Dairy-based ingredients

Growth of global food sales slows to 10-year low, but hot spots could turn around trend, Euromonitor data shows

03-Nov-2016 By Elizabeth Crawford

Growth in the global food industry has slowed to its lowest level in more than a decade to a dismal 1.1% in 2016, but there are a few bright spots that promise improved future growth, according to new data from Euromonitor International. 

Wink frozen desserts offer one-two punch of allergen-friendly and better-for-you, founder says

01-Nov-2016 By Elizabeth Crawford

Consumers with food sensitivities often face an unenviable choice in the frozen dessert aisle: Buy something that could trigger a reaction, or opt for an allergy-friendly product loaded with more calories, fat and sugar than conventional ice cream, according...

Soup-To-Nuts Podcast

Soup-To-Nuts Podcast: Is low-FODMAP the new gluten-free?

28-Oct-2016 By Elizabeth Crawford

For the 45 million Americans who suffer from irritable bowel syndrome, identifying food that they can safely eat without triggering a flare up is a source of deep frustration that also could be a sizable market opportunity for innovative food and beverage...

Lowering protein content of formula could help reduce obesity: Study

27-Oct-2016 By Jim Cornall

High protein intake during infancy may contribute to obesity later in life in infants who are not exclusively breastfed, according to a Nestlé Nutrition-funded study.

Hormel’s new Vital Cuisine line address nutritional & emotional needs of cancer patients & survivors

25-Oct-2016 By Elizabeth Crawford

After donating millions of dollars a year to cancer research for years, Hormel is stepping up its game to more directly help people fighting and recovering from the disease with the launch of a novel product line designed just for them.

Nothing But Real’s Oat Chocolate & Protein pushes free-from trend into protein shake category

24-Oct-2016 By Elizabeth Crawford

On a mission to “take back” food from the chemical industry which “hijacked” it, CPG manufacturer Nothing But Real is launching its debut product: Oat Chocolate & Protein – a vegan shake made without artificial or processed ingredients, says company...

What’s driving growth in cottage cheese? Zenith looks at trends in the sector

05-Oct-2016 By Jim Cornall

Dairy manufacturers can look to growth in cottage cheese, partly by referring to it as the original high protein cultured milk product, according to food and drink consultancy Zenith International.

Future ice cream flavors will feature nostalgia with a shot of whiskey, fruit blends & a savory spin

05-Oct-2016 By Elizabeth Crawford

Summer may be over, but that doesn’t mean ice cream season is thanks to new flavor predictions from ingredient supplier Parker Products that extend the frozen dessert’s appeal into Fall and hint at what spring will bring when the weather warms back up.

Expo East

Good Culture repositions cottage cheese for on-the-go, protein focused consumers

04-Oct-2016 By Elizabeth Crawford

When most Americans think of cottage cheese – if they think about it – images of 1950s-styles salads with syrupy fruit or uninspired scoops of lumpy white mush likely come to mind. But industry newcomer Good Culture wants to “bring cottage cheese back”...

Expo East

301 INC shines light on what qualities in startups catch investors’ attention

03-Oct-2016 By Elizabeth Crawford

Hardly a week goes by without a large food company snapping up an innovative food or beverage company or someone investing millions in a promising young brand – but for every entrepreneur who secures sufficient funds to scale, many more struggle to be...

Expo East

Fage’s Crossovers line advances the evolution of yogurt in the US from sweet to savory

30-Sep-2016 By Elizabeth Crawford

The slow evolution of yogurt in the US from primarily sweet options concentrated on breakfast to more savory choices that can be eaten all day continues with the current roll-out of Fage’s new Crossovers.

Soup-to-Nuts Podcast

Soup-To-Nuts Podcast: 5 trends driving growth in natural & organic

30-Sep-2016 By Elizabeth Crawford

As US consumers embrace a healthier lifestyle focused on prevention rather than treatment, they increasingly are turning to the natural and organic channel for products that are clean, natural and have added health benefits.

’We are investors and we expect companies to manage the risks in their supply chain’

Investors worth $1.25trn urge industry to switch to sustainable plant proteins

27-Sep-2016 By Niamh Michail

A group of investors worth $1.25 trillion (€1.1 trn) in assets are urging 16 food companies to accelerate the switch to sustainable, plant-based proteins.

