With most retail chains now stocking a wide selection of plant-based burgers, sausages, and grounds, retailers and investors are looking for areas of untapped opportunity in the plant-based meat space, says Berkeley-based startup Renegade Food, which...
To create a “perfect food system” that can feed more people with fewer resources in the next 50 years, the food industry needs to turn 180-degrees away from long-considered “best practices,” including focusing on high yield crops, concentrating production...
Venture capitalists’ initial hesitancy to enter new deals immediately following the coronavirus outbreak appears to be easing with the most interest and activity focused on grocery CPGs and food delivery, according to an analyst with Pitchbook.
At six months into the pandemic, we are well-past the frantic pantry stocking days that left many store shelves bare, and yet, the broad product selection available in stores before the coronavirus outbreak has not returned – prompting questions about...
Looking back, spring 2020 was not the ideal time to debut in grocery retail, observes Planterra Foods CEO Darcey Macken, who was gearing up to make a splash in the plant-based meat set in mid-April with the OZO brand before a certain pandemic threw a...
Plant-based meat maker Upton’s Naturals and the Plant Based Foods Association (PBFA) have fired the latest salvo in the battle over the labeling of plant-based products in a lawsuit* challenging Oklahoma’s new ‘Meat Consumer Protection Act.’
As the number of Americans dependent on what was once known as food stamps swells to 13% of the population due in large part to an unemployment spike related to the pandemic, they have become an increasingly important demographic for CPG retailers, according...
As part of a highly-anticipated plan to re-engineer its portfolio and pay down debt, Kraft Heinz has unveiled plans to sell a mix of cheese brands to Lactalis in a $3.2bn deal, and find $2bn of cost savings through 2024 from efficiencies in procurement,...
Last Friday marked six months since the coronavirus pandemic was declared, which for many Americans means six months of either risking exposure to go to work as essential employees or six months of working remotely from a repurposed kitchen table or other...
Meat giant Smithfield Foods – the recipient of a citation from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for failing to protect employees from exposure to the coronavirus – says it is “wholly without merit and we plan to contest it.”
CHOMPS – known for its brightly-colored meat sticks and miniature CHOMPLINGS products – is seeking to capture a 'significant share' of the meat snacks category by focusing on the "metrics that really matter," says co-founder and CEO...
Beyond Meat (Jiaxing) Food Co., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Beyond Meat, Inc., has signed an agreement with Jiaxing Economic & Technological Development Zone (JXEDZ) to manufacture plant-based meat products including beef, pork, and chicken under...
Retailers interested in attracting more Black shoppers, who Nielsen reports wield an annual buying power of $1.5 trillion and make more grocery trips per year than all other racial groups, need to stock and prominently highlight more products by Black-owned...
While most entrepreneurs expect to carry a heavy load the first few years after a company or brand launches, many underestimate the difficulty of eventually letting go of responsibility as the business scales – no matter how exhausted or desperate for...
Responding to “overwhelming demand” in Canada, the Impossible Burger will be available this year in a wider variety of restaurants and grocery stores throughout the country.
Launched in September 2019, Target’s newest private label line Good & Gather has generated more than $1bn in sales and will nearly double its line with 600 new items this fall.
Walmart+, a new membership program launched by Walmart this month, clearly illustrates the retailer’s online grocery ambitions as it goes toe-to-toe with Amazon Prime. Concurrently, the move also signals Walmart’s ambitions of becoming more than a leading...
For many consumers, shelf-table tuna has long been a back-of-pantry fall back to tie together slim pickings or disparate ingredients, but a new playful ad campaign from Bumble Bee Seafoods seeks to reposition it as a front-of-pantry solution with diverse...
As demand for more meat-like plant-based products grows, Dr. Praeger’s Sensible Foods continues to expand beyond the vegetable-forward frozen foods it is best-known for with the launch of the Perfect Turk’y Burger, while still holding the line on its...
Impossible Foods is rolling out the Impossible Burger to 350 Sprouts Farmers Market stores in 23 states starting this week, bringing its total retail footprint to more than 10,000 locations across the US.
As many schools negotiate how to teach children safely during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, they also must navigate how to feed them – a challenge that will require creativity and cooperation from regulators, legislators, and school nutrition professionals...
Plant-based protein specialist PURIS – a key supplier of pea protein to Beyond Meat - is rolling out a series of new products this year including a pea syrup that can serve as an alternative to corn-, brown rice- or tapioca syrup; and sweet lupin flour,...
While sales of natural and organic products continue to grow in the high single- digits year-over-year, the industry’s lack of leadership diversity, including brands owned by people of color and women, is holding it back from its full market potential,...
After months of meeting heightened consumer demand related to coronavirus pantry stocking and increased at-home consumption, SPAM and Skippy manufacturer Hormel Foods could face inventory shortages in the fourth quarter if additional outbreaks at facilities...
