Frustrated that efforts to “treat or fix” childhood obesity in the US have fallen short, Sprout Foods is teaming with the Partnership for a Healthier America to try and prevent the problem from occurring by training children from an early age to crave...
Kids' meals at fast food chains are typically limited to chicken nuggets, pizza, or grilled cheese. In 2016, Panera Bread challenged the industry standard by introducing a revamped version of its kids' menu with more healthy soups and salads,...
Tofurky has raised $7m via a private investment to help scale production of its plant-based refrigerated sausages, deli slices, grounds, roasts and tempeh as consumer demand for meat alternatives continues to grow.
In recent years, the healthy eating trend had expanded dramatically beyond a fad for the few to gain a stronghold with mainstream shoppers, but produce is still at a significant disadvantage when it comes to capturing the attention of children and teenagers...
FDA will push forward with its Nutrition Innovation Strategy despite the departure this month of FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb who championed the initiative as a way to reduce the burden of chronic disease through improved nutrition, according to an...
Bond Pet Foods – one of 15 startups pitching at Rabobank’s FoodBytes! event in San Francisco last month - deploys microbes as tiny factories to produce proteins for pets in fermentation tanks. FoodNavigator-USA caught up with founder Rich Kelleman before...
After losing several high profile members and suffering a backlash over controversial policy positions, the Grocery Manufacturers Association is trying to regain the industry’s – and consumers’ – trust by rebuilding its mission around four main pillars...
60-second interview: Dawn Streich, global citrus product manager, Givaudan
An unparalleled group of fruits that has been lovingly curated since 1910, the Givaudan citrus variety collection at the University of California, Riverside, is sometimes referred to as the Noah’s Ark of citrus in that it houses two plants of each variety,...
While some animal protein producers might see the rise in plant-based eating as a threat, Applegate sees it as an opportunity to push forward its mission of changing the meat we eat with several new products, including a blended burger that combines meat...
FDA has sent three companies marketing CBD products warning letters over disease claims. The warnings are the first issued under FDA’s de facto ‘enforcement discretion’ policy, which will be discussed at a meeting on CBD set for the end of May.
TerViva - a California-based start-up on a mission to commercialize a new source of plant-based protein from the pongamia tree - has raised $20m in a series D round.
Regulatory hurdles notwithstanding, investors and judges at Rabobank’s FoodBytes! event in San Francisco last week were fairly bullish about hemp-derived CBD (cannabidiol), and predicted that while the market has moved ahead of the science, this will...
The Worthy Company - one of 15 food & ag startups pitching at Rabobank's FoodBytes! event in San Francisco last week - has developed a novel food concept (the 'blendie bowl') combining fruits, veggies, legumes and chia. But where...
Chicago-based Skinny Souping is seeing nationwide demand for its on-the-go, nutrient-dense soups (made with fresh ingredients and free from any sort of preservatives and additives), which are designed to be consumed chilled or hot.
In a move signaling the mainstream potential of next generation plant-based meat brands, Burger King is testing the waters with a limited edition trial of the Impossible Burger in 60 locations in and around St Louis to gauge consumer interest.
What are the key elements of a great pitch, and what might send potential investors running for the hills? FoodNavigator-USA editor Elaine Watson headed to San Francisco to ask judges and mentors at Rabobank's FoodBytes! pitch competition what they're...
The Jackfruit Company has developed a ready-to-eat pulled pork imitation that it hopes should propel growth, drawing interest from meat eaters considering plant-based alternatives for health and environmental reasons.
Shaka Tea, Bushel, and Toast Ale scooped the top prizes at FoodBytes! San Francisco 2019, Rabobank’s 15th global pitch competition for food and ag startups, after wowing judges with their innovative products and business models.
The FDA has ruled in favor of a citizen petition requesting dietary fiber status for MGP Ingredients' Fibersym RW and FiberRiteRW -- both resistant starches 4 (RS4) -- with the agency stating that it will propose that cross-linked phosphorylated...
Gluten-free frozen pizza brand Caulipower is on track to generate revenues of $100m in 2019, after just two years in business, with a mission to revolutionize America's relationship with vegetables, says founder Gail Becker.
While terms such as a 'natural' and 'clean label' may not have a regulated definition attached to them, these particular descriptors do motivate over half of US shoppers to purchase a product, a new survey of 1,000 adults conducted...
How brick-and-mortar retailers merchandise and present their fresh produce selection plays an important role in driving sales, shares the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) in its 2019 Power of Produce report.
Plant-based meat start-up Impossible Foods has issued a voluntary recall of a single lot number of its product after a restaurant in California discovered a “food-safe, sealed, one-inch plastic object in a case of Impossible Burger bulk product.”
Meat often gets a bad rap on the sustainability front, but not all animal production systems have the same impact on the planet, says Blue Apron founder Matthew Wadiak, who has launched a regenerative agriculture venture that will initially focus on pasture-raised...