Ganeden’s BC30 probiotic ingredient gets Non-GMO Project verified

21-Sep-2016 By Adi Menayang

Ingredients now share the scrutiny finished products have when it comes to free-from claims and virtue labels, a spokesperson said.

FDA hints at how conventional foods can make structure/function claims

21-Sep-2016 By Elizabeth Crawford

For the first time, FDA weighs in on what marketers must have on hand to support claims about conventional foods’ direct impact on consumers’ bodies. 

Schuman Cheese introduces trust mark to counter widespread adulteration of Italian cheeses

20-Sep-2016 By Elizabeth Crawford

US-based Schuman Cheese is taking a stand against what the CEO described as widespread adulteration and fraud that currently are “diluting and polluting” some sectors of the Italian cheese market by rolling out the industry’s first trust mark.

USDA inches toward allowing online grocery purchases with food stamps

20-Sep-2016 By Elizabeth Crawford

Under pressure from industry, consumers and legislators, the US Department of Agriculture is exploring how Americans can use food stamps to buy groceries online.

Cottage cheese innovator good culture lands $3 million investment

19-Sep-2016 By Elizabeth Crawford

An infusion of $3 million from new and existing investors will help dairy innovator and industry newcomer good culture advance its mission “to bring cottage cheese back.”

Trimona Bulgarian yogurt unveils new line, rolls out at Sprouts, as shoppers buy into grass-fed, organic, whole milk credentials

16-Sep-2016 By Elaine Watson

If Bulgarian yogurt is still well below the radar of most Americans, growing numbers of shoppers are looking for organic, grass-fed and whole milk products in the dairy aisle, and Trimona ticks all three boxes, says founder Atanas Valev, who has just...

Soup-To-Nuts Podcast

Soup-To-Nuts Podcast: The evolution of local food to do-it-yourself options

16-Sep-2016 By Elizabeth Crawford

Consumer demand for local food and beverages is no longer a niche market – rather it is fully mainstream. But an outgrowth of this trend that is just starting to peek over the horizon is a “do-it-yourself” food and beverage movement, according to market...

Dreaming Cow: ‘We were using grass-fed whole milk way before it was cool!’

14-Sep-2016 By Elaine Watson

‘Grass-fed’ is a hot trend in the dairy aisle these days, but back when Dreaming Cow started in 2009, it wasn’t something co-founder and CEO Kyle Wehner even thought about calling out on pack, he recalls. “We used to talk about New Zealand style yogurt,...

Harris Poll reveals what groceries Americans buy online and why

25-Aug-2016 By Elizabeth Crawford

When it comes to online shopping, consumers may say that they want products with a long shelf-life, but a recent Harris Poll found that they are just as likely to buy fresh fruits and vegetables as dry packaged goods online – revealing ecommerce may hold...

Will consumers embrace animal-free milk Perfect Day?

22-Aug-2016 By Elaine Watson

Perfect Day, a new ‘animal-free’ milk scheduled to launch at the end of next year, contains all the same components as cow’s milk, including dairy proteins, but doesn’t use any animals in its production process. But will consumers embrace it as cruelty-free...

Don't have a cow? Perfect Day animal-free milk bids for slice of multibillion-dollar global dairy market

22-Aug-2016 By Elaine Watson

The word ‘disruptive’ is bandied around with wearying regularity in relation to food startups these days, but if anyone warrants this moniker, it's Perfect Day (formerly Muufri). Unlike the purveyors of nut- or legume-based ‘plant milks’, Ryan Pandya...

Dairy in sales decline as Danone tops global dairy rankings again

18-Aug-2016 By Jim Cornall

New research from Euromonitor shows continued economic and political instability in the world’s biggest economies is dramatically affecting the global performance of dairy, with what initially appears to be a 9% decline in retail value sales in 2015,...

Shoppers aren’t confused by our labels, Chobani tells court: ‘Plaintiffs count on a consumer who is a veritable fool’

18-Aug-2016 By Elaine Watson

A false advertising lawsuit alleging that Chobani’s labels are confusing and deceptive, paints American consumers as credulous fools unable to apply common sense when they go shopping, argues the yogurt maker in court documents urging the judge to toss...

