New developments in three high-profile false advertising lawsuits underline the risks associated with making ‘all-natural’ claims on foods made with genetically engineered ingredients, with Kashi and Karlin Foods agreeing to sizeable settlements, and...
A federal judge in California has asked the FDA whether it is planning to clarify its position on evaporated cane juice (ECJ) labeling any time soon as confusion over whether food manufacturers should or shouldn’t use the term continues to abound.
European discounter Lidl will use Virginia as a launchpad for a US retail invasion, investing $202m to set up a corporate and regional HQ and distribution center, with the first stores likely to open “no later than 2018”.
Euromonitor International expects more chocolate makers will take vertical control of their supply chains by acquiring commodity suppliers as prices continue to climb.
Consumer concern about animal welfare is rising to a level that retailers – and by extension CPG manufacturers and suppliers – can no longer ignore, according to new research by the Food Marketing Institute.
A new company backed by private equity firm Permira has acquired New York State-based Medora Snacks LLC (best-known for PopCorners, Pop Crinkles, and popped bean chips); and Ideal Snacks Holding Corporation (a contract manufacturer of better-for-you popped...
The successful online snack subscription delivery service NatureBox wants to build brand awareness and drive more consumers to shop online by moving into the physical retail realm.
Whole Foods Market’s much vaunted new value chain – 365 by Whole Foods Market – will not be a “discount model or a dumbed-down version of Whole Foods” as feared by some when the company first announced the impending launch, according to the new chain’s...
Direct-to-consumer marketing through food trucks and fast casual restaurants can efficiently generate brand awareness and consumer trial of new food and beverage products, but to build brand longevity and business stability, the best retail option is...
Targeting millennials in an effort to reach adventurous, trendsetting consumers who will adopt and evangelize new products early will only get marketers a third of the way to their goal, recent research from CivicScience suggests.
Indulgent dessert brand Dannon Creamery – the Dannon's Company’s first new brand in the US since Oikos – has not set the world on fire, the firm has acknowledged.
Shares in Boulder Brands – the firm behind EVOL Foods, Udi’s Gluten Free and Smart Balance – plummeted this morning after CEO Steve Hughes resigned and the firm warned that second-quarter sales would likely be 5-7% lower than they were in Q2, 2014, chiefly...
Big Inter-chew: Gum giant talks strategy & innovation in 2015
Wrigley says marketing dollars and R&D efforts put into its Juicy Fruit brand last year helped win back young U.S. consumers who had moved away from the category and hopes innovations with sour flavors will pull in even more young people.
Manufacturers could boost the struggling sales of shelf-stable products sold in the center of the store by co-branding and merchandising them with related, high-velocity produce, sales of which are outpacing those of the total- and center-store, according...
Efforts by Emerald Premium Snack- and Kettle brand chip-maker Diamond Food’s Inc. to meet consumer demand for healthy, natural and convenient snacks are paying off with sales climbing 2.5% to $662.4 million in the first three-quarters of the year, company...
Just over five years after hitting the US market, honey-infused Aussie-style yogurt Noosa is on course to generate revenues of $100m in 2015 as more consumers embrace whole milk products promising healthy indulgence, says co-founder Koel Thomae.
There have been some hairy moments during Neal Gottlieb’s decade at the helm of Three Twins organic ice cream, from maxed out credit cards to sleepless nights trying to secure capital at the height of the recession. But his tenacity paid off and his quirky...
Back to the Roots want to go beyond providing consumers with packaged food that has a simple ingredient list – it wants to give them the exact recipe so they can recreate the product; and big names in the food and tech world want to help the company do...
Winston Lee: 'We're caramelizing milk and sugar together and then culturing it'
When Winston Lee started pitching Tarte Asian Yogurt to retailers three years ago, the market had already hit peak Greek, he says: “Buyers were already looking at what's next after Greek. If you weren't already a brand on the shelf, you had...
Goldfish Puffs (twisted grilled cheese), Honey Bunches of Oats chocolate chip breakfast biscuits, and Doritos Roulette Chips all garnered high marks in the latest shelf score ranking from Instantly, which measures purchase intent for new products.
Sales of chewing gum are climbing again after several years of stagnation, likely due to evolving tastes and eating patterns, in addition to new product launches, according to IRI Worldwide.
New research showing organic agriculture is significantly more profitable than conventional should reassure farmers who are considering switching to organic but are nervous about financial loss during the three year transition in which they will have...
Manufacturers of iconic food and beverage brands favored for decades by baby boomers run the risk of becoming irrelevant unless they adapt to the evolving demands of millennials, who are quickly replacing older generations as the primary purchasers, according...
