Demand for more plant-based, vegetable-forward food has been growing the past few years, but the trend will hit new heights in 2016 – taking over the center of the plate and more often than before fully replacing animal protein, predicts trend tracker...
WhiteWave Foods’ efforts to expand the plant-based dairy alternative category beyond beverage and outside of the natural channel already is paying off for the company, and it holds significant promise for the larger category’s and retailers’ future, executives...
If services such as Blue Apron target people that love to cook and prepare meals, but don’t always have the time or energy for meal planning and grocery shopping, TableRunner appeals to people that want restaurant quality meals at home but don’t have...
What is 'natural'? FDA finally weighs into the debate
Having studiously avoided this food labeling minefield for years, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has surprised many in the trade by seeking comments on the definition of a word that has launched a thousand class action lawsuits (well almost):...
JM Smucker has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit accusing it of misleading shoppers by labeling selected Crisco cooking oil as ‘all natural’, according to court papers filed in New York.
The recently formed Kraft Heinz company is off to a rocky start with sliding profits and more layoffs and facility closures recently announced, but the company has a three-prong plan for future growth, executives said Nov. 5 during the firm’s third-quarter...
From tea to turmeric beverages, and from smoothies to spice blends, the GanedenBC30 probiotic is everywhere. After successful regulatory approvals around the world, next year promises to be ‘exceptional’.
Despite their natural advantages of name recognition and sales momentum, big brands have struggled of late. Consulting firm Seurat Group has put together a toolbox to help companies reinvigorate these key contributors.
301 Inc, the business development and venturing unit at General Mills, has launched a multi-million dollar capital fund through the CircleUp platform to seed emerging consumer food brands.
Protein is hot in food formulation right now. But is this a sustainable trend or a passing fad? How much is enough, and do the next generation of proteins, from rice and pea to algae and insects, deliver in the same way that soy and whey do? And how should...
A month after telling shoppers it was “embarrassed and truly sorry” after an undeclared allergen (wheat) was detected in selected boxes of gluten-free Cheerios, General Mills has been hit with a class action lawsuit alleging it violated several consumer...
Americans increasingly want fresh, healthy food, but they don’t always have the extra time it takes to plan and prepare those ingredients – creating a white space in the market for enterprising manufacturers.
As widely predicted, ConAgra Foods is to sell the bulk of its private label business to Treehouse Foods in a $2.7bn deal – less than three years after acquiring it from Ralcorp for almost $5bn.
San Francisco-based microalgae pioneer Solazyme has expand its joint venture with oils expert Bunge to develop a “range of breakthrough oils for food and products for animal nutrition”.
While 3D printing might still seem a bit like a technology searching for an application when it comes to food, the co-creator of the Foodini printer insists her machines won’t end up gathering dust at the back of your cupboard once the novelty wears off.
Food manufacturers remain sharply divided over FDA proposals to crack down on added sugar, with General Mills and other big names such as Kellogg and Unilever strongly opposed; and Nestlé, Mars, and KIND LLC in favor, according to the latest wave of comments...
Long development work in China on an antioxidant chemical found in bamboo leaves has finally yielded an ingredient with intriguing potential for dietary supplement applications.
With growth in fresh perimeter grocery departments outpacing that of the center of the store, Portland, OR-based The Better Bean Co. saw a void for a high-quality alternative to canned beans that could become part of people’s weekly cooking routines.
Although it may be 18 months before the 35 million chickens, ducks and turkeys struck by avian influenza (AI) this spring are repopulated, egg supplies will be back to normal in just a few months, according to U.S. egg farmer cooperative United Egg Producers...
An improving economy and growing concerns over obesity and related health issues are creating a new category of shoppers, according to U.K.-based customer science firm Dunnhumby.
Target has embarked on a multi-year collaboration with MIT’s Media Lab and design firm IDEO that will explore areas such as urban farming, food transparency and authenticity, supply chain and health.
An advertising campaign that focusses on the transformative nature of cooking insects is more effective than 'entomophagy education', says a US-based researcher.
Stressed, time poor and short of culinary inspiration, but feeling guilty about ordering pizza again? Sun Basket – the latest entrant to the burgeoning home meal delivery market – gives you the tools to cook restaurant-quality meals at home, without having...
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has launched a probe into the way the American Egg Board handled the ‘threat’ of Hampton Creek – the San Francisco-based start-up behind the egg-free spread Just Mayo - amid claims it overstepped its mandate by...
With rumors swirling that Kellogg is eyeing up Diamond Foods, news of another potential megadeal also hit the wires this week, with ConAgra Foods reportedly in advanced talks to sell its private label business Ralcorp to Treehouse Foods in a deal that...
US confectioners can measure the effectiveness of in-store merchandising and promotions in real-time and quickly correct any issues by drawing on a network of 800,000 contractors, says the founder of start-up Gigwalk.
