Allulose – an ultra low-calorie sugar found naturally in jackfruit and figs that Tate & Lyle is making in commercial quantities from corn using enzymes – has got some high profile advocates including Quest Nutrition, but would gain significantly more...
McDonalds, Panera and other high profile food service companies took notable steps last year to introduce “healthier” chicken products, but frozen poultry product producer Hip Chick Farms thinks more can done and it is stepping up the plate to push change...
As animal welfare concerns become increasingly mainstream, farmers and manufacturers, such as the natural and organic meat brand Applegate, are optimistically rethinking the scale of and their approach to humanely raised animal agriculture.
Synthetic biology, or GMO 2.0 as some are calling it, has vastly more penetration in the marketplace than was previously believed. That’s the takeaway from the assembly of the first list of such ingredients.
Many successful entrepreneurs extol the value of work-life balance when they talk about getting a business off the ground, but at the recent graduation of Chobani Food Incubator’s first class of food and beverage companies, the yogurt company’s CEO and...
An electric vehicle uses a very different propulsion system to the internal combustion engine, but it also has four wheels, and gets you from A to B, which to most consumers, makes it a 'car.' So isn't it time to apply the same logic to...
‘Clean’ (a.k.a. cultured/lab-grown) meat pioneer Memphis Meats has unveiled its latest innovation – chicken and duck produced from poultry cells without raising animals – in what it describes as an “unprecedented milestone for the clean meat industry.”
Meat and dairy often get a bad rap on the sustainability front, but not all animal production systems have the same impact on the planet, says EPIC Provisions co-founder Taylor Collins, who reckons that “the next big movement in food is coming in the...
LonoLife – the first brand to put bone broth in a recyclable K-Cup, and a fast-growing player in the burgeoning bone broth stick-pack market – has rolled out to 2,500 stores just over a year after launch, and expects to be in 6,000 stores by the year...
Plant-based steak, with a taste and texture to rival the real thing, is one step closer to the market as Unilever, Givaudan and Ingredion join Wageningen researchers in the Plant Meat Matters consortium.
Pea based ‘milks’ represent a significant incremental growth opportunity in the plant-based beverage market as consumers look for allergy-friendly options with more protein, says the chief marketing and innovation officer at Campbell Soup’s C-Fresh division,...
As a parent of children with celiac disease, Caulipower founder and CEO Gail Becker has sat at the front seat of the gluten-free CPG sector’s evolution. Despite the category’s growth spurt, there was a void Becker longed to fill.
Herbal industry experts were quick to laud the accomplishments of stevia pioneer Jim May, founder of Wisdom Natural Brands, who died this week at the age of 80.
A $6.5m funding round led by General Mills’ 301 INC arm will help Farmhouse Culture - which specializes in fresh organic sauerkraut, sauerkraut chips and fermented 'gut shots' – expand its distribution and support new launches, including a new...
Even as commerce continues to digitize, consumer patronage keeps brick-and-mortar grocery stores alive. ‘Grocery is a key stronghold for brick-and-mortar because of the sensory habitual nature of food buying,’ one expert says.
What keeps US food & beverage retailers awake at night? Amazon? Deflation? Competition from new channels? The prospect of a border adjustment tax? We quizzed retail experts to get their take on the biggest challenges facing grocers today.
FoodFutureCo - a food business accelerator program targeting mission-driven companies in scale-up mode – has unveiled its second cohort, spanning spring water, local produce, kids’ snacks and fermented foods.
Is Target a destination store for fresh food, or a place you visit with another shopping mission in mind, and end up picking up some groceries? Right now, says one retail commentator, it’s stuck in a “nether world” between the two.
General Mills’ splashy commitment last year to double the number of organic acres it sources from by 2019 not only is a strategic business move to boost sales, but part of a larger effort to “do the right thing,” according to the company’s organic ambassador.
POM v Coke got there, but will another high-profile food litigation case – this time over GMOs and 100% natural labels on cooking oil (Briseno v ConAgra) - also end up in the Supreme Court?
Net sales at plant-based protein brand gardein grew at a “strong double-digit rate” in 2016, according to Pinnacle Foods (which acquired gardein in late 2014), with new production capacity coming online this quarter at a refurbished facility in Hagerstown,...
Private label sales now account for more than one in every ten dollars spent at Sprouts stores, said the Phoenix-based retailer, which posted a 0.7% rise in same store sales in the latest quarter while rival Whole Foods Market has continued to see its...
The rapidly changing face of America and the growing influence of multicultural households on the mainstream population demand retailers revise their marketing and stocking strategies to better meet evolving consumer demands, new research from Nielsen...
Four months after Tyson Foods took a 5% stake in plant-based meat brand Beyond Meat, Canadian packaged meats giant Maple Leaf Foods has struck a $140m deal to acquire plant-based protein maker Lightlife Foods from Brynwood Partners.
Despite increased transparency into how food is sourced, who makes it and how, much of the research on which nutrition policy is based and how it is funded remains notably opaque – a situation that the founder and CEO of KIND Healthy Snacks wants to change.
