Flavored water brand Hint has closed a $25m Series D financing round led by Springboard Growth Capital and supported by Philippe Laffont, Linnea Roberts’ Gingerbread Capital and Emiliano Román’s Medina Heights Capital Partners.
Pork processing giant Smithfield Foods – which threw its hat into the plant-based meat ring last September with the nationwide launch of burgers, breakfast patties, protein crumbles and meatballs under the Pure Farmland brand – has started shipping new...
Lever VC – a global venture capital fund whose partners were investors in Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods, and Memphis Meats – has launched a new fund targeting early stage companies in the burgeoning alternative protein space, with commitments of $23m...
Nestlé Waters North America’s (NWNA) recent launch of Fruity Water – a flavored, zero-sugar and unsweetened water collection for kids – provides parents with a convenient hydration alternative to plain water addressing the reality that many kids aren’t...
The pandemic has created severe challenges for some retailers, while others have prospered. Natural Grocers fits in the latter category, reporting record earnings for its third quarter of fiscal 2020.
Canada-based Willow Biosciences Inc. has announced it will soon start to deliver its first samples of “ultra-pure, pharmaceutical grade” cannabigerol (CBG) from its 500-liter pilot production run.
Better Booch has grown from a Southern California kombucha brand with a cult following to distribution at over 2,000 retail locations including new partnerships with Whole Foods Southern Pacific, Southwest and Northern California regions.
Want to get feedback on your new child-focused food or beverage launch, brand, or business, from our expert panel at FoodNavigator-USA's virtual FOOD FOR KIDS summit in the fall?
After years of declining sales, dairy milk is on the rise again thanks in part to the coronavirus driving a resurgence of baking, cooking and eating at home, but to keep the momentum going during and after the pandemic, industry stakeholders are reviving...
What’s new in the world of plant-based product development? FoodNavigator-USA (FNU) caught up with Ryan Riddle (RR), senior product development specialist, vegetarian meal solutions at Nestlé, which acquired the plant-based Sweet Earth brand in late 2017.
Agricultural biotechnology firm Arcadia Biosciences has experienced “overwhelming demand” for its GoodWheat and GoodHemp products (both introduced late last year), but has struggled to keep up with the explosive market interest, said president and CEO...
The Federal Trade Commission has sent another round of warning letters to marketers making unsubstantiated COVID-19 health claims. The FTC’s message is simple: Prove it or remove it.
Stevia supplier PureCircle USA says it “strongly refutes” claims from US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials that it imported shipments of stevia that had been processed in China with prison labor, but claims it “made financial sense for our...
Impossible Foods has raised $200m in a Series G funding round led by new investor Coatue, with participation from existing investors including Mirae Asset Global Investments and Temasek as well as new investor XN. The move brings its total funding since...
Fourteen food companies made global data intelligence company Morning Consult’s 2020 50 Most Loved Brands list, which analyzed more than 150,000 consumer interviews conducted by the firm in June and July 2020.
Faced with different shopper behavior throughout the pandemic, Sun-Maid has launched a marketing campaign aimed at moms navigating the new normal of the back-to-school season and who now must be prepared with snacks for their kids throughout the day,...
Likely fighting an uphill battle, some nutrition experts, health care providers and professional athletes want the 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans to demote dairy from its long-held position as a standalone and recommended food group to a discretionary...
Kraft Heinz has named Cory Onell as president of US sales; Sanjiv Gajiwala as US chief growth officer; and Stephanie Peterson as head of US communications as it gears up to unveil its strategic plan in September.
What’s new in the world of food preservation? FoodNavigator-USA (FNU) caught up with Courtney Schwartz (CS), marketing director for Kemin Food Technologies, Americas, at the SHIFT20 virtual IFT show to fund out.
Adults who swapped out animal protein for plant-based protein saw lower levels of LDL cholesterol, moderate weight loss, and similar sodium intake and blood pressure levels (compared to animal protein consumption) after eight weeks, revealed a two-phase...
Seafood industry stakeholders and public health advocates want more clarity in the 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans around how much seafood children and pregnant women should eat to reap its potential cognitive developmental benefits, but they diverge...
Plenty Unlimited Inc. will be entering 430 Albertsons stores across California with four SKUs of its leafy greens, further demonstrating the scalability of its indoor hydroponic vertical-farming operations, which use 99% less land and up to 95% less water...
For the bulk of its 21-year lifespan, Alibaba.com served as an online directory to help buyers identify Chinese suppliers of everything from farm equipment to iPhone cases. Today, it’s a multibillion-dollar global b2b e-commerce platform, and food &...
All entrepreneurs are destined to fail, but that doesn’t mean they also must lose, according to the CEO of the startup ingredient company Rambuhealth, who explained that companies can overcome almost any obstacle as long as leaders are creative, decisive...
