No matter how fast entrepreneurs hustle or how good their products are, all companies inevitably hit plateaus that threaten to stall or even kill their businesses, and how quickly they can push through depends in large part on the strength of their branding.
While the US beverage industry is “fundamentally strong” with double-digit sales growth in the last five years, it also is experiencing “big swings” that are reordering the leaderboard as consumers revamp their daily routines to focus more on their health...
Wanting everything to be perfect when launching a new brand is understandable – but it is also a huge detriment that can delay the initial takeoff or hold back a product or company from reaching its full potential long-term, according to the CEO of ice...
Over 60 organizations including the GMA, the Independent Bakers Association, the National Potato Council, and the Natural Products Association have joined together to ask Congress to amend the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act.
Chobani’s mission to deliver better food to more people is about more than creating finished goods that are more nutritious and more accessible – it also is about making those products in a better way, which is one reason why it is adding a Food Tech...
Rising consumer interest in the high-fat ketogenic diet, and the subsequent frustration many feel trying to adhere to the restrictive approach, could prompt a new wave of people to turn to the low-carb Atkins diet as a more flexible option that shares...
“Much needed” federal funding for organic research, education and outreach could double in the next two years if measures in the Senate Agriculture Committee’s draft farm bill released June 8 make it into the final farm bill.
Food and beverage manufacturers and suppliers must actively reassure their partners abroad that they are reliable even as the US pulls out of key international trade arrangements and negotiations around the North American Free Trade Agreement hit the...
Dr Lustig: 'Despite the food industry's propaganda, people now understand that 'a calorie is not a calorie...'
Dr Robert Lustig’s mantra – that not all calories were created equal - appears to be resonating with more US consumers, with one third (33%) of Americans believing that sugars are the ‘source of calories most likely to cause weight gain’ compared with...
Organic stakeholders are considering how they can promote their industry and raise funds for organic agriculture research and extension efforts after the US Department of Agriculture “blindsided” them by terminating the check-off program that many worked...
Record organic sales of $49.5 billion last year are overshadowed by a slowdown of organic dairy and egg sales, which the Organic Trade Association attributes partly to USDA’s abrupt withdrawal of a widely popular rule that would have strengthened animal...
SweeGen and Ingredion (which distributes SweeGen products in markets outside of China*) have secured the green light** to market the firm’s Reb M stevia in selected food and beverage applications and as a tabletop sweetener in Colombia.
The US Department of Agriculture has launched a comprehensive and aggressive three-prong approach to detect and prevent fraud in the organic industry, after the discovery last year that some imports from Eastern Europe were falsely labeled as organic,...
Starting next month, a small but diverse group of organic stakeholders from across the supply chain will test-drive a rigorous set of fraud prevention, detection and mitigation strategies that once fine-tuned will become subject to the annual inspection...
Members of the Organic Trade Association went on the defensive last week when they met with Congressional leaders and their staff on Capitol Hill to lay out their legislative priorities for the coming year, and to ask for help protecting the integrity...
Despite consumers spending more time and money online, more than three-quarters (78%) are wary of the freshness and 63% have food safety concerns for items that they buy online, according to Mintel.
The FDA has made it clear it wants to remove all PHOs (partially hydrogenated oils) from the US food supply and has shot down the Grocery Manufacturers Association’s (GMA) petition seeking to allow specific and limited uses of PHOs.
Most Americans are aware of the successful Got Milk? slogan, and now the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC), the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) are collaborating to create the "Got Jobs?...
World-renowned chef Thomas Keller once said, ‘Food should be fun.’ But to those who make the products we eat and drink, there is nothing fun about food and beverage labeling litigation.
RangeMe – an online matchmaker connecting CPG buyers and suppliers – is fast becoming the ‘Google of CPG’ and the first port of call for retailers looking to research new products and identify new suppliers, says the firm, which has attracted 125,000+...
Startups that balance the health of consumers and the planet, as well as consider how their product impacts others up and down the supply chain are catching the attention of investors, according to industry insiders.
The World Health Organization’s draft recommendation that adults and children reduce trans-fatty acid intake to less than 1% of total energy and industrially produced trans-fatty acids be removed from the global supply chain leaves both public health...
If the first wave of comments to its proposed rule on GMO labeling is anything to go by, USDA’s agricultural marketing service faces a daunting task as it seeks to nail down its national bioengineered food disclosure standard, with early feedback revealing...
To win the battle of the bulge and “fix the food system,” advocates for health and nutrition need to work with “disparate allies” that have a stake in the fight against obesity but are not currently on the front lines, according to Dariush Mozaffarian,...
Terms such as ‘streamlining overheads’ and ‘footprint optimization’ conjure up images of job cuts and factory closures, but IFF’s $7.1bn megadeal to acquire Israeli flavors and natural ingredients firm Frutarom is “all about growth, not cost savings at...
