorganic arsenic along with other factors could trigger enforcement action by FDA, the agency warned yesterday in guidance finalized ten years after it first proposed the limit.
Already a cult-favorite among Gen Z coffee and tea drinkers who prize quality but also want a bit of whimsy, Chamberlain Coffee hopes to expand its appeal, distribution and usage occasions in the coming months with an infusion of $7m in follow-on series...
Sustainability and future-proofing the food system
With between a quarter and a third of human caused greenhouse gas emissions linked to food production and climate change intensifying to a point that its impacting how, where and when key crops are grown, improving sustainability in the food system is...
In working to improve the taste of plant-based seafood alternatives, Dutch start-up Upstream Foods is cultivating fat from salmon cells for the B2B market.
The US Department of Agriculture should help farmers and ranchers better manage climate change risks and step-up oversight of federal assistance programs, including future reevaluation of the Thrifty Food Plan, which determines benefits under the Supplemental...
Consumers are turning away from fresh as their stress levels rise – preferring the convenience and mood management claims offered more prominently in the center of the store, suggests data from consumer research firm Circana, previously known as IRI....
The US Department of Agriculture promises to shoulder more of the cost for farmers and ranchers transitioning to organic and develop additional processing and aggregation facilities to ease supply chain bottenecks holding the organic industry back from...
As food prices remain stubbornly high year-over-year, consumers are becoming more sophisticated in how they manage their grocery budgets – allowing them to expand their definition of value beyond the historic combination of price, quantity and quality,...
A trio of trucking bills passed by the US House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee this week are a “step in the right direction” to further repair and reinforce fragile food supply chains threatened by an ongoing severe driver shortage, according...
Rising food prices are exacting a higher toll on grocery shoppers than a year ago, with many offsetting increases by choosing less expensive items even if they are less healthy and do not meet their ideal social sustainability values, new research from...
In a bid to create a more “memorable” identity, Israeli food-tech company DouxMatok is rebranding to share the same “single, powerful” name as its signature sugar reduction product – Incredo – which it plans to further develop and commercialize with the...
