San Francisco-based ReGrained, a startup transforming food waste into value-added food ingredients, has closed a $2.5m series seed financing round led by privately-held global product development company Griffith Foods with participation from Barilla...
Convenient solutions for getting dinner on the table at a reasonable hour are growing and the expansion of produce distributor Baldor Specialty Foods’ retail line, Urban Roots Veggie Side Kits, is intended to give consumers a time-saving and creative...
A voluntary decision by leading food and beverage manufacturers and restaurants to strengthen the nutritional requirements for products advertised to children in the US will require nearly half of the products currently marketed to kids to be reformulated...
A citizen petition filed Sept. 24 by the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation asking FDA to prohibit 'non-GMO' claims on foods and beverages likely will not gain broader industry support or traction with the agency, according to...
Keeping ahead of the fierce competition within the food industry has required large, established companies to take a second look at how they approach innovation.
Food and beverage products touting protein claims has become a big business driven by strong consumer interest, however two Nielsen surveys highlight knowledge gaps consumer still have about the nutrient.
The line between breakfast and dessert can be a bit blurry with options such as coffeecake on the menu, but superfood snack company Health Warrior wants to place muffins squarely on the side of better-for-you morning meals with the launch of its Protein...
Predicting what consumers will want to see on menus in the coming season “is a bit of a mix of art and science,” according to a product development expert at the food service distributor US Foods, but she says this fall consumers will seek out versatile...
While still growing at a healthy clip, the yogurt category is slowing slightly – but Danone North America still sees significant potential for the segment, especially related to options that are plant-based, lower in sugar, packed with science-back probiotic...
ALDI’s move to offer online grocery delivery via Instacart to US customers nationwide proves there is room for more than just Amazon in the e-commerce game, according to Jack O’Leary, senior analyst at PlanetRetail RNG.
Absolutely Gluten Free’s TahiniBAR (launched in May) is aiming to make tahini-flavored snacks an everyday on-the-go item as the brand makes its way from independent natural retailers to a major mass retailer this December.
Introducing consumers to a new brand isn’t easy, but when the product is an entirely new concept, this challenge is magnified ten-fold, as illustrated by the struggles startup Ayoba-Yo experienced trying to explain biltong to American shoppers.
As Dawn Anderson prepared to expand distribution of her refrigerated plant-based superfood bars beyond Hawaii where they first launched to mainland US, she knew her brand needed to be more welcoming and inclusive – which is why she made the difficult...
Gum acacia was not on the FDA’s list of ingredients classified as dietary fibers released this summer; however, key suppliers have recently met with the agency and agreed to conduct additional studies to support its health benefits ahead of submitting...
Attempts by top kombucha brands to dismiss lawsuits challenging their alcohol and sugar labeling have had mixed success, with two judges in the central district of California allowing false advertising cases filed by a rival to proceed (in part), but...
US retail sales of plant-based meat up 23% year on year
The notion that plant-based or cell-cultured meat will only ever capture a minority share of the conventional meat market is based on a false premise, says Impossible Foods, which is developing plant-based products seeking to precisely mimic the flavor,...
As trendy as turmeric may be for now, the functional beverage brand known for years as Temple Turmeric is dropping the ingredient from its branding to avoid being “pigeonholed,” and to position the company more broadly around additional herbs for when...
For many entrepreneurs who dream of launching the next big national brand, the future can’t get here fast enough; but the founder of the “curiously pink” antioxidant lemonade brand Poppilu, warns growing too quickly without first nailing down the fundamentals...
Receiving a cease and desist letter from a multinational is clearly no cause for celebration, although in some respects it’s the “highest form of flattery,” observed one legal expert quizzed by FoodNavigator-USA over the clash between extruded snack brand...
Campbell Soup Company has appointed Craig Slavtcheff as its new vice president of research and development (R&D) leading the company’s entire R&D division, including strategy, innovation, and product development.
The USDA and the FDA will host a joint meeting on October 23-24, 2018 on cell-based meat – meat produced by culturing animal cells outside of an animal – to thrash out how the sector might be regulated and how such products should be described on food...
As the debate over labeling conventions and regulatory frameworks intensifies in the burgeoning cell-cultured meat arena, a group of start-ups seeking to grow meat from cells without slaughtering animals has agreed to form an industry trade association...
Almond and peanut butter brand MaraNatha is taking a page from the wildly successful craft coffee’s playbook with the introduction of Light Roast and Dark Roast Creamy Almond Butters and in doing so is opening a new area for growth for the increasingly...
Members of the Organic Trade Association are moving forward with a voluntary organic research, promotion and education check-off program after the US Department of Agriculture unexpectedly pulled the plug on what would have been a mandatory check-off...
With kids spending so much of their day in school while also being heavily influenced by their parents' eating habits, how can we get kids to make healthy food and beverage choices?
