Tofurky has raised $7m via a private investment to help scale production of its plant-based refrigerated sausages, deli slices, grounds, roasts and tempeh as consumer demand for meat alternatives continues to grow.
Evolv Ventures, the $100m venture fund backed by Kraft Heinz, has made its first investment in fast-growing GrubMarket, a startup that connects local farmers directly with restaurants and businesses to sell their wares.
In recent years, the healthy eating trend had expanded dramatically beyond a fad for the few to gain a stronghold with mainstream shoppers, but produce is still at a significant disadvantage when it comes to capturing the attention of children and teenagers...
FDA will push forward with its Nutrition Innovation Strategy despite the departure this month of FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb who championed the initiative as a way to reduce the burden of chronic disease through improved nutrition, according to an...
Bond Pet Foods – one of 15 startups pitching at Rabobank’s FoodBytes! event in San Francisco last month - deploys microbes as tiny factories to produce proteins for pets in fermentation tanks. FoodNavigator-USA caught up with founder Rich Kelleman before...
Quevos, a Chicago-area startup making egg white chips, is preparing to enter its next phase of growth through crowdfunding site Kickstarter, to build its customer base and brand awareness with further plans to enter the natural retail channel later this...
FDA has reiterated its enforcment stance on CBD and hemp products, has updated a Q&A document on the subject and has specified what kind of information it is seeking in the runup to a public meeting on the subject in May, all as part of documents...
After losing several high profile members and suffering a backlash over controversial policy positions, the Grocery Manufacturers Association is trying to regain the industry’s – and consumers’ – trust by rebuilding its mission around four main pillars...
As conscious consumerism gathers momentum, retailers, investors and shoppers all are scrutinizing companies’ values more closely and looking to support brands that are focused on more than just profits.
While some animal protein producers might see the rise in plant-based eating as a threat, Applegate sees it as an opportunity to push forward its mission of changing the meat we eat with several new products, including a blended burger that combines meat...
FDA has sent three companies marketing CBD products warning letters over disease claims. The warnings are the first issued under FDA’s de facto ‘enforcement discretion’ policy, which will be discussed at a meeting on CBD set for the end of May.
TerViva - a California-based start-up on a mission to commercialize a new source of plant-based protein from the pongamia tree - has raised $20m in a series D round.
Regulatory hurdles notwithstanding, investors and judges at Rabobank’s FoodBytes! event in San Francisco last week were fairly bullish about hemp-derived CBD (cannabidiol), and predicted that while the market has moved ahead of the science, this will...
The Worthy Company - one of 15 food & ag startups pitching at Rabobank's FoodBytes! event in San Francisco last week - has developed a novel food concept (the 'blendie bowl') combining fruits, veggies, legumes and chia. But where...
Nestlé Health Science will take an equity stake in Swiss life science company Amazentis and receive global rights to use Amazentis’ Urolithin A technology for dietary supplements, foods, beverages, and medical nutrition products.
Chicago-based Skinny Souping is seeing nationwide demand for its on-the-go, nutrient-dense soups (made with fresh ingredients and free from any sort of preservatives and additives), which are designed to be consumed chilled or hot.
In a move signaling the mainstream potential of next generation plant-based meat brands, Burger King is testing the waters with a limited edition trial of the Impossible Burger in 60 locations in and around St Louis to gauge consumer interest.
What are the key elements of a great pitch, and what might send potential investors running for the hills? FoodNavigator-USA editor Elaine Watson headed to San Francisco to ask judges and mentors at Rabobank's FoodBytes! pitch competition what they're...
The Jackfruit Company has developed a ready-to-eat pulled pork imitation that it hopes should propel growth, drawing interest from meat eaters considering plant-based alternatives for health and environmental reasons.
Shaka Tea, Bushel, and Toast Ale scooped the top prizes at FoodBytes! San Francisco 2019, Rabobank’s 15th global pitch competition for food and ag startups, after wowing judges with their innovative products and business models.
French cookie brand Michel et Augustin has spent the last year trimming back its portfolio to refocus on its strengths, and is now ready to take a bite out of the mass retail cookie market, its US CEO says.
Gluten-free frozen pizza brand Caulipower is on track to generate revenues of $100m in 2019, after just two years in business, with a mission to revolutionize America's relationship with vegetables, says founder Gail Becker.
Emerging and new-to-market brands are all vying for precious shelf space at retail, so where should founders focus their time and energy to secure a spot in their desired store area?
While terms such as a 'natural' and 'clean label' may not have a regulated definition attached to them, these particular descriptors do motivate over half of US shoppers to purchase a product, a new survey of 1,000 adults conducted...
Chloe's has made its first line extensions with "permissibly indulgent" chocolate dipped pops and a kids line in partnership with Nickelodeon since launching five years ago.
