For the co-founders of the better-for-you Asian American food startup immi, the most exciting part of closing their seed fundraise wasn’t the $3.8m that will help them relaunch an improved version of their low-carb, high-protein, plant-based instant ramen...
Interested in meat, dairy, and seafood alternatives? Is all the hype - and the wads of cash - truly justified? Are some formulations (think plant-based cheese and yogurt) really ready for prime time? Are the purchase drivers for plant-based seafood the...
Food tech company ENOUGH broke ground on what it says will be the ‘world’s largest’ fermented protein facility today (16 September). When fully operational the site will have the capacity to produce 50,000 tonnes of mycoprotein ingredient ABUNDA per annum.
A new platform for whole-cut texturization to produce plant-based meat alternatives and cell-based hybrids has been developed by Israeli firm Alfred’s FoodTech, Ltd.
In FoodNavigator-USA's latest roundup of new product launches, we include an eclectic mix of new products, from Chobani's first foray into peanut butter, to Hershey's new 'Oat Made' bars, an interesting new twist on tofu, and...
With soup sales beginning to cool closer to pre-pandemic levels in the last quarter of fiscal 2021, Campbell Soup Co. is heating up the category, literally and figuratively, with innovations across its Pacific, Well Yes! and namesake soup brands to maintain...
Outer Aisle Gourmet – which makes sandwich thins, pizza crusts, and wraps using fresh cauliflower as the #1 ingredient – is gearing up to open its third manufacturing facility to meet growing demand for its grain-free, low-carb products.
When it comes to packaging, is it always clear which is the most environmentally-friendly choice? Mixed material packaging combining high levels of paperboard, for example, is often touted as a greener choice than plastic, but if most of it ends up in...
Retailers struggling with labor shortages are offering higher pay and better benefits to fill vacancies – but according to one industry player they also should embrace automation to ease the burden on and maximize the efficiency of existing staff to maintain...
We all know plant-based foods increase our wind. But with the take up of this kind of diet seen as one of the best ways for individuals to combat climate change, could these gasses potentially bode badly for the atmosphere?
Cargill has opened a $150m pectin production facility in Bebedouro, Brazil, to meet growing global demand for the label-friendly texturizing ingredient.
While investors and journalists are pretty excited about a new wave of startups growing food in fermentation tanks, it’s easy to forget that we’ve been eating a filamentous fungus grown in big metal vats (a.k.a. ‘mycoprotein’) since the 1980s, says the...
Like many CPG players, Kraft Heinz has leaned heavily on pricing to offset inflationary pressures, and is willing to do so again, but it is not the only weapon in the company’s arsenal to protect its margins and balance consumers’ needs, executives said...
By Daniel Fabricant, PhD, Natural Products Association
NPA president and CEO Daniel Fabricant, PhD, argues that FDA does not need new authorities to regulate the CBD market and that determining a safe daily intake level for the substance should be an integral part of that process.
Seven months after releasing a report alleging “dangerous” levels of heavy metals in top baby food brands, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi tells FoodNavigator-USA that the report – criticized by some commentators as alarmist - provided a necessary jolt...
The FDA has approved an aqueous extract of the blue petals of butterfly pea flower (Clitoria ternatea) – a plant native to Southeast Asia – as a color additive exempt from certification following a petition from Sensient Technologies, which described...
Impossible Foods will start rolling out plant-based Impossible Chicken nuggets to the frozen aisle at grocery chains including Walmart, Safeway and Kroger later this month, with a view to reaching 10,000 stores by the year end, while restaurants nationwide...
The Gardein plant-based meat brand notched up retail sales of $170m in measured channels* in the year to July 25, up 33.5% versus two years ago, says brand owner Conagra Brands, which says it's particularly encouraged by the 'growth that is...
Ongoing labor challenges are a double-edged sword for Hormel Foods Corporation, which struggled to fully meet consumer demand in its third quarter due to staffing shortages, but which also saw its food service business rebound significantly thanks to...
Provectus Algae – an Australian startup developing an automated growing platform it claims can unlock algae’s potential as a source of high-value ingredients – is building a large-scale manufacturing facility in Noosaville, Australia, that will start...
Kellogg is bracing for at least another six to nine months of volatility as it continues to grapple with supply chain constraints, inflation and labor shortages, but it also is optimistic about upcoming innovations and opportunities embedded in new consumer...
Ari Raz - who helped introduce Americans to fresh baby food via the Once Upon a Farm brand – has taken the helm at The Coconut Cult, another California-based startup attempting to carve out a new category in grocery.
While many retailers and CPG manufacturers are implementing price increases to their product assortments, online fresh food retailer FreshDirect said it will be rolling out price savings to consumers on a wide variety of its products.
Beyond Meat has won the latest round in its bitter four-year legal dispute* with former co-manufacturer Don Lee Farms triggered by the early termination of an exclusive five-year supply agreement between the two parties. But the case is far from over,...
