Just over three months after launching in the US market, grocery coupon app Checkout 51 has attracted an eye-boggling 1.4 million users, and expects to attract tens of millions more. Why? Because it’s really easy to use, says co-founder Noah Godfrey.
Fear is a major roadblock to many food companies getting it right when it comes to social media, according to business mentor and entrepreneur Mike Greene.
Earlier this month, a California Senate committee approved a bill to mandate warning labels on sugary beverages. As SB 1000 awaits votes in the Senate Committee on Appropriations later this month before a full Senate floor vote, the question of public...
Dollar sales of diet soda plunged 9.5% in the four weeks to April 12, while sales of regular soda fared hardly any better (- 2.4%), as Americans sought out other options from energy drinks (+8.9%) to sparkling water (+24.5%), according to the latest Nielsen...
More than four out of every 10 dollars spent on ground coffee in the US is now spent on single-serve pods such as K-Cups, according to the latest Nielsen data.
Exclusive interview: Pat Crowley, director and founder of Chapul
As one of the forerunners of the commercialization of edible insects in the US, Chapul, makes its first big push into the national market with its cricket protein bars, founder Pat Crowley caught up with FoodNavigator-USA on the enviable efficiency of...
Hillshire Brands has struck a $165m deal to buy frozen breakfast and snack foods maker Van's Natural Foods from private equity firm Catterton Partners.
Is there a smarter way to deal with food waste? One firm convinced the answer is ‘yes’ is WISErg - a start-up founded by two former Microsoft execs that have just convinced Whole Foods Market to give their patent-pending technology a test-drive at its...
Consumers have spent years paying over the odds for organic foods based on the erroneous belief - promulgated by stakeholders with a vested interest - that they are healthier and safer than their conventional counterparts, claims a controversial new report.
The good news? Two-thirds of primary household shoppers who own smartphones have used their mobile devices on a shopping trip. The bad news? Most of them were not bowled over by the experience.
In conversation with Goya VP Bob Unanue on the $250 mn US expansion
Historically a mainstay brand in ethnic grocery stores and the international aisle of supermarkets, Goya has grown into much more than an ingredient company—with a portfolio of more than 2,000 SKUs ranging from beans and olive oil to coconut milk and...
An analysis of breakfast orders placed with 28,800 restaurants in 600+ US cities between 6-11am local time over the past 12 months reveals sharp differences between men and women, according to GrubHub, the nation’s leading online and mobile food-ordering...
It’s hard to find an American pantry that doesn’t contain peanut butter, chocolate hazelnut spread or some variation therein. But there’s still room for growth in the $3.9 billion nut-based and sweet spread category, according to a report from Mintel.
There are just two weeks to go until FoodNavigator’s live (and hopefully very lively) online debate on one of the hottest trends in food development: gluten-free.
If you want to see what success looks like in US grocery retailing, look no further than Trader Joe’s. Its unique combination of affordable prices, innovative private label items and gourmet, organic, and natural foods have helped drive sales per square...
BUT BONNIE HERZOG SAYS PEPSICO COULD BE ON RECOVERY ROAD
US beverage analyst Bonnie Herzog says she is ‘increasingly concerned’ about The Coca-Cola Company’s ability to reach its 2020 vision due to a US soda slowdown and global instability.
Peruviuan cuisine is a hot culinary trend and a “powerful funnel for bringing resurgent South American cuisine into the US food retail and foodservice market”, according to a new report from Packaged Facts.
Walmart has signaled its intention to get into organic food in a big way this week with plans to carry 100 Wild Oats organic products at a “new, more affordable price point” in 2,000 stores.
Few short answers exist in the world of complex consumer food litigation. Arthur Miller, PhD, principal scientist and engineering and scientific consulting firm Exponent Inc., summed up three key industry trends that have contributed (and likely will...
What is the future of food? Simple communication of complex advances will be crucial, as well as picking up the pace amid a global population boom to feed the world nutritiously and sustainably, according to FoodNavigator and NutraIngredients senior editors.
A slowdown in global packaged food markets is expected over the next five years as supply in developed countries reaches saturation point combined with insufficient opportunities elsewhere, but health and Asia offer hope.
The creators of a semisweet cola believe that their healthier approach to indulgence is just the type of disruptive jolt the soda industry needs to get out of its so-called funk.
The exponential growth and availability of “Big Data” offers food and beverage marketers unprecedented access to consumer information, but it also raises some ethical questions when it comes to how companies use it—particularly when it comes to children....
