If you didn't make it to Chicago in October for FoodNavigator-USA's inaugural Food Vision USA event, you missed a truly awesome ensemble of industry experts covering everything from our nutritional needs on a manned mission to Mars to the challenges...
The broad bipartisan spending and tax agreement among Congressional leaders has been praised by nonprofits involved in fighting hunger. The bills will help alleviate the tax bills of struggling families and boost food donations at home and abroad, they...
Nearly three-quarters of US consumers will host a meal or a party this holiday season, and to ensure their guests leave jolly and full 57% of shoppers say they will spend more on groceries during this season than last, according to a new study by Acosta.
US exports of organic produce and products are on the rise thanks to organic equivalency arrangements that ease verification requirements between some countries without compromising the integrity of organic, according to new research from the Organic...
I can't believe it's Just Mayo ... so will Just Butter be next?
Just weeks after telling Hampton Creek it was playing fast and loose with food labeling regs by branding its flagship egg-free spread ‘Just Mayo’, the FDA says Hampton Creek can now keep the ‘Just Mayo’ brand name - as long as it makes minor tweaks to...
The Organic Trade Association in 2016 will push forward several initiatives to help industry “turn the corner” on the supply shortages currently holding it back from meeting surging demand for organic products, the group’s CEO Laura Batcha says.
There’s a widening sense of distrust from Canadian consumers against food manufacturers, especially when it comes to free-from claims on packaging. A Mintel study conducted in September found that a whopping 65% of Canadians see the free-from label as...
Special edition: Battling malnutrition. Exclusive with Nestlé head of public health nutrition
Commercial and public health gain needn’t be opposed bedfellows in the battle against malnutrition among the world’s poorest people, says the chief of public health nutrition at the world’s biggest food firm.
The ‘good for you’ trend in children’s food is growing, and small companies would do well to focus on healthy new product development in order to compete with big players who have the money to reformulate and rebrand, says one analyst.
A $1.1 trillion omnibus spending package released late last night does not contain a much-anticipated policy rider on federal GMO labeling that would pre-empt state GMO-labeling laws, although it does seek to block the sale of genetically engineered salmon...
Optimum Nutrition is seeking to reach a new set of average consumers with a sports brand called Trusource that will launch at Kroger stores nationwide.
While the media coverage of the new SmartLabel initiative has focused on shoppers’ enthusiasm (or lack, thereof) for scanning QR codes as they shop, or whether it’s just an elaborate ruse by ‘big food’ to avoid mandatory on-pack GMO labeling, the real...
Dollar sales of Plum Organics surged 44.2% in measured channels* in the past 52 weeks, 3.8 times the average rate of growth for brands in the organic baby food segment, says the company, which has secured a 7.2% share of the $1.6bn US baby food and snacks...
Development of products tapping the paleo diet trend has spread out from the US to other parts of the globe in the past year, according to new research.
PureCircle has developed a new family of stevia-based sweeteners designed to shine in low to zero-calorie formulations, an application area that has proved particularly challenging as formulators seek to retain a ‘clean, sugar-like’ taste at higher dosage...
VeganEgg - a novel 100% plant-based whole egg replacer utilizing algae as its core ingredient - has taken off like a rocketship, says brand owner Follow Your Heart, which is ramping up production for a wider roll-out in 2016.
Brands are blowing a major opportunity to communicate their sustainability initiatives to millions of consumers with social media updates that are “inane, safe and saccharinely artificial in their bonhomie”, says a report.
Social media often is a dominant – and sometimes the only – component of most food and beverage companies' marketing strategies, but as platforms continue to proliferate, advertisers must understand to whom each application appeals to maximize their...
'It’s not the first or the second purchase order that really counts, it’s the third'
It won't happen overnight, but the future of babyfood is in the chiller, predicts one Texas-based entrepreneur pioneering the application of high pressure processing (HPP) in a category she claims is ripe for disruption.
Edible seaweed could have significant promise in boosting the heart health attributes of foods and supplements when used as a functional food ingredient, according to a recent review article in the journal Phycologia.
A new on-pack label could be the best way to quickly reduce the use of antibiotics in the livestock industry, according to a major new report for the UK government.
America’s love affair with spicy flavors will continue in 2016, but with an evolutionary twist that also will open the door for more multicultural flavors, predicts McCormick & Co. in it is annual flavor forecast.
New research that finds men eat significantly more in the company of women than with other men begs the question whether marketers could boost sales of food and beverages by including women in marketing.
The shift towards cleaner, more nutrient dense foods will continue to spread in the US in the coming year with parents increasingly looking for healthy options for the whole family – including picky children, who in generations past might have been served...