Peanut butter and jelly maker J.M. Smucker Company plans to introduce more than 100 new products in the coming year – most of which will be “clean” and “healthy,” according to company executives.
Hostess Brands could see global expansion of Twinkies, Donnettes et al. and an extremely strong bakery player emerge if a buyout transpires, analysts say.
The Coca-Cola Company has unveiled a PET bottle made completely from plant materials, but says there is still some work to do before it reaches a commercial scale.
According to Nielsen data, 85% of new consumer packaged goods fail within two years, and big firms are no better - and often far worse - at picking winners than smaller ones, despite their deep pockets.
Grupo Bimbo, Flowers Foods, Post and Aryzta have all been touted as suitors in the rumored $2bn Hostess Brands sell-out, but who is best-suited to take on the infamous Twinkie?
As counter-intuitive as it sounds, the founder of The Cookie Department says he wants to “fight the good fight for anti-obesity” by marketing a vegan cookie to children and their parents through the California school system.
Multicultural wellness ingredients are emerging as a tie that binds the diverse desires of multiple generations together, according to the latest Packaged Facts’ Culinary Trend Tracking Series report.
It may not have hit prime time yet, but it’s only a matter of time before hemp is as big as chia in the US food and beverage market, predicts the co-founder of one snacking company determined to put the protein-packed seed on the map.
Snack makers must stay relevant and share worthy if they want millennials to spend dollars, says the president of retail marketing consultancy firm FCB RED.
'We have retained a cult-like following even as we have gone mass market'
When Julie Smolyansky became president and CEO of kefir market leader Lifeway Foods in 2002 after the sudden death of her father (its founder), the stock went into freefall as investors feared the 27-year old wasn’t ready to run a public company. They...
A $1.5 million investment from EcoEnterprises Fund will enable NurturMe to expand its line of quinoa-based children's food as well as its social mission as a B-Corporation to improve sustainable agriculture in South America, a company executive said.
Beech-Nut Nutrition Company is going above and beyond the legal labeling requirements of ingredients to reassure parents following allegations that other baby food companies’ labeling misleads consumers about the quality and quantities of ingredients...
Ice cream maker Clemmy’s – which hit the headlines in 2013 after filing a lawsuit* accusing Nestlé USA of leveraging its commercial clout and ‘category captain’ status with big retailers to shut rivals out of the market – has not presented sufficient...
California startup Veestro is bringing to consumers’ doors healthy, plant-based frozen meals and with them the next evolution in the burgeoning direct-to-consumer meal kit and grocery delivery movement.
Three US consumers have filed a class action lawsuit against Abbott Laboratories, claiming its Similac Advance Organic infant formula contains 26 ingredients not permitted in organic food.
Chocolate marketers likely will gain more traction if they appeal to consumers emotionally and emphasize the health benefits of inclusions, such as nuts and dried fruit, suggest the results of a recent survey conducted by the Almond Board of California.
Vitasoy USA Inc., the maker of Nasoya products, hopes its new vacuum-packed and ready-to-eat baked tofu products will bring new consumers into the category by making tofu easier to prepare and showcasing its versatility.
Dollar sales of Chobani’s Simply 100 Greek yogurts have grown 25% in the first five months of 2015 vs the same period last year, while unit sales are up 28%, says the firm, which is re-launching the range with ‘blended’ formulations (rather than fruit-on-the-bottom)...
From veggie powders to sprinkle on your food to artisan dairy-free ‘cheeses’ made from nuts, Sterling-Rice Group (SRG) selects nine natural food trends it predicts will inspire packaged foods and foodservice menus in 2015.
Tens of thousands of kombucha bottles were pulled from US shelves in 2010 after it emerged they exceeded the 0.5% legal alcohol limit, so you’d assume products on shelf today are all fully compliant, right? Wrong, claims KeVita, which is proposing an...
The inclusion of dried fruit in Mars Chocolate North America’s goodnessknows snack squares helps deliver the sweetness consumers seek from confections, while also helping the candy-giant deliver on its commitment to offer options with limited added sugar.
Food marketers increasingly are training their crosshairs on millennials whose purchasing power is growing quickly, but they should not overlook baby boomers, who spend the most of any generation on snacks and sweets, according to analysis of sales data...
Hartman Group: Pleasure & distinction bigger drivers than health for premium products
While more premium brands from KRAVE to Noosa are being snapped up by big food companies and private equity firms, not every CPG category has the potential to be driven – or revitalized - by premium brands, according to a new analysis by Hartman Group....
Millennials are more likely to be hungry for new food products than other demographics, with 38% “always looking for new food products to try” versus 31% of total shoppers, according to survey data* from Chicago-based researcher IRI.
