While uncharitable observers have described Soylent as “only slightly more appealing than an IV bag”, news that the LA-based food substitute firm has just secured $20m in funding and is now generating “millions of dollars per month in subscription revenues”...
Frito-Lay’s upcoming sweet cinnamon snack Cheetos Sweetos will help the company latch on to a younger consumer base interested in sweet snacking, says Euromonitor International.
Modeling patterns or processes found in nature (think of solar cells inspired by a leaf) is a hot trend in industrial design, but could biomimicry be used to create a better food system?
Barry Callebaut says it has developed a thermo-tolerant chocolate that can withstand four degrees more heat than a standard chocolate recipe without compromising on taste.
There is room for new players in the burgeoning super-premium juice category, but the barriers to entry are pretty high, says San Diego-based Suja Juice, which exploded onto the scene in 2012, generated revenues of $18m in 2013, $45m in 2014 and is forecasting...
Technology is reshaping how consumers discover, evaluate and select food – creating dichotomies to which manufacturers must adapt their marketing and product positioning, a recently released white paper evaluating consumer trends in 2015 by Euromonitor...
Private label penetration rates have not budged since 2011
Dollar sales of foods and beverages edged up a modest 2.1% to $470bn in the US retail market in 2014, but unit sales (an indication of volumes) were pretty flat (up just 0.9%), according to Chicago-based market research firm IRI.
Field Roast Grain Meat Co. expands its portfolio into the retail vegan cheese category with the Jan. 1 launch of Chao Slices, which it claims are “revolutionary” because they do not try to mimic dairy cheese like other players in the segment.
Acai Roots hopes its new fruit bar will entice back to the frozen dessert aisle consumers who have given the category the cold shoulder in recent years because they perceive it as filled with unhealthy treats.
Are Americans falling out of love with Greek yogurt? No, says Three Happy Cows director of marketing Brian Twomey. But growth is slowing and space allocation in some stores is shrinking, so brands that want to stay on shelf need to “identify the white...
A Vancouver startup believes it’s on the brink of exploding into mainstream success with its 40 winks coffee – a coffee blended with a herbal sedative, allowing it to be drunk as an evening or bedtime drink.
Minor changes in how packaged foods are presented could help them reclaim sales lost when consumers began favoring fresh and less-processed foods that they perceive as healthier and closer to nature, according to a wellness trend expert.
The rising popularity of drinking vinegar available in a wide variety of bold flavors could give soda a run for some of its money by tapping into consumer interest in sugar reduction.
With buyers from Whole Foods, Kroger, KeHE, Compass Group, Dean & DeLuca and hundreds of other retailers and foodservice chains walking the floor looking for innovative new products, the Winter Fancy Food Show has helped to launch scores of high-profile...
Positive health claims, such as those touting the benefits of a food, diet or quality, more effectively motivate the general public than negative or fear-based claims that attempt to scare people into action, according to a recently published study in...
The crowdfunding website Kickstarter helped the beverage company Genki-Su raise nearly twice as much money as necessary to pay for the first round of bottling for its concentrated Japanese drinking vinegar, but company co-founder Judy Tan acknowledged...
What are the hottest trends in snacks? Sprouted grains? Baked popcorn? Gourmet jerky? Join Elaine Watson from FoodNavigator-USA on a snacking odyssey at the Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco to find out more about...
What’s the first thing you notice about Dust Cutter lemonade? Chances are, it’s the packaging. Unlike its rivals in the premium lemonade arena (Hubert’s, Cabana Natural, Calypso), Dust Cutter comes in an aluminum bottle, which has been pivotal to its...
Entrepreneurs need to stay healthy in order to ensure the long-term success and health of their start-up, advises a top executive at TumericALIVE, a young beverage company dedicated to making elixirs packed with turmeric to rejuvenate, restore and re-energize...
US sales of ready to eat popcorn grew 25% to an estimated $750m in 2014
“Tired brands and off-trend categories should take inspiration from the astonishing turnaround in the fortunes of popcorn,” according to a new report from Rabobank International, which reveals that US sales of the bagged, pre-popped, ready-to-eat (RTE)...
Peeled Snacks: If you don’t take time to understand retail buyers, why should they take time to understand you?
Which retail channel is right for your brand? Natural? Club? Convenience? And once you’ve jumped through all the buyers’ hoops, will you still be able to make any money? It all depends on whether you’ve done your homework, one snacking sales expert told...
