Proteins

Age is just a number: Huge potential for protein in aging market, says DuPont

16-Sep-2014 By Maggie Hennessy

The rising aging population in the US presents an underexploited opportunity for food and beverage marketers—particularly in the already massive protein market, as older consumers are just as desperate for sustained energy as their younger counterparts.

Beyond Meat products are now in 5,000+ stores

It’s a burger Jim, but not as we know it… Beyond Meat prepares to unleash The Beast

10-Sep-2014 By Elaine Watson

Beyond Meat - the California-based firm that claims to have unlocked the secret to making ‘near-perfect’ replicas of meat from plants - is preparing to launch its latest innovation: The Beast, a pea-protein-based burger for meat-lovers.

NYC snacking entrepreneurs take high-protein craze to the chips aisle with ProTings

10-Sep-2014 By Elaine Watson

While entrepreneurial start-ups touting healthier snacks have been entering - and leaving - the category with startling speed in the past couple of years, the 20-something entrepreneurs behind Brooklyn-based ProFormance Foods are quietly confident that...

More ‘all-natural’ blues for Kashi as Florida judge allows GMO/all-natural class action to proceed

09-Sep-2014 By Elaine Watson

Just months after Kashi agreed to settle a California class action lawsuit accusing it of deceptively advertising its wares as ‘all-natural’, a judge has allowed most claims in a similar class action brought in Florida to proceed.

Eggs are just the beginning; we're also looking at food dyes, trans fats, and even sugar

From Google Maps to Dropbox: Hampton Creek taps another Silicon Valley superstar in bid to ‘use plants to make food better’

04-Sep-2014 By Elaine Watson

Plant-based foods trail-blazer Hampton Creek Foods has hired one of its Silicon Valley-based investors - Ali Partovi (founder of LinkExchange and Code.org, and early advisor at Facebook & Dropbox), as its new chief strategy officer, just weeks after...

Best practices in ingredient marketing

Anderson Partners: Ingredient suppliers have a brand story to tell, too

02-Sep-2014 By Maggie Hennessy

Ingredient suppliers are taking on expanded roles in the packaged food and beverage industry beyond just selling ingredients, from research and development to consulting. 

Accelerating move toward plant proteins shakes up sports nutrition market, expert says

29-Aug-2014 By Hank Schultz

A continued move toward plant proteins will be one of the major trends of the sports nutrition marketplace in the coming 12 months, according to market watcher Tom Vierhile, innovation insights director of the market intelligence firm Datamonitor.

Target the trendsetters: Young men most likely to eat insects, finds research

28-Aug-2014 By Nathan Gray

Young men are likely to be the ‘trendsetters’ in adopting insects into the Western diet, according to a new European study.

Rice Bran Technologies' revenue grows despite production gaps caused by plant expansion, World Cup

22-Aug-2014 By Hank Schultz

Rice Bran Technologies posted strong earnings growth in its second quarter of 2014 despite having to shut down a major production plant for three weeks as part of a planned expansion and having to absorb the effect on productivity of the World Cup on...

FDA issued letter of no objection to GRAS notification for Quorn in 2002

Claims that Quorn mycoprotein is unsafe 'lack scientific credibility', says meat substitute maker

19-Aug-2014 By Elaine Watson

UPDATED - Quorn Foods has launched a vigorous defense of its fungus-derived meat substitutes in the wake of a fresh attack from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), which says the FDA “should have pulled this dangerous product off shelves...

Gourmet salad bowls include kale, beans, nuts, seeds, ancient grains, edamame...

Protein craze hits bagged salad market; gourmet offerings lure higher-spending shoppers, says Packaged Facts

13-Aug-2014 By Elaine Watson

Retailers that offer an attractive packaged salad range are more likely to attract high-spending ‘foodies’ to their stores, says Packaged Facts, citing data showing that bagged salad shoppers are much more likely to pay extra for healthier products, try...

Protein: the bridge to fitness for the rest of us

29-Jul-2014 By Maggie Hennessy

We have become a nation of fitness and nutrition go-getters, as evidenced by the skyrocketing number of fitness and nutrition apps and the mainstreaming of the sports nutrition market. 

