The first time Innova Market Insights’ director of innovation, Lu Ann Williams, heard the term 'clean label' was in 2008, long before the term 'clean' started to infiltrate business to consumer marketing.
For those who like the fiery heat of hot sauce but not the “sour pickle punch” that often comes with the vinegar base, Louisiana-based startup Swamp Dragon has a solution, according to the company’s founder.
It wasn’t too long ago when locally-grown produce evoked images of backyard gardens or roadside produce stands many miles outside of city limits. Now, the local produce movement has morphed into an urban-centered industry thanks to the rise of hydroponic...
Ready-to-drink (RTD) coffee is experiencing massive interest with emerging brands and large beverage players looking to take a gulp of the market as consumers increasingly swap out energy drinks and carbonated soft drinks for a chilled, on-the-go coffee...
Plant-based meats and clean-label are two of the most influential trends in food currently, but often they run counter to each other with many mock-meats made from highly-processed ingredients and protein isolates that most consumers would never find...
Thousands of anecdotal reports collected by the Center For Science in the Public Interest and others correlating artificial dyes, such as Red 40, with behavior problems have prompted some parents to seek naturally colored products – many of which fall...
Just Egg - a plant-based scrambled egg alternative from JUST made with mung bean protein - is rolling out to all 30 Veggie Grill restaurants next week, and has secured approvals at a raft of retailers including Fresh Thyme, Wegmans, Gelson's Market...
In a letter to Nestlé, the world’s largest food company by revenue, Third Point, a New York-based asset manager with $18bn in capital ($3bn in Nestlé), called out the food and beverage giant for falling short on its long-term, sustainable growth mission.
Specialty food used to be reserved for special occasions and accessible only to those who could afford its premium price, but increasingly specialty food is becoming everyday food sold at everyday prices that are accessible to more people.
Enjoy Life Foods has evolved from a better-for-you snack producer to an allergy-friendly icon with double-digital annual sales growth over the past two decades, but the company said the secret to its long-term success is not to follow market data and...
Big food manufacturers have increasingly recognized that their scale and robust supply chains aren’t enough to stay competitive and turn around years of little to no growth, and are refocusing their efforts on restoring consumer trust, says Rabobank.
The term ‘clean’ is popping up more and more in food branding and in consumer vernacular, but its definition is as foggy as ‘natural’ and ‘healthy,' according to Mintel.
Sustainably produced and packed with protein and vitamins, microalgae holds significant promise to help feed the growing population without exhausting the Earth’s limited resources, but its strong flavor has stopped many manufacturers from using it –...
An estimated 15 million Americans suffer from food allergies, including 5.9 million children – or about two per classroom – and while an increasing number of companies offer products that are safe for them, there is still significant room for growth,...
Consumer devotion to coffee has not wavered, with coffee sales continuing to heat up, largely attributed to the growth of single-cup coffee, cappuccino/iced coffee, and refrigerated ready-to-drink (RTD) coffee, Packaged Facts' July 2018 report said....
While sales of plain dairy milk have been declining for years, and US yogurt production has dropped off after peaking in 2014, new data shows the continued growth of cheese, butter, and ready-to-drink coffee, yogurt drinks and protein beverages featuring...
After nearly four years of development, Zea10 is targeting food developers with its barley and rice plant protein isolate positioning itself as yet another alternative in the booming plant protein space at the IFT show next week.
We’re searching for trailblazing, entrepreneurial start-ups or established brands with new products to present their red hot food and nutrition innovations targeting expectant Moms, babies, toddlers, kids or teens at FoodNavigator-USA’s FOOD FOR KIDS...
Home Chef meal kits - which roll out in selected Kroger stores later this summer in standalone coolers – will target the significant subset of consumers that buy into the meal kit concept but don’t want to commit to a subscription, says Home Chef chief...
When Cedarlane Natural Foods launched its ‘plant-powered’ foods back in the early ‘80s, many retailers weren’t ready for hummus and tofu meals. Today, they are carving out reams of space for these kinds of items and the industry’s biggest CPG giants are...
While the ongoing war on sugar is taking a toll on sales of conventional chocolate in the US, it is creating an opportunity for once-niche, better-for-you options, including sugar-free – as long as the taste and experience are not compromised in the trade-off,...
Plant-based meat brand Beyond Meat has opened a second production facility in Columbia, Missouri, that will more than triple its manufacturing footprint from 30,000 to 100,000sq ft and create 250 new jobs in 2018.
Stevia-sweetened zero-cal beverage brand Zevia – which first hit the market in 2007 - notched up growth of more than 50% year on year in the latest 12 weeks in conventional channels, driven almost entirely through velocity gains as consumers demand beverages...
While consumers still respond to the convenience of popping open a bag of chips, their mindset around snacking has expanded to products that promise a sense of culinary adventure, conscious-sourcing, unexpected ingredients, and satiating benefits.