Companies hoping to appeal to consumers interested in the heart health benefits of dark chocolate now have another marketing tool at their disposal: the percentage of cocoa labeled on their bars.
New consumers continue to enter the organic category for the first time, but the health halo cast by the US Department of Agriculture’s certification is dimming as it becomes more mainstream and as shoppers’ interpretation of the standard evolves.
Understanding how products' sensory characteristics and packaging both individually and synergistically provoke emotions in consumers can help manufacturers to design and optimise products, say researchers.
Despite popular resolutions to eat healthier, manufacturers do not need to fear a drop in sales of less healthy foods at the start of the New Year compared to during the holidays when many people indulge, according to a new study published in PLOS ONE.
Monster & Red Bull among brands attacked for 'declining to commit to restrict marketing to under 18s'
Grupo Bimbo’s acquisition of Saputo Bakery is a surprise because the Canadian packaged cake firm is unprofitable and struggling, says Euromonitor International.
Narrowing down where retailers position multi-faceted drinking vinegar is an essential step in establishing it as a category, and the step is one that the founder of the Vermont Switchel Company is resistant to take.
Tumbling gas prices that are lining consumers’ pockets with savings may provide an unexpected opportunity for private label to steal market share from national brands, rather than the other way around, recent consumer survey results reveal.
There was bad news for employees of two multinational food & beverage giants today as Coca-Cola confirmed plans to cut up to 1,800 jobs worldwide, and General Mills said it would close plants in Ontario, Canada and New Albany, Indiana, with the loss...
Consistency born from thoughtful attention to detail and hiring specialists before they were needed helped start-up Chameleon Cold-Brew rapidly expand distribution by three to four times, launch a new line of ready-to-drink coffees and scoop up a prestigious...
“Some people say maple water has been overhyped,” says DRINKmaple co-founder Kate Weiler. “And it’s not that I’m sitting here drinking my own Kool Aid, but based on the overwhelming reception we’ve had, I just feel the outlook is really bright, and that...
A few years ago, chia seeds were virtually unheard of in the U.S., but now they are available across food categories and retail channels in a plethora of finished consumer goods and as an ingredient, thanks largely to long-range planning by The Chia Co.
This merges soup and beverages; we’re creating a new category...
While some retailers didn’t know quite what to make of his ‘chilled soup in a bottle’ when he first started pitching the concept last year, around 75% “just got it immediately”, says Tio Gazpacho founder Austin Allan. “And then they would say: How come...
Guilt-free but indulgent frozen dessert brand Arctic Zero grew sales by more than 25% in 2014 versus 2013 and is “poised for significant growth” in 2015, says the San Diego-based firm, which has just unveiled a new logo and pack design.
Keurig Green Mountain and Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPS) have struck a deal to develop products for the hotly-anticipated Keurig Cold at-home beverage system, following Keurig’s 2014 deal to work with Coca-Cola on the Cold platform.
The maker of ALO, a top-selling beverage brand in the natural channel, is hoping to break into the convenience-store channel and expand its reach to more mainstream shoppers with the launch of a pulp-free version of its aloe vera drinks.
Mandatory GMO labels will be seen as 'warning labels', warns GMA
Supporters and opponents of GMO labeling will square up in a courtroom in Burlington, Vermont, today (Jan 7) to present oral arguments over the merits of Act 120, which will require mandatory labeling of foods produced with genetic engineering.
Two-year time frame 'would almost certainly drive an increase in food prices'
The two-year time frame in which the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expects the food industry to switch to new-look Nutrition Facts labels is unrealistic, and “would almost certainly drive an increase in prices of food products”, claims Kroger.
For the makers of Fire Cider, an apple cider vinegar-based supplement and drink concentrate, keeping the Earth healthy is just as important as helping people stay healthy.
'Consumers are willing to pay more for better quality as long as that quality is tangible'
Not so long ago, “people would have said that any drink that’s above three bucks is crazy,” says the co-founder of organic and ‘raw’ coconut water pioneer Harmless Harvest, Justin Guilbert. “Well we came to the market with a 16oz bottle that retailed...
Chobani has confirmed that it has been looking for a new CEO for some time, but says the process was set in motion by its current CEO, founder and chairman Hamdi Ulukaya, so “to imply that he is being pushed out by the board is completely ridiculous”.