From semiconductors to snacks: Egg white chips entrepreneur rides crest of protein wave

23-Jul-2014 By Elaine Watson

A mechanical engineer with a keen interest in semi-conductors, ips All Natural co-founder Sean Olson is not your typical food entrepreneur. But don’t let his résumé fool you. With an unusual product that taps into the protein trend, Olson reckons his...

Find out what's hot and what's next in the beverages aisle

From almond milk to tea for kids: Last chance to register for FoodNavigator-USA's beverage entrepreneurs forum!

22-Jul-2014 By Elaine Watson

Will tea replace 100% juice in your child's lunchbox? And what's the next $1bn beverage brand? Find out what our panel of beverage entrepreneurs thinks at our free-to-attend online forum kicking off at 11.30am EDT tomorrow.

Fat replacement: Researchers modify protein to mimic and replace fat in a wider range of food

18-Jul-2014 By Sarah Hills

Researchers claim they have developed proteins that could help bring a wider variety of low-fat foods to market without compromising on texture and taste.

Professor: What exactly is this mythical ‘pristine’ alternative to GMOs that presents no risks?

14-Jul-2014 By Elaine Watson

When consumers think about GMOs, they tend to contrast them with “some hypothetical alternative food that is pristine”, when in most cases, going ‘non-GMO’ just means returning to a food production system that is less efficient - and worse for the environment...

Unilever sells Slim Fast to private equity firm Kainos Capital for undisclosed sum

11-Jul-2014 By Elaine Watson

Unilever has sold its Slim Fast weight management brand to private equity firm Kainos Capital, but will retain a minority stake in the business. 

So Delicious Dairy Free brand grew at a 30% CAGR over past five years

SO Delicious: Dairy-free is one of the biggest growth opportunities in the food market right now

10-Jul-2014 By Elaine Watson

While gluten-free gets all the glory, dairy-free products such as almond and coconut milk are growing at an equally explosive rate, says So Delicious Dairy Free, which has notched up a compound annual growth rate of 30%+ over the past five years, and...

General Mills unlocks secret to keeping protein bits crunchy in moist fruity snacks

09-Jul-2014 By Elaine Watson

General Mills - which has just unveiled a host of new protein-packed product launches -  is seeking to patent a way of ensuring certain protein particulates can be incorporated into snacks containing moist fruit pastes but stay crunchy.

DIGGING INTO WHEAT TRENDS WITH ARDENT MILLS: PART II

Protein rush: Grain-based products must catch up, says Ardent Mills

09-Jul-2014 By Kacey Culliney

The grain-based industry is late to the protein game and they need to catch up because opportunities are vast, says Ardent Mills’ director of consumer insights.

US specialty food prize tops $88.3bn in 2013: 'Millennials are talking about specialty stores in the same way that they talk about restaurants'

07-Jul-2014 By Elaine Watson

At $88.3bn in 2013, the size of the US specialty food prize is already mouthwatering, and if current trends continue (sales grew 9.6% in 2012 and 8% in 2013), it will blast through the $100bn barrier in 2015. But which categories are growing most rapidly?

Dispatches from IFT 2014

Cricket bars founder: ‘We launched a product without a supply chain in place to scale it’

03-Jul-2014 By Maggie Hennessy

Since it was created in 2012, Chapul Inc. has been on a mission to integrate edible insects into Western diets, using its cricket energy bars as the vehicle. 

Sports nutrition products for women are a huge area of growth: Marketing guru

01-Jul-2014 By Stephen DANIELLS

Women, protein blends, and the ‘anti-wasting’ market are all areas of significant opportunity in sports nutrition, says Jeff Hilton, co-founder and CMO of BrandHive.

Novel fermentation process will unlock rice bran protein potential, says Nutraceutical Innovations

26-Jun-2014 By Elaine Watson

A new player is poised to enter the burgeoning plant protein market with new protein and fiber ingredients produced via a novel fermentation process from heat stabilized defatted rice bran.

Are food marketers missing a trick? (Hint: over 65s like yogurt and protein bars too)

23-Jun-2014 By Elaine Watson

The number of Americans aged 65+ will double in the next 25 years. But manufacturers of products that could have strong appeal to this demographic (Greek yogurt, protein bars) are not doing enough to target them, says IRI.

