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.
'America is becoming a nation of par-cookers, snackers and meal assemblers'
As supermarkets continue to lose market share to high- and low-end rivals, they must fully embrace consumer demand for fresh, stock more premium products and behave more like specialty retailers if they are to survive in today’s climate, according to...
Sprouts Farmers Market is aggressively expanding its private label program, particularly in the deli area in order to “enhance our position as a ready-to-eat destination,” CEO Amin Maredia said this week.
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...
Manufacturers have been ‘cleaning up’ food labels for years, but the pressure to oust 'unpronounceable' ingredients has now become so great that important vitamins and minerals (which often have chemical-sounding names) are also being ditched...
New NGS DNA testing methods will replace PCR, predicts Clear Labs
As the Non-GMO Project states on its website, ‘GMO-free’ claims are “not legally or scientifically defensible due to limitations of testing methodology" coupled with cross-contamination risks. In future, however, that could change as testing methods...
Consumers increasingly are seeking products that they are simple, with ingredients that they can pronounce, benefits that thy understand and minimal processing, but as a leading Mintel analyst noted at IFT’s Food Expo in Chicago “simple” isn’t always...
Milled whole cricket powder is probably the best known bug-derived food ingredient aside from red food color carmine. But what other delights might edible insects yield for food formulators? Elaine Watson caught up with bug enthusiast Dr George Cavender...
A class action lawsuit accusing Coca-Cola subsidiary Odwalla of misleading consumers by using the term ‘evaporated cane juice’ (ECJ) on labels is now back in play in the wake of the FDA’s finalized guidance – and is likely to be joined by scores of others,...
Terms like ‘foodstagramming’ ‘digital grazing’ and ‘food porn’ may have entered our lexicon recently but the phenomenon is far from new, say researchers - but could the sheer saturation of picture perfect food today be sparking unintended consequences?
In keeping with its mission-based foundation of “making better food for more people,” Chobani is now accepting applications for its new Food Incubator Program to help entrepreneurs and small food companies grow their businesses.
You can trademark words, phrases, symbols and designs, so what about #hashtags? It's relatively new territory in the world of intellectual property law, but it's well worth doing, say Rebecca Cross and Allison Hagey at law firm BraunHagey &...
Consumer demand for products and companies that “do good” – such as donate a percentage of sales to a non-profit, follow environmentally friendly practices or meet religious needs – continues to rise and in doing so illustrates that doing good is not...
The FDA is amending the food additive regulations to allow manufacturers to fortify a wider range of plant-based dairy milk alternatives and yogurt alternatives with vitamin D2, and to increase the current permitted levels of vitamin D3 in dairy milk,...
US retail sales of plant-based foods & beverages grew 3.4% to $4.9bn in the year to June 12, 2016, with particularly strong growth in cheese alternatives and refrigerated nut milks, according to new data from SPINS.
The US House of Representatives has voted to pass a federal GMO labeling bill (306:117 votes) that would pre-empt and nullify all state-led GMO labeling laws including the one that has just come into effect in Vermont.
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.”
New data from Nielsen reveals that private label’s dollar share of the US CPG market has hovered stubbornly below 18% since 2011 before declining very slightly in the latest 52 weeks, while a breakdown of purchasing habits by ethnic group reveals that...
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,...
The results are in: We asked FoodNavigator readers what Brexit means for them and their business. Nearly 300 responded - and almost one third said they are now considering relocating their business outside of the UK.
As a plant-based diet becomes more on trend, analysts from Innova Market Insights reveal “new opportunities to target vegans, vegetarians, non-meat eaters, and non red-meat eaters.”
Natural colors specialist DDW will be launching a new food color at the IFT show that will deliver a vibrant red to purple hue, depending on pH, with a “clean, neutral taste.”
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.
While big ‘legacy’ food and beverage brands are laser focused on price, promotion and placement, no amount of financial or merchandising wizardry can mask the fact that smaller, sexier, more disruptive, brands are outpacing them. But should CPG’s biggest...
Michael Conway: Senate GMO bill is 'riddled with ambiguity'
Industry groups are lobbying leaders in the House of Representatives to allow a vote on a GMO labeling bill next week before they break for the party conventions, after the proposed legislation was passed in the Senate in a 63-30 vote last night.
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.
Whole Foods Market – which has not shared its sales data with syndicated data providers for a decade –is returning to cooperator status. But why now, and what does this mean, both for Whole Foods and the wider industry?
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...
USDA addresses concerns about the narrow definition of 'bioengineered'
The US Senate has voted to proceed to final debate on a federal GMO labeling bill in a cloture vote of 65-32, with the Senate set to vote on final passage as early as Thursday (July 7).
An industry-backed survey of 1,665 online primary shoppers suggests that Vermont’s mandatory GMO labels “strongly mislead consumers,” claims the Corn Refiners Association (CRA).
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...
In 2015, the top 25 food and beverage companies generated 45% of category sales in the US but drove just 3% of total category growth from 2011 to 2015, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of just 0.1%, according to Nielsen data. So if they are not...
Rising food prices, watered-down safety standards, food law dictated by big businesses and a disastrous impact on public health. Professor in food policy Tim Lang looks at the options of a post-Brexit UK but sees little light at the end of the channel...
If the next wave of 365 by Whole Foods Market stores performs as strongly as the first one, which opened in Los Angeles on May 25, the new format will be scaled up “very rapidly,” says co-CEO John Mackey.
Britain has voted to leave the European Union and Prime Minister David Cameron has resigned as a result. Across Europe and the UK, the food industry is coming to terms with the outcome.
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...
As Britons prepare to vote tomorrow on whether the UK should leave the European Union, industry players are making last minute pleas to either stay or leave.
Properly applied, intellectual property law is flexible enough to protect creative food designs from substantial copying, but with built-in limitations that safeguard against stifling collaboration in the food industry, says Foley Hoag attorney Natasha...
The FDA’s finalized guidance on evaporated cane juice (ECJ) labeling “puts the final nail in the coffin,” of food manufacturers’ defense of the much-maligned term, argues the plaintiff in an ECJ-related lawsuit, while defendant Lifeway Foods insists the...
Investment experts and industry-leading entrepreneurs will provide insights and tips on how to improve the odds of successfully obtaining financing during the upcoming “Financing Your Consumer Products Company” seminar.
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.
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.
All too often good intentions lead to bad consequences, as is the case for most caregivers in the US who demonstrate affection and comfort by buying and preparing an abundance of food for their family to enjoy, according to new research.
The global discourse on obesity is full of people saying it's a complex problem but offering simple solutions - it's time we put in place a bottom-up and top-down approach, says food and health expert Dr Mike Gibney.
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.
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.
