After spending years marketing products from Luna Bars and PopChips to thinkThin bars, The Good Bean co-founder Sarah Wallace knew a thing or two about building healthy snacking brands before she decided to put her money where her mouth is and go it alone...
Big interview: Josh Tetrick, founder and CEO, Hampton Creek Foods
Egg replacers have been around for years, acknowledges the entrepreneur who has persuaded everyone from Bill Gates to the co-founder of PayPal to part with some serious cash to fund his plant-based egg alternatives. “But wait till you try ours.”
60-second interview: Dr Janet Collins, president, IFT
What’s it like to stand at the helm of the world’s largest organization of food science professionals at a time when consumers are more likely to ask (and trust) each other than an ‘expert’ or 'official' source to get answers on everything from...
Big interview: Jay Klein, founder & CEO, Action Candy Company (PÜR Gum)
You don’t launch a new brand in the gum category by calling the buyer at Walmart and asking nicely for some shelf-space at the checkout between Juicy Fruit and Trident, observes the founder of aspartame-free PÜR Gum.
Big interview, Yves Potvin, founder and CEO, Garden Protein (Gardein)
Despite all the recent hype about plant-based protein, the frozen meat alternatives category was stuck in a bit of a rut until pretty recently, says the man behind the fastest growing brand in the market.
The media frenzy surrounding AquaBounty’s GE salmon and the accompanying ‘Frankenfish’ headlines obscure the fact that it is "just a fast-growing fish”, according to one animal biotechnology specialist.
What precedent might it set if firms are forced to label foods made using new technologies, even if the end product does not differ in any meaningful way from foods developed by ‘traditional’ methods?
If you plot them both on a graph, the rise in diagnosed cases of autism correlates closely with the rise in sales of organic foods. So do organic foods cause autism? Of course not.
Open innovation used to be just for the likes of P&G and Unilever, but today, it's being embraced by a lot of mid-sized companies in the $100m-$1bn revenue range as well, according to Andy Zynga, CEO of open innovation expert and corporate matchmaking...
Those who feel uneasy about the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics’ (AND’s) ties with corporate sponsors such as Pepsi and McDonald’s argue that getting into bed with such purveyors of ‘junk food’ - however transparently or responsibly you go about...
The good news: Around 15% of global palm oil produced in the past year was certified by the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). The bad news: Only half of it earned a premium, which doesn’t sound like a great recipe for inspiring more producers...
One of the founding fathers of agricultural biotechnology, best-known for his pioneering research on virus-resistant plants, Dr Roger Beachy caught up with FoodNavigator-USA to give us his perspective on the current debate over the role of GM crops in...
Big interview: Kevin Klock, CEO Talking Rain (Sparkling ICE)
Want to know what success looks like? Check out Sparkling ICE. In early 2010 it was generating $10m a year. This year, it’s on course to generate $350-400m and CEO Kevin Klock tells FoodNavigator-USA it could be a $1bn brand by 2018.
Big interview, Gregory Jaffe, Director of Biotechnology, CSPI
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has made a name for itself by tackling the food industry’s big guns on everything from artery-furring entrees to misleading label claims. But where does it stand on genetically modified organisms (GMOs)?
Big interview: Bob Waldron, President, Schwan's Consumer Brands
What do you think about when you buy a frozen pizza? What’s on deal? The taste? How long you’ll need to spend in the gym tomorrow if you wolf down a whole one in front of the TV tonight?
Nestlé is pumping $53m into a new R&D facility in Solon in northern Ohio, that will be dedicated to frozen and chilled foods and serve Nestle's businesses worldwide.
Who is best qualified to provide nutritional counseling? A registered dietitian? A medical doctor? A nutritionist? A nutrition scientist? A sports scientist? You or me?
Big interview: Ted Nixon, chairman and CEO, DDWilliamson
Founded in 1865 - the year Lincoln was assassinated - DDW has been in the food colors business for an astonishing 148 years. But there’s no room for complacency, CEO Ted Nixon tells Elaine Watson during a visit to the firm’s HQ in Louisville, KY.
Blanket opposition to genetically modified crops is “a morally unacceptable position to take on the basis of unsubstantiated suspicions and fears”, according to the boss of Toronto-based firm Maple Leaf Foods.
Bill Gates tackled global hunger in a live web debate on Friday (June 7), the eve of the Big IF London Hyde Park rally, part of the Enough Food For Everyone IF campaign against starvation.
Back in 2008/9, Boulder Brands CEO Steve Hughes had a lot of sleepless nights. The struggling Smart Balance spreads business - which represented 90% of group revenues - was running “in fourth gear” - and the economy was in the doldrums.
Throwing away food is like stealing from the table of the poor and the hungry
The identity of the 15 experts who will frame the 2015 dietary guidelines for Americans has been announced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Big interview: Kevin Cleary, CEO Clif Bar & Company
Nutrition bars enter - and exit - the snacks aisle at the speed of light these days. So how has Clif Bar managed to sustain the kind of growth rivals can only dream of, year after year? Elaine Watson caught up with CEO Kevin Cleary to find out.
From Nike’s Bill Bowerman being inspired by a waffle iron, to studying the behavior of herding cows for the redevelopment of Times Square, cross-pollination of ideas from different fields can generate big rewards.
Big interview: Cathy Enright, EVP, food & agriculture, Biotechnology Industry Organization
When it comes to winning hearts and minds about the merits of genetically engineered ingredients (and whether to alert consumers to their presence on food labels), it’s fair to say that the biotech industry has not done a great job.
Big interview: Andrew Dahl, CEO Health Enhancement Products Inc
Right now, a gallon of gas costs $4 or less. Produce it from algae, and you can expect to pay $18 or more, says the boss of one firm convinced that cutting edge nutraceuticals - not biofuels - is where algae’s true potential lies, in the near term at...
Founded in the same year that Edison created the first functioning light bulb, Thompson Brands is one of America’s oldest chocolate companies. But it hasn’t stayed in business this long by resting on its laurels, CEO Gene Dunkin tells Elaine Watson.
Being circumspect when you talk to suppliers is one thing. But being so afraid of giving away your innovation pipeline that you leave them in the dark about your goals is plain counterproductive, according to R&D bosses at Starbucks, Molson Coors...
Mondelez International chairman and CEO Irene Rosenfeld has been awarded a 31% rise in compensation in 2012 taking her total annual earnings to $28.8m, according to a company filing.
Kraft Foods Group has appointed Deanie Elsner to the newly created role of chief marketing officer, reporting directly to chief executive, Tony Vernon.
Kraft has officially split into two publicly traded companies: Kraft Foods Group, an $18.7bn North American packaged foods giant with a portfolio of brands including Kraft, Maxwell House, Oscar Mayer, Planters and JELL-O; and Mondelēz International, a...