If areas of the grocery store were to be placed in a figurative bracket based on annual volume growth over a three year period (2015-2018), which departments would come out on top? According to Nielsen's "Total Store Bracket" ranking 16...
While most new plant-based brands debut in the natural channel, the trend is becoming so red hot that Alpha Foods – which has just raised $7m in a round co-led by New Crop Capital and AccelFoods – started by knocking on Walmart’s door… and found it open,...
Despite efforts by the largest food and beverage manufacturers in the United States to tackle obesity and diet-related disease in the market, nearly 40% of adults and 18.5% of children in the US are obese – putting them at risk of Type 2 diabetes, high...
Consumers want more natural, less processed, ‘clean’ foods. But do they give certain brands – and categories – a pass? And what cues are they looking for? Checkout what our consumer and legal experts had to say in the opening session of our Natural and...
Reimagining base brands, cultivating the M&A pipeline, and developing new innovation models
Will big food companies increasingly buy in innovation and serve simply as scale up platforms for smaller, more 'authentic' brands they didn’t create, or can they come up with their own cool stuff that will resonate with new generations of consumers?...
If harnessed appropriately, rapid advances in digital technology could offer much-needed solutions to some of the unintentional negative diet- and nutrition-related consequences from otherwise positive Industrial Revolution era developments, according...
For some time, Amazon has been the dominant player in online grocery, but that lead may be starting to slip as brick-and-mortar retailers have been steadily winning back share in the competitive ecommerce race, says Nielsen.
Are we approaching ‘peak plant milk’? Will ‘designer proteins’ created via synthetic biology catch on? And should dairy milk serve as the nutritional benchmark for plant-based ‘milk’? Elaine Watson caught up with Ripple Foods cofounder Adam Lowry at the...
While US household penetration of hummus has soared over the past decade, there is still a significant opportunity to increase consumption through new usage occasions, says Jason Levine, who has joined the nation’s leading hummus brand Sabra as chief...
Cargill will have commercial quantities of Non GMO corn protein available by 2022 as it seeks to capitalize on growing demand for plant-based proteins.
“Disheartened” but “not surprised” that so little venture capital currently is invested in startups led by women and minority entrepreneurs, Chobani Incubator’s new program director Zoe Feldman says she wants to more intentionally support founders from...
Since launching exclusively at the Whole Foods Market Pearl Street store in Boulder, Colorado, in late 2017, Beyond Meat's Beyond Sausage has expanded its distribution to over 4,000 grocery stores, restaurants, and sports stadiums across the US....
While imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, says German startup Harvest Moon, its founder was not amused when he saw the packaging of Chobani’s new coconut-based non dairy range, which he claims is the “spitting image” of his coconut dairy...
Chosen Foods -- which was acquired by Mexico-based specialty oils and ingredients producer Sesajal S.A de C.V. in 2017 -- processed over 300 million avocados last year used mainly for avocado oil sold across 40,000 stores in the US.
Emerging brands in the plant-based frozen food space are plentiful, but not many have proven their value in international markets as Strong Roots has in the UK and its home base of Ireland.
Triton Algae Innovations - a San Diego-based firm building a production platform for food proteins from algae - says it can produce heme (the red, meaty-tasting star ingredient in the Impossible Burger) without using genetic engineering, generating significant...
Frustrated that 8 million metric tons of plastic go into the ocean every year, the founder of the sustainable seafood company LoveTheWild is ditching the plastic in her packaging and downsizing her carton as part of a relaunch of her meal kits and to...
Over half (61%) of Americans following an exclusion diet (e.g. vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, keto) believe that following a restrictive diet means having to pay more for food and nearly half (47%) say that it takes a toll on their social life, according...
Outer Aisle is doubling down on its grain-free, low-carbohydrate mission with redesigned packaging and three new 'bread-like' cauliflower products, all while ramping up for a national and global launch with Whole Foods.
We clocked a number of brands using terms from 'clean candy' to 'clean protein' on the showfloor at Expo West, but what does 'clean eating' mean, is 'clean' a term that brands should use on product labels, and where...
Consumers are making fewer unplanned, impulse snack purchases than they did five years ago, according to Euromonitor International's "Meeting the Needs of the New Age Snacker" webinar held last week.
Checkout who is moving onwards and upwards in FoodNavigator-USA's latest new hires gallery, featuring PepsiCo, Tyson, Nestle Waters North America, The Jackfruit Co, KIND Snacks, ROAR Organic, PureCircle, Icelandic Provisions, Litehouse, BrightFarms,...
'What we're wrestling with is whether CBD is an ingredient play, or something huge brands can be built around'
The fact that CBD is not a legal ingredient in foods and supplements - at least not yet - did not deter scores of exhibitors at Expo West, who added it to everything from soda to protein bars (absent any claims), with some opting for isolates, but most...
The USDA and the FDA have provided more clarity on who will be responsible for what when it comes to regulating cell-cultured meat, but have not – yet – offered their thoughts on appropriate terminology with which to describe it on food labels.