Macho yogurt, nuts & eco-eating: why there’s still growth in protein

19-Jun-2014 By Maggie Hennessy

Growing consumer interest in positive nutrition, demographic shifts, new eating patterns, recent scientific findings, and the recommendations from the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans all point to a bright future for protein-rich foods and beverages,...

Trendspotting from Innova Market Insights

Protein, sugar and hybrid products: Innova teases IFT agenda

17-Jun-2014 By Maggie Hennessy

Can anything top protein? What’s a “silver consumer” and why should we care? Would salty caramel work in a soft drink? Innova Market Insights teased a very full agenda of trendwatching presentations at next week’s Institute of Food Technologists’ (IFT)...

6% of US food & beverage launches made protein claims in year to March 31, says Innova

11-Jun-2014 By Elaine Watson

Nearly 3% of global food and beverage launches and 6% of US food/bev launches were marketed on a ‘high-protein’ or ‘source-of-protein’ positioning in the year ending March 31, 2014, according to data from Innova Market Insights.

Microwave technology core of deal to bring to market lower-cost food, beverage ingredients

10-Jun-2014 By Hank Schultz

Botanical ingredient supplier Gencor has teamed with Canadian company Radient Technologies to bring to market a new array of natural compounds suitable for use as functional food, beverage and dietary supplement ingredients.

Non-GMO, beets, lentils, bee-free ‘honey’ & drinkable grains: What are the top 10 natural and organic food trends inspiring the mainstream?

05-Jun-2014 By Elaine Watson

From drinkable grains to Non-GMO verified, Sterling-Rice Group has identified 10 natural and organic food trends that are starting to influence the mainstream grocery market. Are you up to speed?

The $4.5bn US soyfood market: Soymilk in a funk; tofu a ‘dark horse’, explosive growth in bars, cereals, snacks

04-Jun-2014 By Elaine Watson

The US soymilk category remains in a funk according to a new report, which shows retail sales  - which topped $1bn five years ago - slumped 8.5% to $638m in 2013, while sales of soy-based meat alternatives fell 1% to $776m, despite all the excitement...

US-made hemp ingredients for supplements, food closer to reality with advent of Colorado production

23-May-2014 By Hank Schultz

Despite the continued murkiness surrounding the legality of non-narcotic fractions of cannabis sativa for dietary supplement use, one company is forging ahead with hemp ingredient production in Colorado.  And it doubtless will be joined by others, as...

Startup uses bioinformatics to pry open the power of waste peptides

16-May-2014 By Hank Schultz

“I am large, I contain multitudes,” poet Walt Whitman famously observed. He could have been talking about the potentially valuable proteins that are lost daily in the waste streams of ingredient operations for want of knowing what they are and what they...

Guest article: Mischa Popoff, author, Is it Organic?

GUEST ARTICLE: Phantom menace of GMOs keeps organic industry off target

15-May-2014 By Mischa Popoff

I worked for five years as a USDA-contract organic inspector after growing up on an organic grain farm in Saskatchewan. I had the pleasure of inspecting over 500 organic farms and processors, but I began questioning this career path when I realized the...

Special edition: Organics & Non-GMO

BI Nutraceuticals boss: If you believe GMOs are safe and provide value, get out there and champion the cause

13-May-2014 By Elaine WATSON

If biotech’s big guns want to seize the initiative in the GMO debate, they should ditch their defensive strategy (telling consumers why they don’t need GMO labels) and go on the offensive, launching a positive campaign about the merits of GM crops, according...

Kashi agrees $5m ‘all-natural’ lawsuit settlement; Bear Naked to pay $325,000 to settle related suit

08-May-2014 By Elaine WATSON

Kellogg subsidiary Kashi has joined a growing list of big food companies that have agreed to stop using the term ‘all-natural’ to describe certain products in response to a tidal wave of civil litigation over the controversial term.

Special edition: Organic & non-GMO

The biggest fallacy about GMOs is that we need them to feed the world: WFP

07-May-2014 By Maggie Hennessy

For a growing global population facing dwindling resources, non-GMO plant-based proteins are the future, says 29-year-old non-GMO and organic soybean and corn supplier World Food Processing (WFP).

