As a household name from the culinary world (thanks, Bravo and Netflix), The James Beard Foundation is using its recognition and influence to advocate for a better food system in the United States.
Can you make money supplying fresh prepared food via vending machines? Not everyone was convinced when Luke Saunders launched Farmer’s Fridge in October 2013, but the fact he's just persuaded the former bosses of ZICO and McDonald's, among others,...
General Mills is seeking to patent a new oat variety with more than double the protein of standard cultivated varieties and a more stable fatty acid profile, making the oats less prone to oxidation.
Publicly traded NaturalShrimp is preparing to expand its facilities to bring more stateside-farmed, high quality shrimp to consumers with the help of a Fortune 200 company, CFO William Delgado told FoodNavigator-USA.
Does premium pay in the pasta sauce category? Do the math, says Rao’s Specialty Foods president Jim Morano: “The average retail price in the category is $2.25; our average is $7.84. The category is growing at 3% year on year, and we’ve growing at more...
Are your taste buds tickled by the prospect of a food tour of Mexico with Chef Rick Bayless? Or maybe an intensive business strategy session with Presence Marketing CEO Bill Weiland in Barrington Hills, Illinois, is more your thing?
Fruit juice does not warrant a ‘healthy’ food label, says CSPI
There is significant disagreement between key stakeholders over how to define ‘healthy’ on food labels, with added sugar and saturated fat proving the biggest bones of contention, and heated debate over whether fruit juice deserves a ‘healthy’ label.
The quest to rid product labels of phosphates, carrageenan, titanium dioxide, mono- and di-glycerides and other substances gracing food marketers’ ‘unacceptable ingredients’ lists has created new growth opportunities for Fiberstar’s citrus fibers, which...
The clean label movement may have started as industry’s response to consumers who wanted foods and beverages made without artificial or “chemical” sounding ingredients, but overtime as brands continued to one-up each other, the concept morphed and metastasized...
Think clean label just means no artificial ingredients? Think again
Think 'clean label' just means ditching ‘artificial’ ingredients and avoiding anything attracting negative press (warranted or otherwise)? Think again. Today, brands are also questioning whether ‘natural’ flavors, preservatives and sweeteners...
As more shelf-space is dedicated to gluten-free products in the snack and bread aisles, one retired baking industry veteran noticed a void in the in-store bakery section—and it pulled him out of retirement and back to the drawing board.
To the casual observer, ‘cleaning up’ our food sounds like an eminently sensible thing to do. But where is the clean label trend going, and is ditching every ingredient you can’t pronounce really the key to fixing the ‘broken’ food system (as Panera implies...
In its latest cleanup of its food facility registration database, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has culled an eye-opening 28% of existing registrations. The biggest drops happened in overseas sites.
What is healthy? Comments flood in as FDA docket closes
“If we were looking for an easy answer and widespread agreement on the definition of ‘healthy,’ we didn’t find it [at a public meeting last month],”observed the FDA in a blog post this week. So could it seriously consider banning the word from food labels...
All eyes have been on Whole Foods since activist investors demanded radical action to address its recent “chronic underperformance." But is Albertsons – rumored to be courting the Austin-based retailer – the right suitor?
Does selling up mean selling out? Not if you go in with your eyes open, say the co-founder of upmarket condiments brand Sir Kensington's, which has just jumped into bed with Unilever, but says the brand will retain its autonomy, its integrity, and...
Unilever has struck a deal to acquire New York-based condiment maker Sir Kensington’s, under which co-founders Mark Ramadan and Scott Norton will continue to run the business from their offices in Manhattan.
The results of the 2017 FoodNavigator-USA reader survey are in… and not surprisingly, given the breadth of our readership, they’re pretty mixed, with many readers excited about their company’s prospects and others feeling trapped in a race to the bottom...
“So why does the world need another [insert your product here]?” is a question entrepreneurs are well-advised to prep for before hitting the stage at any pitch slam judged by ZICO founder Mark Rampolla. So how does he answer his own question when it...
There will be a management shuffle once US cereal giant Post Holdings has concluded the £1.4bn ($1.76bn) deal for the UK’s 84-year-old cereal business the Weetabix Food Company.
Are meal kits the next big thing in food, or a black hole into which to pour large sums of cash chasing the latest fad? Investors are in different camps on this, acknowledges Terra’s Kitchen CEO Mike McDeVitt, but there’s no doubt that meal kits meet...
Beyond Meat, manufacturer of the “first refrigerated plant-based burger to sit in the meat counter” in America, has chosen Hong Kong as its first international export destination.
Lifeway Foods has vowed to defend itself “vigorously” against a lawsuit claiming it falsely advertised its fermented dairy products as ‘99% lactose free’ when they allegedly contained almost 4% lactose (milk sugar).