Danone, WhiteWave deal ‘raises serious questions about the future of the organic milk supply market’ Cornucopia Institute tells FTC

11-Aug-2016 By Elaine Watson

Danone’s proposed acquisition of WhiteWave Foods will “have a serious anti-competitive effect on the organic yogurt and organic fluid milk markets in the US,” the Cornucopia Institute has told the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice.

Soup-To-Nuts Podcast

Soup-To-Nuts podcast: What is old is new again

05-Aug-2016 By Elizabeth Crawford

Trends may come and go, but they often don't stay gone forever -- rather most eventually cycle back in vogue, as is the case with the current focus on “ancient wisdom,” and time-tested, traditional cooking techniques and ingredients that are influencing...

IFT 2016 in review

Dairy Permeate cuts manufacturing costs and sodium while boosting nutrition, USDEC says

04-Aug-2016 By Elizabeth Crawford

Most Americans consume more than 1.5 times the daily recommended cap for sodium – a staggering figure that prompted FDA to draft voluntary guidance earlier this summer for the food and beverage industry to drastically cut sodium levels in their products...

IFT 2016 in review

Replacement ingredients fail to fulfill full functionality of eggs across platforms, AEB funded research shows

27-Jul-2016 By Elizabeth Crawford

New research showing the superior function and flavor of eggs compared to replacement ingredients in baked goods is part of a larger effort by The American Egg Board to win back manufacturers that reformulated recipes with fewer eggs during the Avian...

Sens Booker and Lee propose checkoff reform bill as a 'direct response to egg board scandal'

14-Jul-2016 By Elaine Watson

Senators Mike Lee (R-UT) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) have proposed legislation designed to bring more “transparency and accountability” to federal commodity check off programs as “a direct response to the egg board scandal and past checkoff program misconduct.”

IFT Preview

HorizonScan helps spot food safety risks before they affect consumers, Global ID exec says

13-Jul-2016 By Elizabeth Crawford

Food safety incidents, including contamination of food-borne illnesses, mold and adulteration, increased double-digits in several major food categories in the first quarter of 2016 compared to the prior year, according to data pulled from the global web-based...

Frozen custard and dairy-free biggest climbers in ice cream category, says Nielsen

13-Jul-2016 By Elaine Watson

US retail sales of non-dairy ice cream surged 43.7% to $75.2m in the year to May 28, as more consumers enjoyed almond and coconut-based products in addition to dairy, while frozen custard has also generated significant growth (+134%) over the same period,...

Summer Fancy Food Show

Lotito Foods’ Folios could revolutionize how consumers use cheese

11-Jul-2016 By Elizabeth Crawford

Consumers walking down the dairy aisle at a typical grocery store see a wide variety of cheese formats – from blocks to bricks to strings to shakers – but now there is a new format that could revolutionize the way consumers use cheese. 

Soup-To-Nuts Podcast

Soup-To-Nuts Podcast: Five trends spotted at Summer Fancy Food Show

08-Jul-2016 By Elizabeth Crawford

With thousands of startups, innovators and established brands packed into one convention center, the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City is a hotbed for spotting emerging and maturing trends in the food and beverage space.

Danone to acquire WhiteWave Foods in $12.5bn deal boosting presence in organics, plant-based foods

07-Jul-2016 By Elaine Watson

Danone is to acquire WhiteWave Foods – which has been seen as an attractive takeover target since its spin-off from Dean Foods – in a $12.5bn deal that will almost double the size of its US business from 12% to 22% and give it a stronger presence in fast-growing...

Chobani secures 20% share of US spoonable yogurt category: ‘We’re back on the front foot and playing offense’

30-Jun-2016 By Elaine Watson

Chobani says it has been steadily increasing its share of the total US refrigerated spoonable yogurt market over the past 16 months, moving up from 16.5% in February 2015 to 20% in May 2016 according to the latest Nielsen data*, while Yoplait-brand owner...