In an open letter slammed by Impossible Foods as cynical and disingenuous and dismissed by one commentator as a “PR stunt,” Lightlife Foods has attempted to distinguish itself from ‘food tech’ rivals in the plant-based meat arena by positioning itself...
From protein-packed egg bites and keto crackers to plant-based 'butter' and an array of products touting immune support benefits, checkout FoodNavigator-USA's latest gallery of new products hitting shelves.
Beyond Meat has fired the latest salvo in a legal spat with former co-manufacturer Don Lee Farms with an amended complaint accusing it of misappropriating trade secrets, defrauding Beyond Meat, and infringing its trademarks.
Plant-based egg maker Eat Just hopes to turn an operating profit before the end of 2021, at which point founder and CEO Josh Tetrick says the company will consider an initial public offering (IPO).
US retail sales of leading packaged food brands tracked by Bernstein* rose +12.1% year-on-year in measured channels in the four weeks ending August 8, with big brands reaping continued benefits from the shift to eating at home, though sales growth slowed...
Pork processing giant Smithfield Foods – which threw its hat into the plant-based meat ring last September with the nationwide launch of burgers, breakfast patties, protein crumbles and meatballs under the Pure Farmland brand – has started shipping new...
Lever VC – a global venture capital fund whose partners were investors in Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods, and Memphis Meats – has launched a new fund targeting early stage companies in the burgeoning alternative protein space, with commitments of $23m...
Want to get feedback on your new child-focused food or beverage launch, brand, or business, from our expert panel at FoodNavigator-USA's virtual FOOD FOR KIDS summit in the fall?
Impossible Foods has raised $200m in a Series G funding round led by new investor Coatue, with participation from existing investors including Mirae Asset Global Investments and Temasek as well as new investor XN. The move brings its total funding since...
Kraft Heinz has named Cory Onell as president of US sales; Sanjiv Gajiwala as US chief growth officer; and Stephanie Peterson as head of US communications as it gears up to unveil its strategic plan in September.
What’s new in the world of food preservation? FoodNavigator-USA (FNU) caught up with Courtney Schwartz (CS), marketing director for Kemin Food Technologies, Americas, at the SHIFT20 virtual IFT show to fund out.
Adults who swapped out animal protein for plant-based protein saw lower levels of LDL cholesterol, moderate weight loss, and similar sodium intake and blood pressure levels (compared to animal protein consumption) after eight weeks, revealed a two-phase...
Seafood industry stakeholders and public health advocates want more clarity in the 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans around how much seafood children and pregnant women should eat to reap its potential cognitive developmental benefits, but they diverge...
For the bulk of its 21-year lifespan, Alibaba.com served as an online directory to help buyers identify Chinese suppliers of everything from farm equipment to iPhone cases. Today, it’s a multibillion-dollar global b2b e-commerce platform, and food &...
Whole Foods Market has launched Home Ec 365, a digital home economics curriculum “built to help you adult like a boss” as it refreshes its 365 private label range.
Matrix Meats – an Ohio-based startup developing customizable nanofiber scaffolds for cell-cultured meat production - will showcase a prototype “solid meat product such as a thin piece of steak” in partnership with a cultured meat co by the end of this...
Members of the House Agriculture Committee are demanding USDA take a closer look at and provide additional relief for the coronavirus pandemic’s “disproportionate toll on farmers and ranchers,” and the specialty crop sector.
Despite parents’ best efforts to introduce their children to a variety of foods, many children between the ages one and three are falling short of key nutrients including vitamin D, vitamin E, calcium, fiber, and iron, reveals a study examining National...
Confronted by trash and recycling bins overflowing with food and delivery packaging during the pandemic as well as near daily stories of essential workers risking exposure to the coronavirus to help keep them fed, consumers are placing more pressure on...
Despite uncertainties about the pandemic, investors continue to fund food and beverage businesses, but they are more closely scrutinizing opportunities, holding entrepreneurs to higher standards and offering less for more than they did before the coronavirus...
While COVID-19 dented foodservice sales, Beyond Meat experienced a 194.9% surge in US retail sales in Q2, with strong gains in the club channel and surging sales of its Cookout Classic 10-burger frozen value packs, priced at a 20% premium to conventional...
Responding to increasing fraud threats to the organic industry, the US Department of Agriculture seeks to strengthen oversight and improve the transparency and traceability of organic food through a four-prong plan that praises and mirrors actions already...
Evolving shopping habits brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic are remolding consumer needs, and food brands must build new connections with their customers by paying close attention to new emerging issues, pain points, and desires that matter most to their...
As lawmakers argue whether COVID-19 liability shields for employers should be built into the next stimulus package, Tyson Foods has told a court in Texas that it can’t be held liable for the death of one of its employees because his family can't...
How should meat grown from cultured animal cells be labeled? In a joint FDA/USDA webinar, officials said they would work together to come up with joint principles to govern the labeling of products under their respective jurisdictions (FDA: seafood; USDA:...