Do you ever feel like you are in mortal combat with your business? Like either you are killing it, and orders are rolling in, sales are up and margins are wide – or it is killing you, and there are packing delays, profits are down and you can’t sleep...
Based on emerging consumer concerns about their health and that of the planet, the future of packaged food must be both healthier for people and sustainable for the planet to succeed, according to the founder of the conceptual grocery store The Future...
Portion control may be the best chance – and biggest challenge – at turning around the current obesity epidemic, according to industry experts at the Partnership for a Healthier America Summit in Washington, DC, this month.
Manufacturers and public health advocates hoping to inspire children to eat more healthily will have better luck if they partner with kids to deliver the message rather than adults who could be perceived as talking down to the target audience, delegates...
What's in your lunchbox? Healthy meals, snacks and drinks for children
Almost one in three American children is overweight or obese, and one in every 13 has a food allergy.* So how can retailers, packaged food brands and the foodservice industry address these concerns, and develop nutritious and delicious meals, snacks,...
Childhood obesity: 'Are we making progress or has progress stalled?'
New data suggesting childhood obesity in the US is on the rise again may not tell the full story, but nevertheless serves as a call for manufacturers and public health advocates to redouble their efforts to improve the diet and health of young Americans,...
As rivals Plated and Chef’d have embraced an omni-channel strategy, Blue Apron has unveiled plans to expand the rollout of branded meal kits at Costco in a bid to woo consumers that buy into the meal kit concept, but don’t want to commit to a subscription.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has published a long-awaited proposed rule to establish GMO labeling standards (the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard), but still leaves most of the key questions – including how to interpret its...
'Some of them have no intention of filing a lawsuit. The only intention is to line their pockets...'
You can’t beat a good courtroom drama, but if you’re monitoring the food litigation scene these days, you’re highly unlikely to get one, observed experts at a recent legal conference, who claimed that a small number of law firms targeting food brands...
Companies that want to win over shoppers seeking a healthier life must do more than simply offer better for you brands – they also must clear up the widespread confusion about nutrition that holds consumers back from making meaningful dietary changes,...
Contrary to popular belief, the center of the grocery store is not dead, but rather, when well-curated, is an emerging destination for shoppers seeking innovative brands that cater to their specific health and lifestyle goals, according to new research...
As public enemy No. 1, sugar often is portrayed online as “toxic” or as “poisoning our bodies,” but this characterization is “a complete … web myth,” that oversimplifies the cause of diet related chronic diseases and doesn’t take into account the benefits...
Novozymes, a global producer of enzymes that controls roughly 48% of the market, is seeing its focus on food and beverage solutions and innovation pay off in 2018.
New research showing low-income, older Americans want to eat well to improve their health, but face additional barriers to doing so compared to their wealthier counterparts also reveals a marketing opportunity for better-for-you and wellness-oriented...
Fed up that “sugar-packed foods, such as toaster pastries and pudding cups” can claim to be ‘healthy,’ but eggs cannot, despite their high levels of protein and beneficial nutrients, Pete & Gerry’s Organic Eggs is petitioning FDA to modify its labeling...
The dairy industries on both sides of the Atlantic share quite different views on the recently negotiated trade deal between the European Union and Mexico.
PBFA: Changing course now could put the FDA in a legal bind
FDA commissioner Dr Scott Gottlieb says the agency is “actively” exploring whether consumers are being misled by the use of terms such as ‘milk’ or ‘yogurt’ to describe plant based products, but says the FDA's radio silence on this issue in recent...
As part of Danone North America, the Dannon Probiotics Fellowship Grant Program has awarded two graduate students with $25,000 each to help fund their independent and novel studies of yogurt, probiotics, and the human gut microbiome.
The grocery website Peapod continues to push the boundaries of how to sell food and beverage online with a new multi-prong price reduction model that leverages unique aspects of ecommerce to profile products in innovative ways that brick and mortar stores...
Proposed research questions for the 2020 Dietary Guidelines that continue to focus on consumption in relation to nutrient adequacy are “disappointing,” and a better use of resources would be to look at the impact of food groups on disease endpoints, argues...
The high bar set by the companies honored late last week at Whole Foods Market’s annual supplier awards ceremony represents not only what it takes to earn a coveted spot on the retailer’s shelves, but also in the baskets of consumers who increasingly...
More Americans say they are cutting back on sugar as their collective awareness rises about the prevalence and potential health impact of the ingredient, but those who still want something sweet are not clear on what the best option is, according to new...
With only one shot to make a first impression, it is essential that images and messages on product packaging clearly communicate companies’ principles and meet consumers’ evolving values.
