To many consumers, ‘processed food’ is just another term for ‘junk food.’ It’s hard to define, but we know it when we see it (Twinkies). But do we know a ‘highly processed’ ingredient when we see it, and how much processing is too much? Elaine Watson...
What new tools are brands using to get products to market more quickly, and build consumer insights into the process at every stage? Are traditional focus groups becoming passé?
French dairy company Danone has entered into a binding agreement with fellow-French company Lactalis to sell Stonyfield, one of its US dairy subsidiaries, for a purchase price of $875m.
The center of the store may be where growth of online sales and orders thrive, but consumers are getting more comfortable clicking away to buy products from other aisles to. According to 1010DATA, online ice cream orders have grown threefold since 2014...
One product that generated quite a buzz at the IFT show this year was NuBana green banana flour from International Agriculture Group (IAG). Elaine Watson caught up with VP marketing and business development (and resistant starch guru) Rhonda Witwer to...
COO: 'We’re in a stable financial position both from an operating point of view and a capital point of view'
Chobani – which disrupted the US dairy category a decade ago with its Greek yogurt – is now aiming to do the same in the non-Greek segment with the launch of Chobani Smooth, a low fat, mild-tasting blended fruit yogurt with twice the protein, 25% less...
Oui by Yoplait – a new line of ‘pot set’ traditional French style yogurts made with whole milk – will hit shelves this summer as brand owner General Mills seeks to regain the initiative in the US yogurt category and claw back market share lost to rivals...
Acting responsibly and creating a positive social impact is no longer optional for companies – it is now a basic requirement for success based on the increasing weight consumers place on corporations' ethical and moral actions when making their purchasing...
Frito-Lay has developed a method to make chips containing high amounts of yogurt and live probiotics that can be sold in the shelf-stable snacks aisle.
While barely a week goes by without the launch of a new meal kit company, there is room in the market for “many multi-billion dollar players,” provided they carve out a distinct niche, insists the founder of Gobble, which focuses on pre-prepped meals...
Aside from giving Amazon a network of bricks & mortar stores from which to expand Amazon Fresh and other services, acquiring Whole Foods gives the ecommerce giant access to the 365 private label brand, which could become a “focal point of its online...
Arla Foods has been ordered to halt its new $30m ‘Live Unprocessed’ ad campaign – which makes a virtue of using milk from cows that have not been fed the growth hormone rBST - in the wake of legal action* filed by rbST maker Eli Lilly (Elanco).
It’s no secret that small and medium-sized food & beverage manufacturers are driving much of the growth in food retail. But they are also selling a far lower percentage of their wares on promotion, and generating a higher percentage of sales from...
The Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg today announced purely plant-based products cannot, in principle, be marketed with designations such as ‘milk’, ‘cream’, ‘butter’, ‘cheese’ or ‘yogurt’, which are reserved by EU law for animal products.
Given that Lidl is only opening its first US stores this week, it’s impossible to predict with certainty what its future looks like, but it could be a significant force in US food retailing in just five years, predict analysts at Kantar Retail.
As widely expected, the FDA is to extend the compliance dates for the Nutrition Facts label final rules to give manufacturers more time to prepare, although it has not yet said what the new deadlines are.
When US negotiators begin the process of modernizing and updating NAFTA, US dairy groups have stated maintaining a dependable trade relationship with Mexico and removing trade barriers in Canada remain priorities.
Kraft Heinz was recently rebuffed by Unilever, but is widely rumored to be eyeing up other acquisitions. But would a marriage with PepsiCo, one of several potential targets rumored to be on the shopping list, be a match made in heaven?
Attorney: ‘Slapping another undefined term on packages that could be attacked legally’ is risky
A new 'clean label' certification scheme has been launched in the US market as the concept of ‘clean’ eating continues to gain traction. But will CPG brands embrace the ‘Go Clean Label Certified’ logo, and are there risks to using a term that...
As Lidl prepares to open its first US stores this week, German rival ALDI has unveiled a $3.4bn plan to expand its US store base to 2,500 by 2022, on top of a $1.6bn store remodeling plan unveiled in February to revamp 1,300 stores by 2020.
A tale of two plant ‘milk’ lawsuits: Court stays Whitewave lawsuit, but dubs near-identical case vs Blue Diamond as ‘patently implausible’ and throws it out
A lawsuit alleging Silk almondmilk is falsely advertised as nutritionally equivalent to dairy milk has been stayed by a judge on primary jurisdiction grounds, while a near-identical case filed by the same law firm over Almond Breeze has been thrown out...
Ganeden has received a no objections letter from FDA regarding its determination that new immune health ingredient Staimune is Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS).
A new player in the stevia market - Steviana Bioscience - is looking to carve a niche in the market for next generation stevia sweeteners, which utilize some of the minor glycosides in the stevia leaf, notably Reb D.
‘Amazon Choice is becoming increasingly important as we transition to this world of voice’
It’s well known that the brands that are growing the most rapidly on Amazon are not necessarily growing the most rapidly in grocery stores, so what are the most successful CPG players on Amazon doing differently?