Federal GMO labeling bill hailed as 'true compromise,' but critics say it's woefully inadequate

23-Jun-2016 By Elaine Watson

Attempts to reach a federal GMO labeling solution have failed miserably to date. However, a bipartisan deal requiring mandatory GMO labeling (via smartlabels, symbols or as yet undetermined wording) thrashed out in the Senate on Thursday looks like it...

Health & wellness concerns are fragmenting dairy milk, presenting more opportunity, survey shows

20-Jun-2016 By Elizabeth Crawford

Traditional white dairy milk is becoming more colorful as consumers increasingly demand sustainability, functionality and flavor from a category that for years was dominated by only three choices: whole, low-fat and skim.

Green packaging makes food seem healthier - but not for discerning organic shoppers

17-Jun-2016 By Niamh Michail

Discount shoppers believe a product tastes healthier if it comes in a 'healthy', green packaging - but organic shoppers have a more critical eye and are less affected by packaging, researchers have found.

Soup To Nuts Podcast

Soup-to-Nuts Podcast: How can stakeholders overcome challenges facing plant-based innovation?

17-Jun-2016 By Elizabeth Crawford

Sales of plant-based alternatives to animal products may be growing fast, but the road ahead for the industry is far from smooth with several substantial hurdles threatening to hold back the industry, according to key stakeholders. 

‘Clean label’ refrigerated coffee creamers projected for a 15% market boost by 2020

14-Jun-2016 By Adi Menayang

Even food items used sparingly, such as refrigerated coffee creamers, are expected to sport a clean label and bring better-for-you ingredients to consumers.

ConAgra announced removal of PHOs in all spread products, ahead of FDA deadline

14-Jun-2016 By Adi Menayang

Two years ahead of the FDA deadline, ConAgra announced that it will be discontinuing the use of Partially Hydrogenated Oils in all of its spreads.

Probiotics in sports nutrition? Lallemand’s Lafti L10 studied for immune support in athletes

14-Jun-2016 By Adi Menayang

A double-blind, placebo controlled study on elite athletes found that the dairy-derived Lactobacillus helveticus Lafti L10 by Lallemand Health Soultions can be a beneficial supplement for the reduction of upper respiratory tract infections.

Paleo diet linked to faster weight loss, but also lower intake of key micronutrients, study finds

13-Jun-2016 By Elizabeth Crawford

New research supports the controversial but long-held belief that the paleo diet, which encourages the consumption of lean meats, healthy fats and no grains, is a more effective way to lose weight quickly compared to a more typically balanced diet of...

Rainbow Goldfish logo strives to spread smiles for all families during LGBT Pride month

10-Jun-2016 By Elizabeth Crawford

Goldfish crackers, a long-time family favorite, likely will catch many consumers hook, line and sinker this month with the release on select packages of a new multi-colored fish logo that recalls the rainbow LGBT flag.

Soup-to-Nuts Podcast

Soup-to-Nuts Podcast: Strategies for growing sales of plant-based products

10-Jun-2016 By Elizabeth Crawford

When many mainstream consumers think of plant-based alternatives to animal products they think of non-dairy milks – and for good reason: it is one of the fastest growing sub-categories and a key driver in the growth of the overall plant-based segment.

General Mills and Organic Valley enter dairy partnership

09-Jun-2016 By Mary Ellen Shoup

General Mills has entered a strategic sourcing partnership with Wisconsin-based dairy cooperative Organic Valley that will help roughly 20 dairy farms add around 3,000 acres to organic dairy production over the next three years.

Little Spoon gives iconic pudding a modern day twist for a novel frozen dessert

09-Jun-2016 By Elizabeth Crawford

Pudding is no longer a mid-century dessert frozen in time – now it is frozen in freezers for a modern day twist on an iconic treat, thanks to the innovative duo behind the startup little spoon frozen pudding.

Yasso nails everyday indulgence: ‘We are a bright spot in the frozen novelties category’

08-Jun-2016 By Elaine Watson

Five-year-old Yasso – which scored an industry first in spring 2011 with the launch of the first frozen Greek yogurt bars – continues to outpace its deeper-pocketed competitors in the frozen novelties category, driven by a new wave of 'ice-cream-centric'...