Known as a pricey and somewhat elusive spice, the delicate ruby red saffron threads can be intimidating to many consumers. Socially conscious Rumi Spice is looking to change that perception and drive demand for its single-origin saffron, which will be...
Vertically integrated and socially-conscious tea company, Vahdam Teas, secured $2.5m in its Series B funding round led by Fireside Ventures to ramp up its customer acquisition rate and fuel its direct-to-consumer business in the US.
Fat is back in the dairy aisles, if the recent proliferation of products touting their whole milk (c. 3.5% milk fat) credentials is anything to go by. But San Francisco-based start-up Peak Yogurt is taking the trend one step further in a bid to carve...
The old strategies of reaping reliable returns by relying on consumer loyalty, incremental investments in established brands, and large-scale distribution and manufacturing are no longer advantageous – making this one of the most challenging times for...
After setting up its head offices and production facility in Manhattan Beach, California, in June, plant-based yogurt and dessert brand The Coconut Collaborative has confirmed listings with several West Coast retailers and will appear on those store shelves...
The future of subscription based meal kit delivery remains bright for players with a differentiated offering and an efficient supply chain, claims the CEO of Purple Carrot, who says the 100% plant-based meal kit brand has experienced “significant growth”...
Entrepreneurs launching products that are unfamiliar to consumers or vastly different than previously available versions offered by competitors may struggle to gain initial trial – but partnering with chefs and distributing through foodservice can be...
Cricket protein powder prices will come down “drastically” over the next five years as production capacity increases and firms add layers of automation to the farming process, predicts Montana-based Cowboy Cricket Farms.
California-based OneForNeptune has developed a range of sustainable white fish jerky and is on a mission to 'force change' in a global seafood sector its founder says is plagued with problems.
From novel approaches to introducing allergens to babies, to HPP babyfood, grab n’ go granola for schools and frozen puree pops for tots, entrants to our 2018 trailblazers challenge are creating innovative new products, brands, and routes to market for...
For busy working parents, mealtimes can be stressful even on a good day, and if direct to consumer companies can solve this pain point with child-friendly meals that don’t require any preparation, the market opportunity is “potentially enormous,” say...
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...
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...
A strong believer that the first impression must be a good one, the new CEO of plant-based protein product maker ALOHA is revamping the brand’s look, reformulating some products and cutting SKUs that aren’t up to the task.
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...
After six years of steadily developing a market demand for moringa in the US by educating Americans about its nutritional benefits and environmental value, and creating convenient in-demand products featuring the leafy-green, the founder of Kuli Kuli...
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.
Hälsa Oatgurt – an organic fermented oat-based drinkable yogurt featuring prebiotics and probiotics – is rolling out to Wegmans as more consumers seek out plant-based options in the dairy set.
Coolhaus, a super-premium ice cream brand, has received an investment from Sunrise Strategic Partners, a Boulder, Colorado accelerator of emerging brands.
Former barkThins, Pirate’s Booty and Glaceau executive Joe Serventi, who joined HIPPEAS last year as general manager, has been elevated to global CEO, while founder Livio Bisterzo is moving into the role of chairman, as the team seeks to build a $100m...
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.
By thinking inside the box, the husband and wife duo behind Brooklyn-based ice cream company Ample Hills Creamery hopes to better connect consumers to each other and the brand with the launch of unique square-shaped pints at retail.
Better Meat Co to debut plant-based proteins that ‘blend seamlessly into ground meat products’
Sacramento-based start-up The Better Meat Co is targeting institutional food sellers with plant-based proteins that “blend seamlessly into ground meat products” at inclusion rates of up to 30%, to deliver healthier, tastier, and more sustainable sausages,...
With retail sales of protein expected to reach $21.5 billion globally by 2025, manufacturers are incorporating the ingredient in everything from the standard shakes, bars and smoothies to the unexpected, such as, pancakes, chips and now with the launch...
The founder of startup A Dozen Cousins doesn’t want consumers to have to choose between cultural products they grew up eating and loving and healthy foods that are “better for them,” which is why he is launching a natural food brand that blends recipes...
