Plant-based meat start-up Impossible Foods has issued a voluntary recall of a single lot number of its product after a restaurant in California discovered a “food-safe, sealed, one-inch plastic object in a case of Impossible Burger bulk product.”
In the past five years, online grocery retailer Thrive Market has grown its business to 500,000 paid members shopping its 6,000+ products, allowing the company to dive head first into new projects around regenerative agriculture, and "dramatically"...
If areas of the grocery store were to be placed in a figurative bracket based on annual volume growth over a three year period (2015-2018), which departments would come out on top? According to Nielsen's "Total Store Bracket" ranking 16...
Colon cancer used to be considered a threat mostly to adults older than 50, but the disease is becoming more prevalent among Millennials, which some experts believe may be linked to the rising popularity of low-carb and grain-free diets, a trend that...
60-second interview: Mike Mauzé, founding partner, VMG Partners
If you walk into someone by mistake as you push through the crowds at the Natural Products Expo West show these days, you are just as likely to find yourself apologizing to an investor as a retail buyer searching for hot new brands. But what does all...
As consumers learn more about digestive health and all the implications that it has for the wellbeing of their bodies and minds, they are looking for products that go beyond probiotics – creating a booming digestive health category that is ripe for innovation....
Despite efforts by the largest food and beverage manufacturers in the United States to tackle obesity and diet-related disease in the market, nearly 40% of adults and 18.5% of children in the US are obese – putting them at risk of Type 2 diabetes, high...
Consumers want more natural, less processed, ‘clean’ foods. But do they give certain brands – and categories – a pass? And what cues are they looking for? Checkout what our consumer and legal experts had to say in the opening session of our Natural and...
Mondelēz International has made an investment in The Hatchery, a Chicago-based non-profit food business accelerator, as part of the CPG company's SnackFutures innovation and venture hub.
With annual retail sales of cold brew coffee estimated at more than $29 million in 2017 and predicted to grow to $170 million by the end of 2025, it is easy to see why at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim earlier this month so many new players were...
In order to feed a nutritious, sustainable diet to the predicted 10 billion people who will populate Earth by 2050, environmental advocates and food & beverage industry stakeholders must work together rather than apart from – or even at times against...
Food and beverage brands targeting kids often promote their low sugar content, or highlight calcium for bones and protein for growing bodies. But what about the nutrients kids need to support the development of arguably their most important asset: the...
Weller, a Boulder-based snack and beverage company, is not tip-toeing around using the word 'CBD' on its packaging as it launches a line of sparkling waters featuring 25mg cannabidiol (from full spectrum hemp extract).
If harnessed appropriately, rapid advances in digital technology could offer much-needed solutions to some of the unintentional negative diet- and nutrition-related consequences from otherwise positive Industrial Revolution era developments, according...
The splits in the organic movement have given birth to a new initiative to regain the soul of the concept, according to an executive with a major retailer.
For some time, Amazon has been the dominant player in online grocery, but that lead may be starting to slip as brick-and-mortar retailers have been steadily winning back share in the competitive ecommerce race, says Nielsen.
While modern wisdom may favor launching fast and iterating quickly based on consumer feedback, the director of innovation at Endangered Species Chocolate says when it comes to packaging and branding it is better to slow down and invest in consumer research...
Revive Kombucha is taking a direct shot at the center aisle carbonated soft drink (CSD) consumer with a shelf-stable sparkling kombucha in 12-ounce cans that contains less sugar (5g) and lower calories (20 calories) than its raw refrigerated kombucha....
Beverage startup mogul Lance Collins is making his first shift into food after snapping up small snack firm Core Foods for a namesake to continue the 'legacy' of his recently sold water brand, and says he's on a mission to create a $100m...
Mondelēz International is already a powerhouse in snacking (parent company to Ritz, Wheat Thins, Triscuit, and allergen-friendly brand, Enjoy Life Foods). In November 2018, however, the company decided to pour more efforts into its snack business strategy...
“Disheartened” but “not surprised” that so little venture capital currently is invested in startups led by women and minority entrepreneurs, Chobani Incubator’s new program director Zoe Feldman says she wants to more intentionally support founders from...
Since launching exclusively at the Whole Foods Market Pearl Street store in Boulder, Colorado, in late 2017, Beyond Meat's Beyond Sausage has expanded its distribution to over 4,000 grocery stores, restaurants, and sports stadiums across the US....
Chosen Foods -- which was acquired by Mexico-based specialty oils and ingredients producer Sesajal S.A de C.V. in 2017 -- processed over 300 million avocados last year used mainly for avocado oil sold across 40,000 stores in the US.
CBD far and away stole the show as the hot new ingredient at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim last week, but it wasn’t the only notable trend with promising market potential or significant recent development.
Emerging brands in the plant-based frozen food space are plentiful, but not many have proven their value in international markets as Strong Roots has in the UK and its home base of Ireland.
