San Diego-based Seminal Biosciences – one of a growing number of startups deploying precision fermentation to produce specialty fats – is aiming to get its first product, a cocoa butter alternative, to market next year in a dark chocolate bar, with additional...
Echoing a move he made while at Chobani when he took charge of a new ‘demand’ department, Impossible Foods president and CEO Peter McGuiness has hired CPG industry veteran Sherene Jagla as its first chief demand officer as part of a plan to integrate...
While consumer spending remained strong through the holidays despite rising prices, the new year may bring a new level of financial scrutiny as more Americans consider budget limitations and what is essential – altering when, how and where they shop and...
Multiple semi-finalists in the prestigious XPRIZE ‘Feed the Next Billion’ competition have pulled out following a rule change enacted mid-way through the process relating to title sponsor ASPIRE which contestants argue is “unrealistic for any venture-backed...
Massachusetts-based startup Superfrau is targeting the emerging functional soda category with a vitamin and mineral packed sparkling beverage made from one core ingredient: upcycled liquid whey from Greek yogurt production.
Within the $1.7 trillion spending bill signed by President Joe Biden late last week is a substantial increase in funding to boost food safety activities and “infrastructure investments” at FDA, including directions to “strongly consider” the Reagan-Udall...
While several firms are growing fungi in fermentation tanks to make meat analogs, Israeli startup Kinoko is ditching the stainless steel vessels, adding fungi strains to legumes and grains in stacked trays, and letting them work their magic in a solid...
While the plant-based meat category has experienced a recent slowdown in growth, demand for plant-based versions of traditional comfort foods is increasing, says cauliflower crust pizza pioneer CAULIPOWER, which has thus far weathered the inflationary...
After a scathing review published earlier this month by the Reagan-Udall Foundation criticized FDA for its scattered and inefficient approach to food safety and applied nutrition, the agency says it is committed to “building a world-class human foods...
New data from IRI and SPINS shows continued steep declines in sales of refrigerated meat alternatives but pockets of growth in frozen products and some plant-based milk, cheese, and yogurt subcategories, which do not all behave in the same way (spoiler...
Recognizing more Americans increasingly weigh products’ environmental impact when shopping, but that it is “impossible” for them to verify related marketing claims, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted unanimously this week to review formally its...
In part three of our gallery of highlights from FoodNavigator-USA's recent trip to Israel, we profile startups exploring everything from high-tech indoor vanilla cultivation to the manufacture of no-sugar-added snack bars using compression and ultrasonic...
Frustrated by “stubborn” double-digit inflation driving up prices of shelf stable groceries, Walmart is rethinking its approach to stocking the center of the store – potentially asking existing suppliers to creatively cut costs or risk reducing their...
In its recently released 2022 Compensation and Career Path Report, the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) highlights that salaries are spiking among food science professionals but that inequities remain, and priorities are shifting despite job satisfaction.
In part two of our gallery of highlights from FoodNavigator-USA's recent trip to Israel, we profile startups exploring everything from upcycled yeast proteins and carob to antimicrobial proteins. Best viewed on a laptop!
Israeli startup BELIEVER Meats (formerly Future Meat Technologies) has broken ground on a 200,000-square-foot facility in Wilson, North Carolina, that it claims will be the largest cultivated meat production facility in the world with the capacity to...
Motif FoodWorks has filed a suite of new petitions with the US Patent and Trademark Office challenging US patents held by Impossible Foods over the use of heme proteins in meat alternatives as it defends itself against accusations of IP infringement....
Berkeley-based Orbillion Bio – which is carving a distinct path in the nascent cultivated meat industry by concentrating on premium ‘heritage’ breeds from Wagyu to elk – has teamed up with bioprocessing specialist Solar Biotech to scale up production...
Industry leaders are lauding proposed changes to FDA’s food program outlined in a highly-anticipated external review by the Reagan-Udall Foundation published yesterday that includes calls for a “single clearly identified” leader with direct lines of authority...
PepsiCo this week joins the ranks of food manufacturers, retailers and delivery companies laying off employees or offering buyouts to reduce their workforce and offset inflationary pressures even as the consumer packaged goods industry overall struggles...
It's got a population of under nine million, but in the food innovation stakes, Israel punches way above its weight. FoodNavigator-USA headed to Tel Aviv for the Food Tech IL annual innovation event organized by The Strauss Group’s The Kitchen FoodTech...
While plant-based meat sales have slowed significantly over the past year with many commentators blaming the inflationary environment, Daring - a premium brand deploying pricy high-moisture extrusion to make its plant-based chicken pieces – is going from...
What’s the most efficient way to make meat, outside of an animal, at scale? Startups in the nascent cultivated meat space are deploying multiple approaches from hybrid strategies combining cell biomass and plant-based protein, to tissue engineering and...
