US retail sales of Greek yogurt have been picking up strongly over the past year, according to the latest Nielsen data*, with year-on-year (YoY) percentage growth up from 4.6% in the latest 52 weeks, to 6.1% in the latest 26 weeks, 7.4% in the latest...
As consumers are increasingly aware of the health problems associated with energy drinks, a Californian brand has spotted an opportunity for alternative energy products as mixers with juice, smoothies or cocktails.
Specialty rice producer Amira sees significant potential for Basmati to win the hearts of Americans, who lately have been flirting more with Indian food and ancient grains.
VeganEgg - a novel 100% plant-based whole egg replacer utilizing algae as its core ingredient - has taken off like a rocketship, says brand owner Follow Your Heart, which is ramping up production for a wider roll-out in 2016.
An afternoon in the company of a provincial Korean mayor clothed in silky blue national dress isn’t the standard recipe for a Tuesday. But he is insistent, and it’s time well spent when you consider the importance to the local economy of what Iksan’s...
Just two and a half years after opening a $206m, 350,000 sq ft factory in Batavia, New York, PepsiCo and German dairy giant Theo Müller Group have agreed to count their losses and exit their joint venture (Muller Quaker Dairy). The plant has been sold...
Automatic drip coffee is regaining favor with consumers who increasingly are turning their backs on single-serve pods, which some perceive as convenient but a lower quality and more wasteful than manually- or automatic drip-made coffee, according to an...
A professor of law doubts Pepperidge Farm’s law suit against Trader Joe’s, accusing the grocery chain’s Crispy Cookies of resembling its Milano brand, will prevail.
Social media often is a dominant – and sometimes the only – component of most food and beverage companies' marketing strategies, but as platforms continue to proliferate, advertisers must understand to whom each application appeals to maximize their...
Juice in focus at BevNET Live: From V8 to Evolution Fresh, Suja & Bolthouse Farms
Brands, like celebrities and artists, have to stay true to their core essence to retain their integrity, but must also “change and shed personas” from time to time to stay relevant, says Campbell Soup’s beverage VP Kelli McCusker.
'We’ll be incubating our own brands and investing in other early stage brands'
KRAVE Jerky founder Jon Sebastiani - who sold his business to Hershey in January – is going back to his entrepreneurial roots next year with the launch of a CPG incubator he hopes can recreate the magic he felt in KRAVE’s early days with groundbreaking...
A specialist group formed to combat obesity has been binned after it was forced to return a huge chunk of funding to Coca-Cola amid allegations of industry-biased science.
“Local” is a hot marketing term that can drive sales – especially for startups hoping to capitalize on home court advantage – but it also can restrict expansion if it is defined too narrowly, says the founder of Dona Chai.
Startups ranging from the maker of fine sodas to an information management firm for farmers took center-stage at Rabobank North America Wholesale’s client appreciation event in New York City earlier this month where they were recognized as the winners...
'It’s not the first or the second purchase order that really counts, it’s the third'
It won't happen overnight, but the future of babyfood is in the chiller, predicts one Texas-based entrepreneur pioneering the application of high pressure processing (HPP) in a category she claims is ripe for disruption.
A new on-pack label could be the best way to quickly reduce the use of antibiotics in the livestock industry, according to a major new report for the UK government.
HPP (high pressure processed) juice pioneer Suja is moving into new territory next year with the launch of a line of enhanced waters with organic fruit & veg and probiotics that will debut at Target stores nationwide in February.
For Undone Chocolate, what is in a name is not as important as what is in its gourmet bars, which is why the startup is dropping individual product names in favor of umbrella branding and highlighting key ingredients.
America’s love affair with spicy flavors will continue in 2016, but with an evolutionary twist that also will open the door for more multicultural flavors, predicts McCormick & Co. in it is annual flavor forecast.
New research that finds men eat significantly more in the company of women than with other men begs the question whether marketers could boost sales of food and beverages by including women in marketing.
After struggling with slumping stock prices, increased competition and consumer complaints, Keurig Green Mountain stockholders received some good news for a change Dec. 7 when an investor group led by JAB Holdings acquired the single-serve coffee pod...
The word ‘craft’ may be most strongly associated with beer: but its influence is much wider and reveals a lot about today’s consumers, says Richard Hall, chairman of Zenith International.