Whole Foods Market has launched Home Ec 365, a digital home economics curriculum “built to help you adult like a boss” as it refreshes its 365 private label range.
Atomo Coffee – a Seattle-based startup that claims to have reverse engineered your morning joe to make an awesome cup of coffee without using beans – has raised an extra $9m in seed funding, bringing its cumulative funding to $11.6m, with plans to bring...
Three quarters of families with school-aged children now report being able to spend more time together eating at the breakfast table, promoting an uptick in cereal consumption, according to a new survey commissioned by General Mills Big G cereals.
Keto-friendly cereals and snacks startup Catalina Snacks has hired industry veteran Joel Warady as president as it ramps up its omnichannel business and gears up to launch a new product line in 2021.
Executives from Post Holdings and its recently spun-off active nutrition business BellRing Brands may be confident that the new food company will meet its full-year targets, but analysts on the company’s third quarter call late last week sounded dubious.
The number of new products introduced globally featuring almonds rose 13% to 12,206 in 2019 according to Innova Market Insights, with particularly strong growth in the dairy category (which includes dairy alternatives such as almondmilk and dairy-free...
With its full assortment of cereals returning to store shelves this month, Post Holdings expects to regain some of the share it lost in recent months in the segment to competitors that were faster to rebuild their assortment and resume promotions after...
Matrix Meats – an Ohio-based startup developing customizable nanofiber scaffolds for cell-cultured meat production - will showcase a prototype “solid meat product such as a thin piece of steak” in partnership with a cultured meat co by the end of this...
Corbion has discontinued Thrive – the first culinary algae oil on the market – three years after acquiring the brand from San Francisco-based TerraVia in the fall of 2017.
Sapsucker, an organic carbonated maple water brand based in Canada, is planning a 2021 launch into the US market where COO Ryan Klein believes there is a significant opportunity to build the tree water category.
Grains fermented with Propionibacterium freudenreichii – the bacteria usually used as a ripening culture in Swiss-type cheese -- have enough vitamin B12 to be nutritionally significant and could potentially be cheaper than fortification, according to...
Members of the House Agriculture Committee are demanding USDA take a closer look at and provide additional relief for the coronavirus pandemic’s “disproportionate toll on farmers and ranchers,” and the specialty crop sector.
An unexpected partnership between one of the largest dairy cooperatives in America and a technology powerhouse that is more often associated with cubical farms than actual farms is taking on some of the biggest threats to the US food system to help farmers...
Hannaford has significantly expanded distribution of plant-based items across the store, adding signage to make it easier for shoppers to identify plant-based products, and introduced long-term price promotions and marketing efforts including digital...
Despite parents’ best efforts to introduce their children to a variety of foods, many children between the ages one and three are falling short of key nutrients including vitamin D, vitamin E, calcium, fiber, and iron, reveals a study examining National...
While online grocery usership dipped very slightly in July 2020 compared with April 2020, consumer usage still remains higher than pre-pandemic levels, according to new data from New York City-based tech firm Chicory.
Confronted by trash and recycling bins overflowing with food and delivery packaging during the pandemic as well as near daily stories of essential workers risking exposure to the coronavirus to help keep them fed, consumers are placing more pressure on...
Could children's pester power (the influence kids have over their family’s eating behaviors) be a force for promoting positive and healthy eating behaviors at home?
DouxMatok, the Israeli firm behind patented technology that makes sugar taste sweeter, has struck a deal with a North American sugar refiner to manufacture commercial quantities of its ‘enhanced’ sugar, with the first products containing the sugar likely...
Despite uncertainties about the pandemic, investors continue to fund food and beverage businesses, but they are more closely scrutinizing opportunities, holding entrepreneurs to higher standards and offering less for more than they did before the coronavirus...
Partake Foods, an emerging allergen-friendly cookie brand, has grown its retail presence from 350 stores to over 3,000 in less than one year including recent national distribution in Target and a vision to create a platform brand that spans across multiple...
While COVID-19 dented foodservice sales, Beyond Meat experienced a 194.9% surge in US retail sales in Q2, with strong gains in the club channel and surging sales of its Cookout Classic 10-burger frozen value packs, priced at a 20% premium to conventional...
As the initial chaos of the early days of the pandemic and pantry loading settle into a more predictable flow, entrepreneurs may be tempted to pause and catch their breath, but according to the CEO of the emerging e-commerce retailer Living Food Co.,...
Responding to increasing fraud threats to the organic industry, the US Department of Agriculture seeks to strengthen oversight and improve the transparency and traceability of organic food through a four-prong plan that praises and mirrors actions already...
Evolving shopping habits brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic are remolding consumer needs, and food brands must build new connections with their customers by paying close attention to new emerging issues, pain points, and desires that matter most to their...
As lawmakers argue whether COVID-19 liability shields for employers should be built into the next stimulus package, Tyson Foods has told a court in Texas that it can’t be held liable for the death of one of its employees because his family can't...