The premium meat snacks category is on fire, and scores of entrepreneurial brands have recently entered the market hoping to cash in. But there is still room for new players with truly differentiated products, says Colorado-based meat & veggie bar...
If you’ve heard of Michel et Augustin, you’re most likely French, or living in New York – where its pastries have recently started appearing in upmarket food stores. But that’s likely to change pretty quickly, predict its founders, who have just struck...
An infusion of $5 million of private and public equity funding will help ready-to-grow and ready-to–eat food manufacturer Back to the Roots expand its distribution in public schools and its product portfolio in the coming year as it strives to “undo food,” according...
Often overshadowed by the tech industry, food, beverage and ag startups can step into the spotlight at Rabobank North America Wholesale’s upcoming second FoodBytes! pitch competition where they will meet hundreds of potential investors and partners to...
Whole Foods products at wholesale prices, delivered to your door? It sounds almost too good to be true, and at the beginning, that’s certainly how many potential investors viewed Thrive Market. But with a run-rate approaching $100m and hundreds of thousands...
60-second interview: Jordan Gaspar and Lauren Jupiter, AccelFoods
AccelFoods - a New York-based early-stage investment platform making waves in the natural products space – is offering brands it partners with a lot more than capital, managing partners Jordan Gaspar and Lauren Jupiter tell FoodNavigator-USA editor Elaine...
Bigger and brighter isn’t always better when it comes to product selection and packaging, the owners of Annie B’s discovered when they purchased the caramel and popcorn company from its original family-owners in 2013.
The co-founder and CEO of Green Chef infuses his passion for transparency into every aspect of the fresh meal kit delivery company, and in doing creates new marketing opportunities for its suppliers and helps them increase consumer awareness of their...
From Cabernayzyns (dried Cabernet grapes) to bakkwa, a meat snack sold in street markets in Singapore and Malaysia that's just hit the West Coast of the US, the Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco was jam-packed with unusual new products. FoodNavigator-USA...
Does bone broth have mass market appeal, and if so, what’s the best format to package it in, and where is the best place to put it in store? FoodNavigator-USA caught up with EPIC Provisions co-founder Taylor Collins to get his take on this emerging category...
A lack of co-packers with dedicated allergen- and grain-free production facilities will hinder startups and small manufacturers from competing in the quickly growing free-from category, but it won’t stop them for long, as demonstrated by Snackin’ Free’s...
KRAVE Jerky founder Jon Sebastiani - who sold his business to Hershey last year – has already identified some entrepreneurs he hopes to mentor – and fund – as part of his new incubator, Sonoma Brands.
Marinated and vacuum packed, juiced, or turned into a bar, Love Beets is reinventing ways to make the healthy beetroot vegetable more adaptable to a busy lifestyle.
Bone broth is not new, exactly, but most consumers are still not sure what it is, acknowledges the founder of San Francisco-based Bone Broths Co, although that could change in 2016 as high-profile brands such as EPIC enter the market and more celebrities...
Snackfood firm Rhythm Superfoods has closed a $3m Series C financing round filled through the CircleUp platform, with 301 INC - General Mills' new business development and venturing unit - as the lead investor.
Consumers are embracing the convenience and adventure promised by fresh meal kits delivered to their doors with such fervor that sales growth outpaced all other aspects of food service – topping $1 billion globally in 2015, according to market research...
In the booming plant-based beverage category, Veggemo swaps out popular nuts, legumes and grains for veggies and roots, offering what it calls “the first non-dairy beverage to originate from veggies.”
While the plant-milk market is maturing, there is still room for new entrants offering a premium take on the category, says the CEO and founder of Texas-based MALK, which uses high-pressure-processing (HPP), and no preservatives, thickeners, or emulsifiers...
The ever versatile and increasingly popular avocado continues its expansion beyond savory snacks to enter the confection category with the launch of Cado avocado-based ice cream, which could be a game-changer in the non-dairy frozen dessert segment.
Most players in the increasingly crowded subscription food delivery category focus on providing high quality nutrition and hard-to-find or novel ingredients, but Sakara Life sets itself apart from the pack by going one step farther and also promising...
Upmarket meat snacks maker EPIC Provisions has been wooed by several suitors, but ultimately agreed to tie the knot with General Mills because it would help it achieve its goal of making high-quality grass-fed animal protein available to a broader audience,...