With sales of yogurt flattening but consumer demand for high-protein, high-fat foods that are convenient still on the rise, several brands are launching updated versions of cottage cheese as an easy side-step for yogurt-lovers who want something new....
Frightened by The American Farmland Trust’s estimate that more than 175 acres of US farmland is lost every hour to development, the plant-based supplement and nutrition bar company Amazing Grass is on a mission to raise funds that will help keep small...
“Handmade” and “small batch” claims that attract the attention of consumers who are looking for “authentic” and “artisanal” products do not have to be self-defeating as a company automates production to meet increased demand as long as the company holds...
Clean meat technology is progressing rapidly, says Brian Spears, co-founder at cell cultured meat start-up New Age Meats, but perhaps not as quickly as we've been led to believe, as there’s a huge difference between launching at a high-end restaurant...
Google ‘mangosteen juice’ and you’ll find a bewildering array of super-premium-priced beverages and supplements (some of which claim, with limited evidence,* that the fruit – which contains polyphenols called xanthones - can do everything from reduce...
Impossible Foods is gearing up to start a second shift at its Oakland production facility that will double production of its plant-based Impossible Burger by the year-end, and is planning a second factory at an undisclosed location as it seeks to “not...
If you’ve just managed to get your head around the concept of ‘clean meat’ – meat produced by culturing animal cells outside of an animal - Bond Pet Foods is about to push the food industry’s boundaries again with a new approach to meat protein production...
Sales at Humm Kombucha surged by 125% in 2017, say its co-founders, who are developing a production facility in Roanoke Virginia three times the size of their current 40,000sq ft facility in Bend, Oregon, and claim to have developed a patent-pending process...
Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, an artisanal ice cream brand from Brooklyn, has closed a Series A minority investment round led by Strand Equity, which the company will use to fuel its retail and wholesale businesses as well as make some major c-suite hires.
Slightly more than two years after setting out on a mission to make childhood dreams of safely eating raw cookie dough a reality, the founder of The Dough Jar is realizing her own dream come true with the opening of a brick and mortar store in the Washington,...
Snacking on cheese is nothing new – whether it be on crackers, as part of a fancy pairing with cured meat and wine or pulled apart as ‘string’ – but consumers’ rising demand for higher protein and their fading fear of fat is taking the trend – and cheese...
In the early days, the economics of making organic kombucha – by hand – were not for the faint of heart, recalls Health-Ade co-founder Daina Trout during a tour of the company’s production facility in Torrance, CA, with FoodNavigator-USA. “We were making...
If not everyone is convinced of the viability of the direct to consumer (D2C) meal kit delivery business, the economics of the subscription model for baby food are much more appealing, claims Square Baby, one of a new wave of D2C brands targeting babies,...
Happy Family Organics is expanding its Clearly Crafted line of premium baby food from just pouches to jars to reach the millions of nutritionally at-risk, low-income infants in the US who participate in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women,...
Walter Robb, former co-CEO of Whole Foods Market, will join Apeel's board of directors
Apeel Sciences – the Santa Barbara-based firm behind Apeel, an invisible plant-based edible skin proven to dramatically extend the shelf-life of fruits and vegetables – has raised $70m in a funding round led by Viking Global Investors with Andreessen...
With the help of a $6.7 million investment led by AccelFoods, the founders of boxed water company RETHINK Brands hope to change how more people think about water and the beverages they send with their children to school, sports practice and other events.
Food is undeniably a central force of life, giving us the fuel we need to go about our days, but unfortunately, food also is the number one cause of poor health in America and a leading driver of death and disability.
If plant-based ‘milk’ is keeping some parts of the dairy industry – and the FDA commissioner – awake at night, what might milk producers make of the latest innovation to emerge from Silicon Valley: animal-free dairy (casein and whey made without cows)?...
Tio Gazpacho has seen orders for its bottled chilled soup range pour in from 49 out of 50 states through its e-commerce business indicating that consumers are seeking out savory, on-the-go snacking or light meal options made from whole ingredients.
Plant-based meat specialist Impossible Foods has received a letter from the FDA confirming the agency has no additional questions that challenge the company’s determination that its star ingredient – soy leghemoglobin (‘heme’) – is generally recognized...