Growpacker Inc., a contract manufacturer of THC- and CBD-infused edibles and beverages based in Canada with a presence in the US market, has launched a brand incubator and accelerator program designed to fast-track CBD and THC brands sold in California.
Clio Snacks, which makes chilled Greek yogurt bars dipped in chocolate, sees itself as supplementing a declining Greek yogurt category by expanding usage occasions and answering the consumer call for a permissibly indulgent snack.
Frustrated that 8 million metric tons of plastic go into the ocean every year, the founder of the sustainable seafood company LoveTheWild is ditching the plastic in her packaging and downsizing her carton as part of a relaunch of her meal kits and to...
Following the lead of many other established food & beverage players, Mars, Incorporated is launching a new accelerator to help early stage food-focused companies fast-track growth in exchange for access to the energy and ground-level market insights...
Danone, The George Institute for Global Health, ai.agency and the Responsible Nutrition Association of India have joined the line-up of speakers for the second Healthy Ageing APAC Summit.
Over half (61%) of Americans following an exclusion diet (e.g. vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, keto) believe that following a restrictive diet means having to pay more for food and nearly half (47%) say that it takes a toll on their social life, according...
Outer Aisle is doubling down on its grain-free, low-carbohydrate mission with redesigned packaging and three new 'bread-like' cauliflower products, all while ramping up for a national and global launch with Whole Foods.
As Tillamook County Creamery Association marks its 110th anniversary, the farmer-owned cooperative is growing faster than ever with new products, a fresh look and rapidly expanding distribution.
In recent years the idea of doing well by doing good has grown beyond a few niche brands with pet projects to become a must-have for startups and established companies alike as consumers increasingly shop based on their values.
The battle of the snack bar brands continues as 100% organic snack bar brand LivBar throws down a gauntlet of its own, challenging all bar manufacturers to move to 100% compostable wrappers.
We clocked a number of brands using terms from 'clean candy' to 'clean protein' on the showfloor at Expo West, but what does 'clean eating' mean, is 'clean' a term that brands should use on product labels, and where...
Consumers are making fewer unplanned, impulse snack purchases than they did five years ago, according to Euromonitor International's "Meeting the Needs of the New Age Snacker" webinar held last week.
While snacking has become more acceptable, many consumers still bring some baggage to the trend – usually in the form of guilt – but a new ad campaign for Whisps cheese crisps wants to relieve shoppers of this burden.
'What we're wrestling with is whether CBD is an ingredient play, or something huge brands can be built around'
The fact that CBD is not a legal ingredient in foods and supplements - at least not yet - did not deter scores of exhibitors at Expo West, who added it to everything from soda to protein bars (absent any claims), with some opting for isolates, but most...
Mondelēz International has taken a minority investment in Uplift Food, a startup focusing on prebiotic functional foods, marking the first investment of Snack Futures, the snacking giant's independent innovation and venture hub.
When it comes to improving sustainability, most of the focus is placed on reducing packaging, especially if it is plastic, but according to the co-founder of snack brand Prana, companies could see a greater impact if they focused first on their agricultural...
With newcomers launching practically every day in the food and beverage industry, the pressure is on for legacy brands to up their innovation game – and according to industry giant Unilever the best way to do this is to start with modern consumers’ core...
The frequency with which food and beverage startups in the US secure multi-million dollar investments in early fundraising rounds might lead some entrepreneurs to believe earning capital is easy – but the founder of the moringa company Kuli Kuli says...
Brooklyn-born Square Roots, an urban indoor vertical farming startup, is taking its ultra-scalable, modular model to new markets through an exclusive partnership with Gordon Food Service (GFS).
JUST Egg - a plant-based scrambled egg alternative from Just Inc made with mung bean protein – is rolling out nationwide at Sprouts this month and Whole Foods Market next month, says CEO Josh Tetrick, who claims the product is “largely incremental to...
US sales of beverages infused with hemp-derived CBD are predicted to reach $600m in 2019, and approach $1bn in 2020, with water accounting for two thirds of the market, predict analysts at Cowen, which believes that “US CBD can conservatively generate...
US sales of in-store meal kits reached $93m in 2018, according to the latest Nielsen data, with 187 new retail meal kit items introduced during the year as high-profile brands sought to reach consumers that like the concept, but don’t want to commit to...
RightRice, the brainchild of Popchips co-founder Keith Belling, has closed a $5.5m minority investment led by Strand Equity and a roster of celebrity investors and industry veterans, including Impossible Foods, COO David Lee, and celebrities Karlie Kloss,...
Coconut Collaborative has expanded distribution to more than 1,000 stores since launching in the US last year, and according to co-founder Edward Averdieck, the brand is hitting its stride just as the plant-based yogurt market is showing signs of becoming...
Nitro cold brew company RISE Brewing Co. is hoping the same strategies it used to successfully carve out a niche in the highly competitive ready-to-drink-coffee segment will help it win again, but this time in the increasingly crowded oat milk category.