Offers to buy-one, get-one free are an effective marketing strategy, but the maker of GIVN bottled water believes an even more effective take on this technique is an offer to buy-one, give-one.
Bone broth – a warming, nourishing beverage made from meaty bones and veggies left to simmer for hours and then strained - is poised for significant growth in 2016, predicts one new market entrant, which is bringing a novel twist to the category by adding...
Butter is back, and soon too could be butter coffee if the manufacturers of Grass Fed Coffee, a ready-to-drink version of bullet coffee, meet their Kickstarter goal to raise $15,000 by Feb. 1.
As the race for manufacturers and restaurants to switch to 100% cage-free eggs in the US gains momentum, the speed of the transition could create short-term supply challenges for manufacturers and long-term opportunities for existing specialty egg providers,...
Gluten-free Cheerios, Soylent, trendspotting, the rise of veganism, and lawsuits: All of these made the top 10 most read articles on FoodNavigator-USA, but what was #1?
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 old adage that one person’s trash is another’s treasure is the foundation of San Francisco-based startup ReGrained, which makes snack bars from grains used to brew beer and eventually hopes to connect other manufacturers with a steady supply of the...
There’s a new ‘shroom coming out of the storied grounds around the Woodstock Festival 1969 site. It comes in tea form, and it will hit the shelves of New York City health food stores and gourmet delis this coming January.
Go Gourmet wants to “up the ante” in the applesauce and fruit cup aisle with its “superfood snack” Slammers – premium fruit and veggie purees for school-aged children in pouches that pose a triple threat with taste, nutrition and personality, says CEO...
Brands, like celebrities and artists, have to stay true to their core essence to retain their integrity, but must also “change and shed personas” from time to time to stay relevant, says Campbell Soup’s beverage VP Kelli McCusker.
“Local” is a hot marketing term that can drive sales – especially for startups hoping to capitalize on home court advantage – but it also can restrict expansion if it is defined too narrowly, says the founder of Dona Chai.
Startups ranging from the maker of fine sodas to an information management firm for farmers took center-stage at Rabobank North America Wholesale’s client appreciation event in New York City earlier this month where they were recognized as the winners...
For Undone Chocolate, what is in a name is not as important as what is in its gourmet bars, which is why the startup is dropping individual product names in favor of umbrella branding and highlighting key ingredients.
After struggling with slumping stock prices, increased competition and consumer complaints, Keurig Green Mountain stockholders received some good news for a change Dec. 7 when an investor group led by JAB Holdings acquired the single-serve coffee pod...
A self-proclaimed “sugar-fighter,” the founder and CEO of The Right Cup is taking on America’s addiction to sweetened beverages with the upcoming launch of a scented cup that tricks the brain into thinking plain water is a fruit-flavored beverage.
'When people first try our popcorn, one of the things they notice right away is the flavor.'
Size matters, and when it comes to popcorn, the smaller it is, the better, says one Iowa-based farm, which has carved a niche in the market with its unique ‘Tiny But Mighty’ heirloom corn, which is tiny, but intensely flavorful (hence ‘mighty’), and comes...
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;...
For startup Tru, Inc., a successful Kickstarter campaign is about more than raising funds to launch its TRUEnergy sports shot – it is about proving to retailers and future investors that the product concept is viable and will sell, said CEO and Founder...
From NatureBox to VEGA Coffee, BeanGenius, and LoveWithFood, new online subscription services targeting snack lovers, coffee aficionados, and foodies are popping up almost every week. But what will distinguish the winners from the losers in this market?
Small batch roaster Cameron’s Handcrafted Coffee believes in drinking coffee from a cup – not brewing from one, which is one of the many reasons its single serve coffee brews in a filter instead of the ubiquitous plastic cup made popular by Keurig.
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.
Not so long ago, an organic beverage brand boasting ‘adaptogenic super-herbs’ would have had a fairly niche audience. Today, it’s a very different story, says Sheryl O’Loughlin, former CEO of Clif Bar and co-founder of Plum Organics, who has just moved...
The egg industry is undergoing a “renaissance” as consumers increasingly turn their backs to conventional eggs from caged hens and reach instead for those from chickens raised with space to move and access to outdoors, claims the co-owner of Handsome...
Union Kitchen: Inside a food and beverage incubator
Transparent advertising is essential for reaching modern consumers, but as the maker of Element [Shrub] discovered – knowing which facts to emphasize first is key to driving initial trial.
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.
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...
