2017 has been a rollercoaster ride for the food industry, with Amazon coughing up a cool $13.7bn for Whole Foods, a flurry of M&A activity from Nestlé, Hershey, Campbell Soup and Kellogg, and an exodus from the industry’s biggest trade association,...
Bay area start-up Finless Foods – one of a new wave of cellular agriculture companies producing meat by culturing cells (without raising or slaughtering animals) – has slashed production costs by 50% since September and is aiming to achieve price parity...
Hershey’s acquisition of Amplify Snacks has made the chocolate company the second largest popcorn producer in the US market, ‘second to Frito-Lay,’ who owns Smartfood, said Euromonitor analyst Jared Koerten.
Whole Foods’ 365 Everyday Value private label range has already generated an estimated $10m in sales via Amazon in just over three months, reveals a new report from e-commerce data firm One Click Retail, which "can pretty much guarantee that Whole...
What’s your brand story? And if you don’t have one, how can you find one?
Some foods and beverages are unique. But most are not the culinary equivalent of the iPhone or Tesla, which is why developing a brand story that goes beyond product attributes is essential. But how can start-ups build a narrative that really engages today’s...
From entrepreneurs pioneering new farming methods and food technologies, to big brands adjusting to the changing landscape, FOOD VISION USA 2017 brought together a wide cross-section of industry players to explore how the industry is facing the challenges...
New York-based smoothie delivery brand Daily Harvest - one of a new breed of online operators targeting time poor consumers prepared to pay for a service that makes healthy eating convenient and easy by delivering customized products to their doorsteps...
News that Kellogg is incorporating probiotics into Special K Nourish Berries & Peaches with Probiotics – billed as “the only cereal from a leading brand to contain live and active probiotic cultures” provides further proof that probiotics have entered...
Researchers from the Department of Environmental Conservation of New York State have developed a way to convert acid whey left over from Greek yogurt production into sustainable biofuel and chemicals.
Beyond Sausage - the latest innovation from plant-based brand Beyond Meat – is made with pea protein isolate, fava bean protein, rice protein, potato starch, coconut oil and beet juice “to deliver on the juicy, satisfying taste and texture of pork sausage,...
With hindsight, we can all pretend we saw it coming, but in reality, Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods Market – announced on June 16 – caught most of the industry by surprise, says Rabobank, which polled 200+ food execs from entrepreneurs to CEOs of...
Campbell Soup Company has agreed to acquire Snyder’s-Lance, which distributes snacks including pretzels, sandwich crackers, kettle chips, deli snacks and organic and natural tortilla chips in the US.
Many people know Chicago has a vibrant restaurant culture and is home to some of America’s biggest food companies, but they may not know about the start-up culturing blossoming in the shadow of the city’s skyscrapers, with success stories like RXBar and...
A $35 million infusion in California Olive Ranch not only will help the company double its acreage and create more jobs, but it will help the US become a significant player on the global stage for olive oil production, according to the company.
To the “dismay” of the Organic Trade Association and against the vast majority of comments submitted by industry, the USDA proposes to withdraw a final rule outlining new animal welfare standards for organic producers that was passed in the 11th hour...
Unilever has received a binding offer from US buyout fund KKR to purchase its global spreads business for €6.825bn ($8bn) following an auction in which it saw off competing bids from CVC Capital Partners, Apollo Global Management, Clayton Dubilier &...
The industry is evolving – “and so is GMA” says the Grocery Manufacturers Association after two more big names (Unilever and Tyson Foods) told Politico they would not be renewing their membership in 2018, following similar announcements from Campbell...
Interest in adaptogens like Ashwagandha, Rhodiola, Maca, and Holy Basil is on the rise among food and beverage formulators, but what do they do, which brands are blazing an early trail, and who is buying the products?
The baby food aisle is undergoing a renaissance with new packaging, processing and flavor combinations aimed at presenting better-for-you options that promise to help children grow up healthy – and yet, childhood obesity remains a huge problem in the...
Most ‘banana’ ice cream or frozen dessert brands start with a dairy/coconut/nutmilk base, and then add sugar, and banana, or banana flavor. Hakuna Banana reverses this dynamic and starts with mashed bananas as the #1 ingredient.
Chickpea-fueled pasta brand Banza is now in 8,000+ locations after striking deals with Kroger and Ahold that have added 2,000+ stores to its footprint, but remains laser focused on velocity as part of its bid to be the “most productive pasta in the set”...