B&G Foods is selling its Portland, Maine, manufacturing facility to the Institute for Digital Engineering and Life Sciences to cut costs and boost efficiencies at a time when the overall food and beverage industry is struggling with inflation and...
Messaging around dairy alternatives often focuses on health, sustainability, animal welfare, or food allergy/intolerance, which motivates shoppers that want to feel good about what they put in their baskets and their bodies. But ‘plant curious’ consumers...
Whether it is in-person, online or a hybrid of both, children across the country are returning to school – bringing relief to some caregivers and triggering anxiety in others, but either way almost everyone is headed to the store for classroom essentials,...
Thanks to blockchain and other advances in traceability, it’s tempting to think that in the event of a problem (foodborne illness, adulteration, contamination, child labor question marks), we can trace everything in the food supply chain back to its source...
Food prices across categories are predicted to rise low- to mid-single digits this year and again next year – adding on to already higher prices in 2020 fueled in part by the pandemic and raising questions about how consumers will react in the long term,...
When COVID-19 hit, Amy’s Kitchen – best known for its frozen pizzas, burritos, entrees and shelf-stable soups – ticked all the right boxes for ‘pandemic cuisine,’ says chief customer and consumer officer Karen Jobb. It makes convenient, healthy, restaurant-quality...
The cost of containerized freight has reached an all-time high, says a new report from Mintec, which says its global shipping composite index (based on 11 east-west trade routes) reached a monthly average of $8,796 per 40-foot container in June, up +24%...
Don Lee Farms has filed a motion to compel Beyond Meat to share text messages from CEO Ethan Brown in the latest installment of an increasingly acrimonious legal dispute* between the plant-based meat firm and former co-manufacturer Don Lee Farms triggered...
As the pandemic drags on and consumers feel more confident in the kitchen they are relying less on well-known, iconic brands for comfort as they did in the months immediately following the coronavirus outbreak and are more willing to try new brands and...
Plant-based foods co Nabati Foods – which is based in Edmonton, Canada, with a US HQ in Seattle - has launched a plant-based liquid egg product (Nabati Plant Eggz) at Nabati.ca, that will soon roll out at Sobeys in Quebec, and at Whole Foods across British...
General Mills is dipping its toes into the emerging ‘animal-free’ dairy category with a brand called Renegade Creamery developing cheeses utilizing dairy proteins made via microbial fermentation (without cows).
The Mars Advanced Research Institute (MARI) is a division of Mars examining how developments in science and technology are going to shape the future food system. Dr Abi Stevenson, Mars VP of MARI, told us her unit is ‘looking at those truly next generation...
Pandemic-related limitations on key resources, from essential ingredients to packaging to labor, continue to challenge food and beverage manufacturers, and while pressures may ease in one area they simultaneously increase in another – elevating the need...
Target’s food and beverage business grew low double-digits in the second quarter of 2021 thanks in large part to improvements to the retailer’s curbside pickup program, “impressive performance” of “essential” food and beverage sales and the return of...
Dairy proteins used to come exclusively from cows. Today, people can program microbes or plants to produce them without our farmyard friends, or even deploy bovine mammary cells that ‘lactate’ outside of an animal. But which approach is the most scalable,...
Unit and dollar sales of frozen food continue to outpace those of total food and beverage as consumers first gravitated to the category during the pandemic for long-lasting options between less frequent store trips, but as mobility increases many continue...
Beyond Meat’s filings with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) reveal the broad scope of the company’s innovation pipeline, with trademark applications over the past couple of years spanning everything from Beyond Milk and Beyond Eggs...
Oatly’s fill rates – currently at around 70% on a global basis and lower than that in the US – should increase significantly over the next couple of quarters as new capacity comes online, says the oatmilk maker, which claims gross margins will also improve...
Join Noblegen, Plantible Foods, Superbrewed Food, Mattson and Lever VC to discuss the future of protein
Plant-based proteins such as soy and pea continue to dominate the so-called ‘alternative protein’ category, but they’re not the only game in town. New options are now emerging from ‘animal-free’ collagen and whey to a novel set of proteins produced naturally...
If the cultivated meat industry were to set the ambitious target of supplying 10% of the global meat market, how much product would be required? How many factories, containing how many bioreactors, would need to be built? And where?
Just as the term “all-natural” has lost much of its healthy-image luster over the years, the claim of “plant-based” also may be at risk of losing some of its better-for-you significance with consumers, according to Mintel research.
A judge handling a high-profile lawsuit* over the use of dairy terminology on plant-based products has ruled in favor of Miyoko’s Creamery in its legal spat with the State of California over its use of terms such as ‘butter’ on plant-based products, in...
Closing out the first half of 2021, HelloFresh reported a year-over-year 83.7% increase in the number of active customers using the meal delivery service worldwide, as well as the continued global expansion of its business in new and existing markets.
Calories from ultra-processed foods comprise more than two-thirds (67%) of children's and adolescents' diets, up from 61.4% in 1999, according to researchers from Friedman School of Nutrition Science & Policy at Tufts University.