Undeterred by a slowdown in e-commerce over the past year compared to earlier in the pandemic, Nestlé remains committed to its goal of capturing 25% of sales online and becoming a “data-powered, fully digitized experience-brands company” by 2025, executives...
From breeding carrots with greater color intensity to using filtration to increase dry matter content in fruit concentrates before deploying energy-intensive evaporation techniques, coloring foodstuffs specialist GNT is exploring a multi-pronged approach...
While Nestlé CEO Mark Schneider touted the company’s “consistent financial results” over the past few years despite “living in a very volatile and turbulent environment” thanks partly to an aggressive portfolio reshaping, he also acknowledged not all...
The stressful one-two punch of pandemic lockdowns followed by runaway inflation has many consumers looking for comfort and escapism from their food and beverages, which industry leaders say is driving demand for new flavor combinations that are nostalgic,...
Biomanufacturing everything from ‘animal-free’ dairy and egg proteins and high-intensity natural sweeteners to heat-and pH-stable red pigments is a hot topic in food tech. But which microbes will be the production workhorses in future, will new cell-free...
Unilever has said it is exploring making ‘cow-free’ ice cream and is hoping to soon launch a product made with dairy proteins made via precision fermentation, but admitted there’s a danger they will be ultimately be rejected by shoppers if they are perceived...
Is there such a thing as ‘climate positive’ food, and can we compare products at a glance and determine which is the more environmentally-friendly choice based on claims made on pack?
Torr FoodTech - an Israeli startup deploying an intriguing new approach to creating snack bars by deploying pressure and ultrasonic energy instead of sugary binders to ‘weld’ natural ingredients together - has raised $12m in a series A round as it expands...
Premium milk products are breathing new life into the broader fluid milk segment, with large numbers of consumers now buying 'tummy-friendly' a2 milk not because they have trouble digesting regular milk, but because 'they just view it as...
If you’re making cultivated meat in a bioreactor instead of a living, breathing animal, and you want to introduce it to consumers for the first time, what’s the best launch vehicle? A chicken nugget or fillet, a thin beef steak, a high-value item such...
While most adults are aware of the importance of fruits and vegetables in their diets, many individuals overestimate the quality of their daily diets, new research from the American Heart Association has found.
As Americans prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving in a week, many are worried they won’t be able to afford a traditional meal – prompting some to look for alternatives, including plant-based options, and triggering massive promotions by retailers eager for...
Instead of coffee beans, Minus Coffee is taking ingredients such as chicory root, dates, and lentils, which undergo a fermentation process that its founder claims precisely replicates the taste and aroma of cold brew coffee, but in a much more sustainable...
“It's very frustrating to hear people talk all the time about transportation and power [in conversations about climate change] when right in front of you three times a day, there is a solution that's more impactful,” observed Beyond Meat founder...
The CEO of Tyson Foods defended the meat-packing company’s recent leadership shakeup, which included appointments that one investment analyst suggested were not as experienced as their predecessors, including that of a 32-year-old member of the Tyson...
Buoyed by a $120m series B funding round, Israeli startup Remilk is building what it claims is the world’s largest precision fermentation facility in Denmark. FoodNavigator-USA visited the firm’s HQ in Rehovot last week to taste some animal-free dairy...
Growing meat from cells in bioreactors instead of living breathing animals should logically be more efficient, as resources are spent on growing only the cells that make up the meat product rather than keeping an animal alive. But it’s never been done...
Between Americans’ hectic on-the-go lifestyles pre-COVID, the pandemic prompting everyone to hit pause followed by hybrid work schedules, inflation rates at 40-year highs, and increased expectations that food not only nourish the body but also the soul,...
Having outgrown its three facilities in Colorado, Bobo's is moving into its two-years-in-the-making 'super bakery' which will give it enough capacity to triple its output of bars and put it on track to eclipse $100m in revenue next year.
While consumer spending on groceries has yet to dramatically slow in the face of rising prices to offset inflation, some CPG companies – including Hershey – are bracing for an eventual pushback, even as they continue to pass additional costs through to...
William Reed – the publisher of award-winning B2B brands including FoodNavigator and NutraIngredients - has acquired a majority stake in agri-food summit organizer Rethink Events.
'Molecular farming’ startup IngredientWerks has developed corn varieties that express everything from casein proteins to meaty-tasting heme proteins, in an approach it claims is more efficient than precision fermentation for producing ingredients...
Contrary to the growing chorus of critics pigeonholing ultra-processed packaged food as innately unhealthy for people and the planet, a group of food system and nutrition experts gathered by Clif Bar & Co. argue some could play a “crucial” role in...