With one in three adults in the US qualifying as obese, food is at the root of most preventable death and disease in America – but it also could provide salvation if it is appropriately tailored to individual’s specific needs, suggests Supermarket Guru...
Ecommerce may account for only a small portion of food and beverage sales for now, but that is changing quickly and manufacturers and retailers need to develop a game plan now for how they will leverage the change to their advantage, suggests an analyst...
Target’s $550m plan to acquire Shipt - which like Instacart, deploys hordes of personal shoppers to pick online orders from stores and deliver them directly to customers in their own vehicles – is a logical move that will help it capture a larger slice...
Increasingly savvy shoppers who are well-versed in food production and nutrition are turning the tables on the farm-to-fork marketing model that once educated them and influenced what they consumed to create a fork-to-farm model that requires producers,...
When Anne Laraway takes the reins of the fastest growing baby food brand in the country in January as the new CEO of Happy Family Organics, she plans to expand its reach into new markets with new products while remaining “laser focused on our mission...
A legal dispute that threatened to derail Campbell Soup’s acquisition of Pacific Foods has been “amicably resolved,” enabling the $700m deal to go through.
Many of the tried-and-true tactics, contracts, marketing strategies and business decisions that fueled growth for most successful businesses to date, will not take companies to the next level or guarantee their survival in the next ten years, suggests...
Spice giant McCormick and Co. is getting a jump start on New Year’s resolutions with an aggressive line-up of goals for improving the livelihoods of its farmers, advancing environmental sustainability and fostering a more diverse and inclusive workforce....
Soylent products now in 500+ bricks & mortar stores including H.E.B. and 7-Eleven
Bryan Crowley is moving into the CEO role at Los Angeles-based Soylent as the high-profile meal replacement brand seeks to expand its retail footprint in bricks & mortar stores following a trial at 7-Eleven that “blew away our expectations.”
The search for the best price on food, product variety, quality and convenience are prompting consumers to hop from retailer to retailer and in doing so conventional grocery stores are losing out, according to recent data from Acosta.
The reinvention and rising popularity of cauliflower over the past year illustrates how consumer grocery shopping styles are evolving along with their focus on specific ingredients, and the opportunities this change creates for manufacturers and retailers...
Beyond Meat – the plant-based company behind the Beyond Burger (the first meat-free burger to be merchandised in the meat counter) – has raised $55m in a financing round led by VC firm Cleveland Avenue, LLC, and supported by meat giant Tyson Foods.
The NadaMoo! coconut milk fueled dairy-free brand – which has been growing at an explosive, triple-digit pace over the past three years – is exploring moves beyond the frozen case into new plant-based categories, says its CEO.
The first commercial products from Hampton Creek’s clean (aka cultured) meat production platform – launching at the end of 2018 - will be in the poultry family, and could be targeted at retail and foodservice customers, says the company, which has just...
Every 21 seconds someone in the US discovers they have diabetes, setting a breakneck pace that is fueling a 6% annual increase in the number of Americans diagnosed with the chronic disease for which there is no cure, but which can be managed in part through...
NadaMoo! – which is carving out a niche at the premium end of the dairy-free frozen dessert market with its organic coconut milk based wares – has raised $4m in a Series A financing round led by InvestEco Capital and supported by District Ventures Capital,...
On-shelf nutritional rating systems, such as Guiding Stars, not only help consumers make healthier purchases, but they can boost retail sales by encouraging larger baskets with more expensive items, according to new research.
With 95% market share in kefir, Lifeway Foods continues to explore opportunities in the probiotics space, and its new Elixir sparkling probiotic beverages will soon be joined by Icelandic skyr and plant-based protein drinks.
Portland-based Brew Dr Kombucha has notched up another year of triple digit growth in 2017, with revenues likely to be “close to $30m,” says founder and CEO Matt Thomas, who is planning to introduce a canned version of the brand sometime next year.
For once, more actually may be better – at least when it comes to additional functional benefits, nutrients and notched-up heat levels that consumers will seek from their food and beverages in the coming year, according to one industry veteran and influencer....
Good nutrition, sustainable agriculture and low food waste aren't the preserve of wealthy nations: France has been ranked number one in a global sustainability index but low-income Ethiopia outperforms the USA.