301 Inc, a business development unit within General Mills, today announced a shift in strategy from developing its own brands to partnering and investing in early stage food companies, such as L.A. based plant-based protein expert Beyond Meat.
Two well-known players in food financing – former Silverwood Partners MDs Michael Burgmaier and Nick McCoy - have started a new boutique investment bank focused on the consumer products industry called Whipstitch Capital.
From savory yogurt and coffee fruit infusions, to switchel – apple cider vinegar-based concoctions that offer a modern twist on a centuries-old tradition - Sterling-Rice Group (SRG) highlights 10 culinary trends it predicts will inspire packaged foods...
It’s the leader in the Australian ‘free-from’ market (free from all eight major allergens), but can Freedom Foods achieve similar success in the US? Two years into its campaign to crack America, the signs are encouraging, says US CEO Michael Bracka.
Company has been ‘bombarded’ with offers from private equity and strategic investors
In 2009, when Daiya Foods first started selling cheese alternatives, the addressable market (based on what was selling at the time) was an uninspiring $10m, a figure most investors and CPG brands won’t even get out of bed for. Fast forward six years,...
By Steve Osborn, Principal Consultant, Food and Beverage, The Aurora Ceres Partnership, Banamex Mexico City, Mexico
What are the hottest trends in food and beverage in Latin America? Steve Osborn, principal consultant, food and beverage, at The Aurora Ceres Partnership, headed to the Food Tech Expo and Summit in Mexico City to find out...
KIND is the bestselling snack brand and Haribo is the bestselling candy brand, but which other brands make the top 10 in those categories, and what about beverage and breakfast?
Nestlé Health Science (NHS) is investing $70m in a product technology center in Bridgewater, New Jersey, that will become its new US HQ and research hub.
FDA: We are eveloping draft voluntary targets for sodium reduction
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is suing the FDA in a bid to compel it to respond to a 2005 petition requesting that it revoke the GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status of salt and treat it as a food additive under the law.
Impossible Foods, one of a new wave of Silicon Valley-backed companies promising to “transform the global food system”, has raised $108m in its latest round of financing, and says its first product – a plant-based burger that precisely replicates the...
Meat & dairy alternatives are hot right now, if VC interest in Impossible Foods, Beyond Meat, Kite Hill and Hampton Creek, plus the recent acquisitions of Vega, So Delicious and Gardein are anything to go by. But what will Monde Nissin’s £550m ($838m)...
With products in 97% of US households, Nestlé claims it is well positioned to help shape a “better food environment” by reformulating products with less fat, sugar and sodium and launching new options packed with fruits, veggies and other desirable ingredients,...
Can a bunch of food-tech start-ups really ‘fix the broken food system’, feed 9bn people by 2050 and ‘disrupt’ the food industry with a killer app? Maybe, but they might be better off focusing on more tangible goals, according to investment experts gathered...
The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) will go to court on Thursday (Oct 8) in a last-ditch attempt to convince judges that a GMO labeling law due to come into effect in Vermont next year should be blocked until litigation over the legislation is...
General Mills announced late Monday afternoon that it will voluntarily recall 1.8m boxes of Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios after undeclared wheat was detected in gluten-free cereals.
Consumer purchases of packaged food and beverages in key major categories are down substantially from a year ago due partly to demographic shifts, but mostly because of “self-inflicted wounds” by retailers and manufacturers, according to the third annual...
How are the top 100 CPG brands performing? Not very well, say Catalina, TABS Group
If you needed further proof that bigger does not correlate with better in the CPG market, a new report from digital marketing expert Catalina reveals that the top 100 brands are underperforming in most of the categories in which they operate.
While cynics observe that biodynamic cane sugar is still sugar, and gourmet Himalayan pink salt is still good old sodium chloride, it’s a fact that trends which might seem to have niche appeal are increasingly heading to the mainstream, and that a small,...
ConAgra Foods will cut about 1,500 jobs, around 30% of its office-based workforce, and move its headquarters to from Omaha, Nebraska, to Chicago as part of a plan designed to deliver $300m in cost savings over the next three years.
Microalgae specialist Solazyme has moved into the consumer packaged goods (CPG) arena with the launch of Thrive, a culinary oil from algae that will make its debut at upmarket grocer Gelson's Markets in southern California this week.
‘Challenger’ brands – anarchic, agile brands which disrupt established categories – are Davids outmaneuvering industry Goliaths. And Chobani is probably the perfect example, going from zero to a billion dollars in less than a decade. But what happens...
Whole Foods Market has challenged allegations by animal rights group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), that the standards to which it holds its meat and poultry suppliers “barely exceed common industry practices”.
Jackfruit, a previously hard-to-find but popular meat substitute among vegans, is going mainstream in the US with two manufacturers launching ready-to-eat product lines featuring the fibrous plant as a main ingredient.