Sales of salty snacks in the US continue to rise as consumers embrace smaller, more frequent eating occasions over three-square meals a day, but at the same time, rising health and wellness awareness is creating a significant competitive threat from better-for-you...
Starbucks is introducing Teavana tea sachets in US grocery stores, expanding availability of the brand as Starbucks aims to increase its overall tea business to $3bn over the next five years.
While entering a high growth category might be tempting, companies might actually have better luck – and longer-term success – if they launch “explosive innovation” into a “hibernating” category, according to a top executive at Kodiak Cakes.
Even though frozen pizza is notorious for being loaded with sodium, saturated fat and preservatives, plant-based brand Sweet Earth Enlighted Foods sees it as the perfect vehicle to improve the health of Americans as well as the planet.
Urban Remedy – a brand specializing in ‘ultra-fresh’ organic ready-to-eat meals, snacks, and cold pressed juices – grew sales by nearly 100% vs the previous quarter in the first quarter of 2018, driven by the rapid expansion of its ‘store within a store’...
For Crop One Holdings the sky isn’t the limit – it is just the next stopover – thanks a $40 million joint venture with Emirates Flight Catering that will more than double the vertical farm’s daily production of leafy greens and expand the Massachusetts-based...
PepsiCo Venture Group is on the lookout for emerging brands offering premium, functional products that also offer consumers benefits that they can easily understand and “feel” – two key indicators of long-term success, according to a company executive.
Investors in early stage food companies are constantly searching for the ‘what’s next?’ in food, and many fundamentally agree that the ideas and people worth investing in are the ones that are fulfilling an unmet consumer need in a "unique way that...
Colorado startup FoodMaven has an ambitious goal to reclaim some of the estimated $200 billion of revenue lost annually in America due to food waste by redirecting oversupplied food from manufacturers and producers to restaurants and institutions through...
At the intersection of the crowded cold-brew coffee category and the highly competitive energy drink segment, the founders of startup Bold Brew Coffee saw an opportunity to bring something new to each space.
Urban greenhouse developer and local produce grower Gotham Greens closed $29m in Series C equity funding last month from existing investors including the Silverman Group along with a new investment from global, family-run private equity firm Creadev.
After more than a decade of explosive overall growth, year-over-year sales of gluten-free products are starting to slow, according to some consumer data, but industry insiders suggest manufacturers could breathe new life into the segment by pairing gluten-free...
Beyond Meat has struck a deal with A&W - Canada’s fastest growing national burger chain – to add its plant-based Beyond Burgers to the menu at 925 outlets, boosting its overall distribution in the foodservice sector to 10,000+ restaurants, hotels,...
Large food corporations growing through bolt-on acquisitions isn’t anything new and will continue, but what is changing are the structures and programs big companies are putting in place to tap into the mindset of emerging startup brands.
One in every five dollars spent at online natural and organic membership club Thrive Market is likely to be on private label products by the end of the year, predicts merchandising chief Jeremiah McElwee. “But we’re definitely not trying to be an online...
Plant-based food options continue to win over Americans’ share of stomach and wallets accounting for nearly 20% of food and beverage dollars spent last year, according to a new report by Nielsen.
A new study* exploring how local food retailers are impacted when Lidl sets up shop in a new neighborhood, shows that 60% of the sales declines experienced by competitors came from just three departments: produce, beer and wine.
Kantar Worldpanel highlights Sprite as a ‘top performer’ in its global rankings of the most chosen consumer brands, on the basis of its worldwide penetration and number of interactions with consumers. So what has Sprite done right in a shaky market for...
For many consumers the idea of instant tea evokes nose-wrinkling rejection due to its extensive processing, long ingredient lists and a flavor unlike a freshly brewed cup, but startup Cusa Tea wants to change this with a version made in an all-new way...
When it comes to marketing on social media it is easy for companies to spread themselves too thin by trying to be everywhere and reach everyone, which is why the public relations experts at Konnect Agency recommend that firms pick one or two platforms...
US packaged food companies have been “frantically buying up new challenger brands at escalating deal multiples to offset the weakening sales trends in their core businesses,” says a new report from Bernstein. But success rates have been hit and miss,...
No matter how fast entrepreneurs hustle or how good their products are, all companies inevitably hit plateaus that threaten to stall or even kill their businesses, and how quickly they can push through depends in large part on the strength of their branding.
While the US beverage industry is “fundamentally strong” with double-digit sales growth in the last five years, it also is experiencing “big swings” that are reordering the leaderboard as consumers revamp their daily routines to focus more on their health...
Rising consumer interest in the high-fat ketogenic diet, and the subsequent frustration many feel trying to adhere to the restrictive approach, could prompt a new wave of people to turn to the low-carb Atkins diet as a more flexible option that shares...
Which cooking oils are growing most strongly and why? Is ghee trending and has coconut oil lost some of its luster? Is butter outperforming vegetable-oil-based spreads?