Food firms must woo celebrity chefs and other ‘foodies’ more to help consumers understand the industry’s use of science, including biotechnology and nanotechnology, experts from the sector have argued.
The US National Confectioners Association (NCA) has hit out at claims from the American Sugar Alliance that the confectionery industry is dominated by big players and is crying poor about sugar prices.
Despite a trend toward reduced sugar consumption in the US, many Americans are still getting far too much added sugar in their diets. But how do consumers really feel about sugar? And how should manufacturers address sugar and sugar reduction efforts...
More than half of Americans say they want more protein in their diets, while the percentage that claim to look for protein on the Nutrition Facts panel has increased from 20% in 2009 to 25% in 2013, according to market researcher NPD Group.
Pea protein may be moving in from the food and beverage fringes, however formulating with the fast-growing ingredient is 'no picnic' according to functional confectionery firm Carmit.
Beverage brands can blur the lines both within the category and steal outside cues to create novel products such as beer-flavored ice cream that arrest the consumer’s attention, according to Mintel.
SIG Combibloc is predicting a bright future for the dairy drink with bits category in Brazil following the launch of the latest "drinksplus product" - chocolate milk containing flakes of coconut.
Baby Boomers, who have driven the growth of the natural products and dietary supplements space in recent decades aren’t done yet. A recent report from the Natural Marketing Institute says the impending retirement of millions of boomers will present a...
Attending a series of sessions on sugar reduction during the Institute of Food Technologists’ (IFT) 2014 Wellness conference, a few common themes kept resurfacing: that obesity remains a big problem, and that—like it or not—the sugar industry is assuming...
Top brands and new product launches are reaching increasingly segmented consumer groups through targeted, measured innovation, according to market research firm IRI Inc., which released its “New Product Pacesetters” and “Growth Leaders in CPGs” survey...
Diet soda sales remain in a funk according to the latest Nielsen data, with dollar sales in the four weeks to March 15 plunging 7.3%. Regular soda fared somewhat better (+ 0.6%), while energy drinks (+8.3%) and sparkling water (+26.2%) continued to steam...
Pistachios – most associated with snacking in the consumer’s mind – could be finding their way into many a food product as an ingredient over the next few years, says the executive director of the American Pistachio Growers, as production is set to double...
Snack firms should brace for a transition year shaped by new competition but brimming with opportunities in digital brand building and expansion, says a leading sector analyst.
Sometimes it’s hard to think inventively about the ingredient that comprises half the ubiquitous peanut butter and jelly sandwich or is passed to us in small pouches on most airplane rides. But from flours and spreads to use as a legume, the potential...
At the 2014 Research Chefs Association Conference & Culinology Expo, FoodNavigator-USA caught up with chef Michael Holleman, director of culinary development at artisan grain and legume supplier InHarvest, for a podcast Q&A on trends in pulses,...
Sales of Blue Diamond Grower’s retail products - from Almond Breeze to Almond Nut Thins - have surged dramatically over the past five years and now account for nearly $500m in annual revenues, says its CEO.
While die-hard opponents of GM crops probably won’t undergo a damascene conversion after checking out the latest updates on ag-biotech-funded website GMO Answers, they are not the target audience, say its backers.
Confectioners should focus on the hard-core candy consumers that make up the bulk of sales, according to the National Confectioners’ Association (NCA) and DunnhumbyUSA.
If you asked most people where nuts belonged on a food pyramid 20 years ago, they would probably say in the candy (eat occasionally) section. Today nuts are widely regarded as nutritional dynamite, which could explain why 60% of nut-related snack launches...
The manufacturer of a ready-to-drink coffee beverage line looks to snag some market share from category-leading Starbucks with a cold brewed line that’s more about the flavor of coffee than masking it with milk and sweeteners.
A consumer’s definition of ‘snack’ is broadening to encompass beverages and foodservice items, and snacking at least twice a day is up, according to new research from foodservice research and consulting firm Technomic.
If it’s in the natural channel today, it could be in food, drug and mass merchandise stores tomorrow, so food and beverage trend-spotters were out in force at the Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim on March 6-9.
Production of omega-9 canola oils from Dow AgroSciences' patented Nexera seeds has surged 250% since 2011 as food manufacturers continue to seek healthier alternatives to oils high in trans- and saturated fatty acids, says Dow.