After industry slammed FDA for proposing pure maple syrup and jars of honey list ‘added sugars’ on their updated Nutrition Facts panel, the agency has done an about face and will no longer the controversial declaration on the products when ‘packaged as...
Confused about ‘autolyzed’ yeast extract? You’re not alone, say the suppliers behind a new website designed to demystify an ingredient that has made its way – they say unfairly – onto multiple retailers’ unacceptable ingredients lists.
Walmart may not be a consumer’s first stop for third-wave craft coffee products, but that’s set to change as the super retailer transforms its center-store coffee aisle with direct-trade, single-origin, coffee products such as Boyer’s Mash-Up line created...
Bare Bones Broth Co. is moving its entire product line from the freezer to the shelf-stable soup aisle to make itself even more convenient and affordable for consumers, founder and COO Ryan Harvey said.
Kellogg is seeking to appeal an order by California federal Judge Lucy Koh that certifies three classes of consumers in a false advertising lawsuit over the allegedly 'toxic' sugar content in some of its cereals.
When Kraft Heinz launched its Springboard incubator program earlier this year, it was flooded with more than 200 applicants for only five spots – an overwhelming response that underscores the importance of fine-tuning a pitch when presenting to potential...
On average, most Americans eat only half their meals at home with family or household members -- a figure that the Food Marketing Institute Foundation and more than 200 food retailers, manufacturers and community organizations are hoping to increase...
If dairy farmers are OK with the lacteal secretions of goats, sheep, and buffalo being described as ‘milk,’ provided the word is prefaced with a modifier (goat’s milk, sheep milk), they should accept the same tactics from firms selling almond and soy...
Amendments to Prop 65 – which requires firms selling products in California to provide warnings if their products expose consumers to 900+ chemicals linked to cancer or reproductive toxicity – will likely trigger a sharp rise in litigation as manufacturers...
Since America was founded – no matter who has been at the helm – we have celebrated a proud ethos as the land of opportunity and abundance: A place where if people are willing to work they can find jobs, build homes and feed their families.
Culinary exploration and convenience are at the top of many consumers’ wish lists when it comes to meal prep, and Chicago food startup FILLO’S Americas Made (parent company: Sofrito Foods) is aiming to fulfill both needs.
In a letter sent yesterday to the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessments, FDA argues that even though the process of roasting coffee can form acrylamide the beverage should be exempt from the state’s Proposition 65 requirement that...
Despite a disappointing drop in net sales in the US, Hain Celestial executives remain undaunted and optimistic in their multi-prong strategy to reshape the US business and return it to growth in the back half of 2019, executives said Aug. 28.
Peanut butter and jelly maker JM Smucker Co.’s decision to realign its portfolio to focus on coffee, snacking and pet food is paying off with a “strong first quarter performance,” including increased net sales and profits, according to company executives....
As long as protein products are safe and shoppers are not being misled, it’s not the role of lawmakers to write new labeling laws favoring one production method over another, says the CEO of plant-based meat brand Tofurky, which is challenging a Missouri...
Chicago-based hummus brand Prommus (pronounced ‘promise’) is bringing function to the hummus category with its protein-added recipe backed by a clear social mission that founder, Anthony Brahimsha, says is attracting new consumers to the category.
The Good Food Institute, the Animal Legal Defense Fund, the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri, and plant-based meat brand Tofurky, have sued the state of Missouri to challenge a law that would prohibit plant-based and clean meat companies from...
If up to 40% of the calories in breakfast cereals are from added sugar, and brands describe them as ‘lightly sweetened,’ are they misleading shoppers? Perhaps, says a federal judge who has just certified three classes of consumers in a false advertising...
As more consumers fixate on sugar as a primary source of unnecessary calories and connect it to unwanted weight gain, manufacturers will need to re-engage shoppers with more nutritious options or else risk them opting-out of packaged foods and beverages,...
For generations Americans have raised glasses of wine, pints of beer or flutes of champagne to toast to their health and that of their loved ones – only to wake up the next morning to find themselves, and their wallets, in completely the opposite state.
Cultured meat (aka ‘clean meat’) is best described as ‘cell-based meat and poultry,’ and both the FDA and the USDA have roles to play in regulating it, argue Memphis Meats and the North American Meat Institute in a letter to President Donald Trump calling...
One of the secrets to the rapid growth of Raised Real’s subscription home delivery meal kits for “tiny humans” is asking its members what they need – and actually listening to their answers, according to the company’s CEO Santiago Merea.
Clean meat - meat cultured from animal cells grown outside the animal without the need for slaughter – could have a profound impact on the kosher food community and “dramatically lower the cost of kosher meat" in future, says kosher certification...
The American Academy of Pediatrics is calling on FDA to undertake “urgently needed reforms” to the current regulatory review process for food additives to limit the risk of adverse health effects that correlate with the use of some colorings, flavorings...