Sparkling botanical beverage brand Petal has had a busy first year as the company doubled its product line with three new flavors, underwent a reformulation (swapping out stevia and erythritol for organic agave), and is now primed for national distribution...
Not long ago, high protein content call-outs were reserved for ready-to-drink milkshakes and protein bars. Today, everything from snacks to pasta to frozen food boast high protein content on their packaging. What’s sustaining the protein fortification...
Pasture-raised egg and butter specialist Vital Farms has branched out into ghee – a category that has benefited from changing consumer attitudes towards fat - and saturated fat in particular.
Plant-based meat start-up Impossible Foods has issued a voluntary recall of a single lot number of its product after a restaurant in California discovered a “food-safe, sealed, one-inch plastic object in a case of Impossible Burger bulk product.”
Meat often gets a bad rap on the sustainability front, but not all animal production systems have the same impact on the planet, says Blue Apron founder Matthew Wadiak, who has launched a regenerative agriculture venture that will initially focus on pasture-raised...
In the past five years, online grocery retailer Thrive Market has grown its business to 500,000 paid members shopping its 6,000+ products, allowing the company to dive head first into new projects around regenerative agriculture, and "dramatically"...
If areas of the grocery store were to be placed in a figurative bracket based on annual volume growth over a three year period (2015-2018), which departments would come out on top? According to Nielsen's "Total Store Bracket" ranking 16...
While most new plant-based brands debut in the natural channel, the trend is becoming so red hot that Alpha Foods – which has just raised $7m in a round co-led by New Crop Capital and AccelFoods – started by knocking on Walmart’s door… and found it open,...
Colon cancer used to be considered a threat mostly to adults older than 50, but the disease is becoming more prevalent among Millennials, which some experts believe may be linked to the rising popularity of low-carb and grain-free diets, a trend that...
Scientific and technology advances, coupled with the increased consumer interest, means that there is a need to update and harmonize the recommendations for protein intakes around the globe, says the head of the International Protein Board.
60-second interview: Mike Mauzé, founding partner, VMG Partners
If you walk into someone by mistake as you push through the crowds at the Natural Products Expo West show these days, you are just as likely to find yourself apologizing to an investor as a retail buyer searching for hot new brands. But what does all...
As consumers learn more about digestive health and all the implications that it has for the wellbeing of their bodies and minds, they are looking for products that go beyond probiotics – creating a booming digestive health category that is ripe for innovation....
Despite efforts by the largest food and beverage manufacturers in the United States to tackle obesity and diet-related disease in the market, nearly 40% of adults and 18.5% of children in the US are obese – putting them at risk of Type 2 diabetes, high...
Consumers want more natural, less processed, ‘clean’ foods. But do they give certain brands – and categories – a pass? And what cues are they looking for? Checkout what our consumer and legal experts had to say in the opening session of our Natural and...
Mondelēz International has made an investment in The Hatchery, a Chicago-based non-profit food business accelerator, as part of the CPG company's SnackFutures innovation and venture hub.
With annual retail sales of cold brew coffee estimated at more than $29 million in 2017 and predicted to grow to $170 million by the end of 2025, it is easy to see why at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim earlier this month so many new players were...
In order to feed a nutritious, sustainable diet to the predicted 10 billion people who will populate Earth by 2050, environmental advocates and food & beverage industry stakeholders must work together rather than apart from – or even at times against...
Food and beverage brands targeting kids often promote their low sugar content, or highlight calcium for bones and protein for growing bodies. But what about the nutrients kids need to support the development of arguably their most important asset: the...
60-second interview: Koen Burghouts, Global VP, nutrition group at PepsiCo
While a flurry of brands have piled into the oatmilk category of late, Quaker is seeking to carve a unique position in the category with a product that delivers the creamy texture and performance that consumers have come to expect, but also offers unique...
Weller, a Boulder-based snack and beverage company, is not tip-toeing around using the word 'CBD' on its packaging as it launches a line of sparkling waters featuring 25mg cannabidiol (from full spectrum hemp extract).
Reimagining base brands, cultivating the M&A pipeline, and developing new innovation models
Will big food companies increasingly buy in innovation and serve simply as scale up platforms for smaller, more 'authentic' brands they didn’t create, or can they come up with their own cool stuff that will resonate with new generations of consumers?...
If harnessed appropriately, rapid advances in digital technology could offer much-needed solutions to some of the unintentional negative diet- and nutrition-related consequences from otherwise positive Industrial Revolution era developments, according...
While modern wisdom may favor launching fast and iterating quickly based on consumer feedback, the director of innovation at Endangered Species Chocolate says when it comes to packaging and branding it is better to slow down and invest in consumer research...
Bulletproof360, Inc. (maker of Bulletproof Coffee) has named Cameron Kinloch (former CFO at Ripple Foods) as CFO, and Brian Watkins as the company's VP of ecommerce, reporting to Bulletproof president and COO, Anna Collins.