A new report found that preparing a meal together and sharing a meal at home is important to Mexican consumers—so what does this mean for packaged food companies?
As a percentage of the overall grocery retail market, Amazon’s $350m in Q1 grocery sales (annualized – that’s $1.4bn) is pretty small fry. But its mouthwatering 30% year-on year-growth suggests that CPG manufacturers that don’t have a clear strategy for...
PepsiCo has launched an incubator programme to help nurture the ‘best and brightest’ entrepreneurs in the nutrition, health and wellness sectors. Eight ‘breakthrough brands’ will benefit from a €25,000 ($26,500) grant each, and access to experts from...
While crickets currently lead the edible insect pack, the grasshopper – which has a whopping 72% protein by dry weight with all the essential amino acids – has just as much potential as a protein source, claims Israeli start-up Hargol FoodTech.
Activist investors led by Jana Partners have acquired 8.3% of Whole Foods’ stock according to an SEC filing, which says Whole Foods must take radical action to address its recent “chronic underperformance."
Health Canada has unveiled proposals to prohibit the use of partially hydrogenated oils - a key source of harmful trans fats in foods - by summer 2018 (aligning with the US deadline) by adding them to the List of Contaminants and Other Adulterating Substances...
A slow decline is forecasted for total frozen food sales, which includes frozen dinners/entrees, pizzas, side dishes, and appetizers/snacks, according to Packaged Facts’ latest numbers.
Congressional pressure on federal agencies to back down from nutrition policies created under the Obama Administration continues to mount with the standards for school meals now in the cross-hairs.
The herbicide glyphosate is to be added to the list of chemicals known to cause cancer under California's Proposition 65 legislation, which means companies producing products containing residues of the popular herbicide may in future have to feature...
The number of class action cases filed against food and beverage companies continues to surge with the number of cases brought last year alone reaching a staggering 170, compared to a mere 20 cases in 2008, according to new research released earlier this...
Soy, rice and peas still dominate the plant-based protein market, but chickpeas could soon give them all a serious run for their money, predicts Israeli start-up CHiCK.P, which is seeking a strategic partner to commercialize its patent-pending process...
With the launch of 10 boldly and authentically flavored, ready-to-cook frozen whole fish fillets, premium seafood company High Liner Foods hopes to tear down several of the barriers that currently hold back many Americans from eating as much seafood as...
Virtually unheard of by many consumers as recently as just last spring, the bone broth category is “heating up” and there is “massive opportunity” for early movers in the space despite an early and mounting surge of competition, according to one player...
Working alongside members of Congress, hunger relief organizations and industry trade groups to package meals for the hungry and food insecure, executives at Kraft Heinz are not wasting any time in fulfilling the company’s recently expanded corporate...
As debate around juice's high sugar content slowly pushes the category out of fashion, brands are testing the waters with vegetable soups. Chicago-based Skinny Souping is one of them.
A trio of government agencies will work together in the next five years to improve methods for pinpointing the source of foodborne illness outbreaks as part of ongoing analytic efforts to improve food safety, according to a new strategic plan released...
ADM is bringing two sweetener brands, SweetRight stevia and VerySweet monk fruit, to market following a tie up with Canadian high potency sweeteners specialist GLG Lifetech.
Big Tree Farms has developed a paler, finer ‘golden’ organic Fair trade coconut sugar that can replace refined white sugar in applications where coarser, darker coconut sugars aren’t ideal, says the company, which has been selling coconut sweeteners for...
'This is the largest emotional dataset linked to real business outcomes in existence'
It’s a claim that will raise a few eyebrows: researchers working for Mars can identify with 75% accuracy whether or not an advert will deliver a big sales uplift by studying facial expressions.
The Florida-based small brand Kitchen Crafted recently launched a line of two savory spreads, called SPRD, flavored Marinara Mia and Creole Mayo Spread. It just struck a deal with its first bigger chain grocer (Lucky’s Market in Florida), and founder...
Impossible Foods – which claims to have created a plant-based burger that precisely replicates the taste and texture of meat - will be able to produce one million pounds of Impossible Burgers a month when its first commercial-scale manufacturing facility...
Starting and growing a company is hard – especially in the highly competitive food and beverage industry, but Austin, Texas-based accelerator SKU is tipping the odds of success in favor of entrepreneurs with its “proven blend of mentorship, community,”...
Americans may be becoming more adventurous in what they eat – seeking international flavors and products – but some retailers and buyers are hesitant to stock these types of new products for fear that they won’t sell once they are on store shelves.
Annie's sales set to reach $400m in fiscal 2017, says president
While some commentators baulked at the $820m General Mills parted with to get its hands on Annie’s, the brand has gone from strength to strength since the deal closed in late October 2014, with sales set to reach $400m this fiscal year, and household...