Seaweed, full-fat dairy, floral flavors and mushrooms will all gain traction in 2016, according to the Specialty Food Association (SFA), which has released a list of 10 trends to watch in US food culture next year:
Portion control packaging, like the 100-calorie pack, is ubiquitous in the food and beverage industry, but new research suggests smaller options may not be enough to curb over-eating and fight the obesity epidemic.
Three years ago, Chef Jeannine Sacco was cooking Jambalaya, discovered she was out of rice, ransacked her cupboard for a substitute, and found a packet of whole grain steel cut oats. The results blew her mind; the entrepreneurial juices started flowing;...
Lancaster, PA-based Neat Foods – a small, but rapidly-growing player in the plant-based foods category – has been acquired by Atlantic Natural Foods LLC, which makes canned vegetarian products under the Meatless Select and Caroline’s brands.
Sharwood’s wants to become the No. 1 brand in the US for pre-made Indian sauces and accompaniments, just like it is in the U.K., by instituting Thursday as “curry night,” according to the food brand’s maker Premier Foods.
Long-anchored in the conventional channel’s center-store with iconic brands such as Hungry Man and Wishbone, Pinnacle Foods’ $975 million acquisition of Boulder Brands gives it a better foothold in the fast-growing refrigerated and health food segments.
CEO: 'The center of the store is not generating the kind of performance that we would like'
The Fresh Market can be fixed, but it’s going to have to cut prices of key-value-items (KVIs), and “reinvent” the center of the store, says its new president and CEO Rick Anicetti, who has spent his first few weeks at the helm “looking under the hood”...
The FDA has rejected a citizen’s petition calling for mandatory labeling of foods from genetically engineered crops, arguing that labels are not warranted unless there is a material difference in the safety or nutritional profile of the foods in question.
Union Kitchen: Inside a food and beverage incubator
Heinz Tomato Ketchup has been an iconic staple in American diners and homes for more than 130 years, but Washington, DC-area startup ’Chups believes the condiment is long overdue for an update and that it is just the company to do it.
Glanbia Nutritionals is going all in on glutamine (and gluten) with a new wheat protein ingredient line it is bringing to the US market. Called HarvestPro, the new ingredient is anticipated to have a big future in sports nutrition and functional foods.
Union Kitchen: Inside a food and beverage incubator
Fermented foods and beverages are growing in popularity as consumers learn more about their health benefits – in turn opening the door for entrepreneurs like The Sweet Farm, which sells fresh sauerkraut and is developing a line of cultured sodas and probiotic...
Pasta is a low fat, low-sodium, low glycemic, complex carbohydrate, and a good source of thiamin, folic acid, iron, riboflavin, and niacin. So why do many consumers – and some health professionals – still see it as a source of ‘empty carbs’ to be avoided,...
'Tis the season for giving and La Brea Bakery is getting into the spirit (and onto consumers’ radars) with two campaigns focused on feeding those in need and those who serve their communities.
Just weeks after announcing its intention to sell its private label business to TreeHouse Foods, ConAgra Foods has unveiled plans to re-engineer itself again, this time by separating into independent public companies: one comprising its consumer brands...
Consumers are increasingly enthusiastic about discovering ‘small-batch’ foods from artisanal producers, while growing numbers of small producers are looking for other avenues beyond traditional retailers to get their wares to market. Hatchery – an online...
General Mills coughed up a cool $820m to buy Annie’s last year. But it has also signaled its intention to invest in brands at an earlier stage in their development via its 301 Inc venturing arm and a recent tie up with equity crowdfunding site CircleUp....
Online retail of food and beverage may be small now, but it is slowly gaining traction in the US – providing start-ups struggling to get their foot in the door another option for reaching consumers, according to the CEO of online subscription snack service...
Clear windows on packaged foods and beverages seem to be all the rage right now as manufacturers try to literally meet consumer desire for transparency and authenticity – but a well-placed photograph sometimes is a more effective marketing tool, branding...
Becoming non-GMO certified can help brands attract new consumers and boost sales, but it also could alienate existing shoppers if manufacturers are not careful, cautions Asian sauce maker San-J.
While only a small portion of people currently buy food online, the expansion of digital shopping is eroding consumer loyalty to retailers – forcing them to rethink how best to approach consumers, according to an industry consultant.
Solazyme is aiming to launch the latest addition to its micro-algae-based ingredients portfolio in early 2016 - an algae butter - which it says could replace hard fats such as palm oil or partially hydrogenated oils in a variety of applications spanning...
High-pressure-processing (HPP) – which gave birth to the super-premium juice category – will also play a disruptive role in the baby food market in the next five years, predict the founders of Once Upon a Farm, a new baby food brand in a pouch that will...