A lawsuit brought by a group of US consumers is trying to block Anheuser-Busch InBev’s planned acquisition of SABMiller, saying it could mean higher prices and fewer beer choices - claims AB InBev rejects.
Discount brands have more to gain from marketing their sustainability credentials than premium ones, but they’ll have a much harder time convincing consumers their claims aren’t just greenwash.
A self-proclaimed “sugar-fighter,” the founder and CEO of The Right Cup is taking on America’s addiction to sweetened beverages with the upcoming launch of a scented cup that tricks the brain into thinking plain water is a fruit-flavored beverage.
'When people first try our popcorn, one of the things they notice right away is the flavor.'
Size matters, and when it comes to popcorn, the smaller it is, the better, says one Iowa-based farm, which has carved a niche in the market with its unique ‘Tiny But Mighty’ heirloom corn, which is tiny, but intensely flavorful (hence ‘mighty’), and comes...
The shift towards cleaner, more nutrient dense foods will continue to spread in the US in the coming year with parents increasingly looking for healthy options for the whole family – including picky children, who in generations past might have been served...
Is it lawful to use terms such as ‘almondmilk’ and ‘soymilk’ to describe plant-based beverages? Yes, according to a ruling from a California court this week, which has dismissed claims in a long-running class action lawsuit* v retailer Trader Joe's...
Portion control packaging, like the 100-calorie pack, is ubiquitous in the food and beverage industry, but new research suggests smaller options may not be enough to curb over-eating and fight the obesity epidemic.
Coca-Cola has urged a California federal court to toss a class action lawsuit alleging it misrepresents its flagship product as being free from added preservatives and artificial flavors.
Three years ago, Chef Jeannine Sacco was cooking Jambalaya, discovered she was out of rice, ransacked her cupboard for a substitute, and found a packet of whole grain steel cut oats. The results blew her mind; the entrepreneurial juices started flowing;...
GMA: SmartLabel will be "ubiquitous' and 'routine'
Within five years, four out of five food, beverage, pet care, personal care and household products will feature a SmartLabel – a QR code shoppers can scan with their phones instore, or access later via a tablet or desktop computer – the Grocery Manufacturers...
Lancaster, PA-based Neat Foods – a small, but rapidly-growing player in the plant-based foods category – has been acquired by Atlantic Natural Foods LLC, which makes canned vegetarian products under the Meatless Select and Caroline’s brands.
KIND has filed a citizen petition with the FDA to update 'outdated' regulations governing the use of the term healthy on food labels and address the disconnect between what Americans are encouraged to eat in the Dietary Guidelines and the criteria...
For startup Tru, Inc., a successful Kickstarter campaign is about more than raising funds to launch its TRUEnergy sports shot – it is about proving to retailers and future investors that the product concept is viable and will sell, said CEO and Founder...
Sharwood’s wants to become the No. 1 brand in the US for pre-made Indian sauces and accompaniments, just like it is in the U.K., by instituting Thursday as “curry night,” according to the food brand’s maker Premier Foods.
Most juices – even the super-premium high pressure processed (HPP) ones – don’t contain a ton of fiber, says Juiceology founder & CEO Felipe d’Avila, who has carved out some white space in the category with flash-pasteurized, aseptically-filled refrigerated...
Small batch roaster Cameron’s Handcrafted Coffee believes in drinking coffee from a cup – not brewing from one, which is one of the many reasons its single serve coffee brews in a filter instead of the ubiquitous plastic cup made popular by Keurig.
Long-anchored in the conventional channel’s center-store with iconic brands such as Hungry Man and Wishbone, Pinnacle Foods’ $975 million acquisition of Boulder Brands gives it a better foothold in the fast-growing refrigerated and health food segments.
Traditional Medicinals sees untapped potential for growth in the emerging calming beverage category, which consumers are turning to for help counterbalancing the effects of popular energy drinks and everyday stress.
Food and beverage manufacturers and suppliers are rising to meet the increasing consumer demand for humanely produced animal products – a trend which the American Humane Association celebrated last week on Capitol Hill in Washington.
The FDA has rejected a citizen’s petition calling for mandatory labeling of foods from genetically engineered crops, arguing that labels are not warranted unless there is a material difference in the safety or nutritional profile of the foods in question.