Building on the momentum of FDA’s recent guidance that women and children should eat more fish, several seafood manufacturers are launching new products that could help the industry come closer to clearing the remaining barriers that have long blocked...
Citing an uptick in multi-state foodborne illness outbreaks and their high cost to consumers and manufacturers alike, the Government Accountability Office reiterates its 40-year argument for a single, unified food safety system – this time under the Executive...
When the Arctic Apple hits select store shelves this month as one of the first products genetically modified for consumers’ benefit, it will serve as a line in the sand for the tug of war between the non-GMO movement and the future of food innovation.
Unilever shares have plummeted as Kraft Heinz drops its multi-billion dollar merger bid - but with the sterling weakened by Brexit, smaller firms are "sitting ducks" for foreign takeovers, UK politicians have warned.
Meal kit co Sun Basket raises $15m in Series C financing round
San Francisco-based Sun Basket, one of the fastest-growing players in the burgeoning meal kit delivery market, has raised $15m in a Series C funding round that will enable it to complete work on a third distribution center that will give it access to...
The bone broth category (shelf-stable and refrigerated) is pretty small in the scheme of things, but it’s growing rapidly, with US retail sales more than tripling to $19.7m in the 52 weeks to Jan 22,* fueled by a small but highly engaged set of health...
Packaged in the fashion of traditional deli meats—paper wrappers with a sticker label—No Evil Foods is stepping away from the tech-oriented positioning and branding that many non-animal ‘meat-like’ proteins are going for.
Artisanal vegan cheese maker Miyoko’s Kitchen has completed a $6m series B financing round led by JMK Consumer Growth Partners and supported by Obvious Ventures, Stray Dog Capital, and CircleUp’s internally-managed fund.
Incredible Foods – the firm behind allergy-friendly Perfectly Free frozen coconut bites – is gearing up for the 2018 launch of what it claims is a completely new form of snack: refrigerated bites with a 'grape-like' skin made from fruit and...
Product recall insurance: Are you to speed? Lessons from Heinz v Starr
The Dairy Pride Act, which seeks to crack down on the use of dairy-derived labels for plant-based products on the grounds shoppers are being misled, is a “solution looking for a problem,” claims the marketing boss of one of the leading players in the...
'Is your packaging visible, visceral, and memorable? If not, you don’t have a brand'
Whether you’re an established brand hiring a top agency to revamp your packaging, or a penniless entrepreneur with a blank canvas and a Photoshop license, you should always ask yourself three questions, says design guru Simon Thorneycroft.
You’ve got a great product, you’re bursting with entrepreneurial zeal, you’ve outgrown the space you’re renting in a commercial kitchen and you’re ready to look for a contract manufacturer/co-packer. Well steel yourself, says PartnerSlate founder and...
CAUGHT ON CAMERA AT THE 2017 WINTER FANCY FOOD SHOW
If the novelty factor surrounding edible insects has worn off somewhat, consumer interest in protein – particularly where there is a sustainability story to tell – continues to grow, says Denver-based start-up Lithic Nutrition, which packs 15g of protein...
CAUGHT ON CAMERA AT THE 2017 WINTER FANCY FOOD SHOW
Cauliflower rice is now available in the frozen and chilled sections of some retailers, but British brand Cauli-Rice is hoping to carve out new territory in the emerging category with a shelf-stable, microwaveable product with a more ‘al dente’ texture...
High levels of added sugar should disqualify foods from being able to make health claims, or nutrient content claims such as ‘healthy’ or ‘high fiber,’ argues a citizen’s petition filed last week by the nonprofit advocacy group the Union of Concerned...
As the deadlines for regulations painstakingly developed under the Food Safety Modernization Act begin to go into effect, compliance by producers, suppliers and manufacturers alone will not be enough to stop food borne illness outbreaks, a top FDA official...
Compass Group subsidiary Bon Appétit Management Company has teamed up with algae specialist TerraVia to use Thrive Culinary Algae Oil as its preferred cooking oil across more than 650 cafés in corporate offices (including Google), universities, and other...
It's been a tough few years for the meat sector, said Meagan Nelson, associate director for fresh growth and strategy at Nielsen. Despite the many new roadblocks for the category (think non-meat protein competition and meal kits), there are strategies...
Declaring that public health professionals are “losing the battle” against food borne illness, a former president of the International Association of Food Protection suggests food safety specialists over-rely on training, inspecting and testing and instead...
CAUGHT ON CAMERA AT THE 2017 WINTER FANCY FOOD SHOW
Cold soup in a bottle is still a novelty for many Americans, but the concept of ‘souping’ (as opposed to ‘juicing’) is gaining traction, particularly for consumers watching their sugar intake, claims Sonoma Brands founder Jon Sebastiani.
BASF has launched a new nature identical brilliant orange colorant targeting formulators looking to replace Azo dyes yellow 5 and 6 in beverages, soups, confectionery, and nutrition products.