FoodNavigator-USA Gluten-free Forum Highlights: ‘Fad dieters are not buying gluten-free products - they are just avoiding bread’

01-May-2014 By Elaine WATSON

If the size of the US gluten-free market is hard to pin down as everyone measures it differently, few doubt that its double-digit growth seems set to continue - at least for the next 2-3 years - according to experts at the FoodNavigator-USA Gluten Free...

Expert panel calls for end to one-size fits all protein recommendations and higher levels for older adults

29-Apr-2014 By Stephen DANIELLS

Dietary recommendations for protein intake should be increased for healthy older adults to 1.0 to 1.2 g protein/kg body weight/day, says an international team of experts.

Exclusive interview: Pat Crowley, director and founder of Chapul

Chapul cricket bars founder: ‘Our marketing approach has been absolute, utter optimism’

23-Apr-2014 By Maggie Hennessy

As one of the forerunners of the commercialization of edible insects in the US, Chapul, makes its first big push into the national market with its cricket protein bars, founder Pat Crowley caught up with FoodNavigator-USA on the enviable efficiency of...

Key Insights from Food Vision

In conversation with the mastermind behind the €250,000 lab-grown burger

16-Apr-2014 By Nathan Gray

Last year Professor Mark Post sparked international interest with the unveiling, and tasting, of the world's first lab-grown meat. Since then he's been working to iron out technical issues so that commercially available lab-grown meat can become...

Two weeks to go! Register for FoodNavigator-USA’s Gluten-free in Perspective Forum

16-Apr-2014 By Elaine Watson

There are just two weeks to go until FoodNavigator’s live (and hopefully very lively) online debate on one of the hottest trends in food development: gluten-free.

Protein experts slam ‘biased and flawed’ study linking protein to increased cancer mortality

07-Apr-2014 By Stephen DANIELLS

A recent study linking protein intake to an increased risk of cancer death could have detrimental public health implications for adults seeking to maintain muscle health and avoid sarcopenia, says a group of leading protein experts.

Big interview: Ethan Brown and Brent Taylor, co-founders, Beyond Meat

Beyond Meat founders: 'We’re a meat company that makes products from plants'

04-Apr-2014 By Elaine WATSON

“We’re a meat company that make products from plants”, say the entrepreneurs behind Beyond Meat, which makes "near-perfect replicas of meat" from plants. And they’re thinking big. After all, why settle for a slice of the $600m US meat-alternatives...

AHPA's new protein guidance addresses issue that has been percolating for years

03-Apr-2014 By Hank Schultz

The American Herbal Products Association has set a new policy for how member companies ought to calculate the amount of protein in their products to deal with a situation in which the amount of protein has potentially been overreported in some products...

More than half of US adults say they want more protein in their diets, says NPD Group

03-Apr-2014 By Elaine WATSON

More than half of Americans say they want more protein in their diets, while the percentage that claim to look for protein on the Nutrition Facts panel has increased from 20% in 2009 to 25% in 2013, according to market researcher NPD Group.

Special edition: Nuts, pulses and legumes

No picnic: Is pea protein moving from the fringe to mainstream?

02-Apr-2014 By Annie Harrison-Dunn

Pea protein may be moving in from the food and beverage fringes, however formulating with the fast-growing ingredient is 'no picnic' according to functional confectionery firm Carmit.

Special edition: Nuts, pulses & legumes

Roasted and salted? Peanuts can be so much more, NPB says

26-Mar-2014 By Maggie Hennessy

Sometimes it’s hard to think inventively about the ingredient that comprises half the ubiquitous peanut butter and jelly sandwich or is passed to us in small pouches on most airplane rides. But from flours and spreads to use as a legume, the potential...

Special edition: Nuts, pulses & legumes

InHarvest: Legumes, pulses steal spotlight from animal protein

25-Mar-2014 By Maggie Hennessy

At the 2014 Research Chefs Association Conference & Culinology Expo, FoodNavigator-USA caught up with chef Michael Holleman, director of culinary development at artisan grain and legume supplier InHarvest, for a podcast Q&A on trends in pulses,...

Special edition: Nuts, Pulses & Legumes

Has soy lost its sparkle? Not from where we’re standing, says DuPont as it taps into high-protein craze

24-Mar-2014 By Elaine WATSON

The current high-protein craze in the US food and beverage market is driving continued demand for soy-ingredients, with particular growth opportunities in sports nutrition, food for kids, and weight management, says one leading supplier.