At the crossroad of Americans’ increasingly sedentary work- and lifestyles and their demand for decadent food is a growing need for digestive remedies and an opportunity for supplements and fortified foods to edge out over-the-counter treatments that...
Arla Foods has defended its new ‘Live Unprocessed’ ad campaign – which makes a virtue of using milk from cows that have not been fed the growth hormone rBST - in the wake of legal action filed by rBST maker Eli Lilly alleging the ads are “built upon a...
The number of class action filings against food and beverage companies dipped from 158 in 2015 to 145 in 2016, largely due to a drop off in ‘natural’ lawsuits, but food manufacturers remain vulnerable to legal action on a host of other fronts, from slack...
A “powerful and emotional brand connection,” “constant product innovation,” “attractive unit economics,” a “hard-to-replicate value chain,” and “proprietary technology and data,” help Blue Apron stand out in the burgeoning meal kit market, says the company....
The definition of probiotic varies by region, and an increasing number of products potentially mislabeled as “probiotic”. In response, the International Probiotics Association has released a guidance document.
Sargento attorney: This case is without legal basis and speculative
Should dairy brands using milk from cows that may have consumed GM feed or been treated with rbST be allowed to market their wares as ‘natural’? Not according to the latest in a new wave of false advertising lawsuits arguing that products utilizing genetic...
A novel way of processing carrageenan means the cultivated variety matches wild carrageenan for functionality in dairy desserts. It's also cheaper than wild and has a more stable supply, says Cargill.
Despite pressure created by food inflation and price deflation, sales of organic continue to grow “at a good clip,” with protein, dips and seasoning breaking out “to find their stride” in the market, according to the head of the Organic Trade Association.
The plant-based trend is gaining traction in North America, but does it have similar appeal in Latin America? FoodNavigator-USA caught up with Gustavo Guadagnini, managing director at the Good Food Institute (GFI), Brazil, to find out where the Brazilian...
President Trump’s aggressive budget proposal for fiscal 2018 is a pennywise and pound-foolish approach to agriculture, and especially organic production and sales, according to legislators and industry leaders, who promise to fight for more balance.
As part of a larger strategy to reduce the US deficit, the Trump Administration wants to help the agriculture sector “punch above its weight” by promoting trade, providing an affordable workforce, easing regulatory burdens and including it in the infrastructure...
ABA: Fiber suppliers are stuck in a 'holding pattern'
The arrival of the new-look Nutrition Facts panel (which will require manufacturers to list added sugar), is generating renewed interest in inulin: a widely-used ingredient from chicory root that also serves as a sugar replacer. But this enthusiasm is...
More than a hundred representatives for the organic industry descended on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, last Thursday to extol to legislators the benefits of their industry to the US economy and ask for additional funding and help expand organic practices...
Breakfast has long been known as the most important meal of the day, but when people are eating it and what they are reaching for is quickly evolving and as such creating both challenges and opportunities for manufacturers of packaged products, according...
Will the July 2018 deadline for compliance with the new Nutrition Facts panel stand? Will federal GMO labeling regulations stop GMO-related lawsuits? And will the FDA nail down ‘natural’ anytime soon? FoodNavigator-USA headed to the American Conference...
According to the nonprofit Feeding America, 126 billion pounds of food is wasted each year in America – a staggering number that prompted USDA and EPA to challenge producers, manufacturers and consumers to help reduce food loss and waste by 50% by 2030.
To stimulate public debate about the “double burden” of malnutrition in the United States and spur food and beverage companies in the nation to improve the nutritional profile of and access to their products, the publisher of the influential Access to...
Budget proposals unveiled by the Trump administration this week include a $193bn cut to food stamps (SNAP: the supplemental nutrition assistance program) over the next 10 years – slashing SNAP’s budget by almost a quarter - and limits on farm subsidies.
Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG) has joined a growing number of high-profile names – from Ahold and Whole Foods to Target – that have signed up with online platform RangeMe to help streamline the product and supplier discovery process.
McBurney: ‘Nutrition status measurements will enter the era of home pregnancy testing’
“It is time to change the nutrition dialogue from an obsession about what foods we put into our body to objective measures of nutritional status,” according to one nutrition thought leader.
Updated daily values (DVs) for vitamins and minerals that will roll out with the new-look Nutrition Facts panel, coupled with changes to serving sizes, may reduce the nutrient density of fortified foods, and could lead to reduced overall intakes of some...
The first Lidl US stores will open on June 15 in the Carolinas and Virginia, the company announced at an exclusive press event in Manhattan on Tuesday.
Plant Based Foods Association: 'I am not sure how this resolution helps'
State milk regulators have weighed into the plant-based milk debate in a vote that was hailed by the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) as “the strongest statement yet that the abuse of dairy terms has gone too far," but dismissed as unhelpful...
Infant nutrition is in the business of ‘selling sleep’ according to the CEO of Food for Health Ireland in a panel discussion at the trade event Vitafoods.
Higher hip bone density and a reduced risk of osteoporosis have been found to occur after increased consumption of yoghurt in older women and men in Ireland.
