With this week’s launch of three Refrigerated Oat Bars, children’s nutrition brand Once Upon a Farm is hoping to do for children’s snack bar category what it did for baby food in 2015 when it debuted its high-pressure-processed baby food in pouches merchandized...
Nourish Ingredients, a frontrunner in the burgeoning ‘animal-free’ specialty fat segment, is teaming with Boston Bioprocess to efficiently scale the most “potent fat molecules” responsible for replicating the “animalic” aroma, flavor and taste of meat...
For many Americans living a fast-paced, on-the-go lifestyle, the meditative benefits of slowly sipping a hot mug of tea may be out of reach, but the health benefits and feeling of refreshment that come from a beverage brewed with adaptogenic, nootropic...
To help close the taste-gap between alternative proteins and their animal-based counterparts, food-tech startup Melt&Marble is expanding and improving the selection and performance of available animal-free fats, which it says ultimately will help...
Energy drink newcomer Machu Pichu’s dual marketing message of finding balance and connecting to nature and community sets it apart in a category that heavily promotes extremes and individual gains, as does its organic flavor technology and natural caffeine...
At a time when many players in the controlled environment agriculture industry are laying off employees, filing for bankruptcy and in some cases closing their doors, vertical farm Oishii continues to grow – expanding production, distribution, its portfolio...
For the plant-based meat industry to close the supply and demand gap and reduce prices it must overcome what Rebellyous Foods CEO and Founder Christie Lagally describes as a “quality at scale” challenge, in which limited access to the “right tools” drives...
Despite a desire to eat healthier, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 90% of Americans do not eat enough fruits and vegetables due in large part to negative perceptions of flavor, convenience and cost – all of which startup Pairwise...
The rapid growth of plant-based protein newcomer Actual Veggies suggests the sliding sales of alternative protein products that closely mimic their animal counterparts does not represent a lack of consumer interest in vegetarian and vegan options, but...
Protein liquids and powders are one of the fastest growing segments within plant-based as more people adopt vegan and vegetarian lifestyles for ethical, environmental and health reasons – but breaking into the mainstream sports nutrition category will...
During the 2023 IFT FIRST event, Bernhard van Lengerich, founder of the Seeding the Future Foundation, honored three of the 14 winners from its 2022 annual Seeding the Future Global Food System Challenge, as they discussed bridging the gap between the...
Most food and beverage startups’ go-to-market strategy includes a combination of direct-to-consumer and grocery, but when mushroom-based snack brand Popadelics recently launched it took a less conventional route – placing a greater emphasis on luxury...
Plant-based meat snack alternatives – and sales – are climbing as new players, including startup Jack & Friends, enter the market with vegan options that better mimic the taste, texture and chew of their animal counterparts, while also offering a...
At the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City late last month emerging and established brands were going back to basics with simplified ingredients, streamlined packaging, clear cut benefits and natural – if not always familiar – flavor profiles.
Even though women make up half of marathon runners, only 2.5% of sports nutrition products explicitly target them, and those that do tend to be more expensive and tend to be rated poorly, forcing many female athletes to compromise their health by consuming...
This week, PepsiCo announced the top 10 finalists for the Greenhouse Accelerator Program: Juntos Crecemos (Together We Grow) Edition, an accelerator program that provides Hispanic-owned food and beverage startups and innovators in the space with financial...
Whole Foods Market’s newest store opened this week in the historic Walter Reed Parks in Washington, DC, as an anchor for the redeveloping neighborhood and a new opportunity for area startups hoping to break into the competitive food and beverage industry....
While most plant-based categories saw year-over-year unit sales slide last year in the face of higher prices to offset inflation, a handful of categories bucked the trend – including plant-based cream cheese, sour cream and spreads.
With Climax Foods’ unveiling today of its new plant-based casein Caseed, the biotech startup claims to have cracked the code on recreating the functionality, flavor and performance of dairy cheese – but without the animal and without any of the top eight...
Despite the capital crunch that's impacting the entire food and beverage industry, many startups are still entering the space and navigating a much tighter lending environment in the pursuits of investors to help them grow their brands, Madeline...
A “massive” repeat purchase rate of 74% direct-to-consumer and 54% at retail combined with healthy margins and strong “no f***ing way” factor helped food-tech startup Hero Bread secure $15m in series B funding despite the challenging economic environment.
Retailers investing in private label to cater to consumers trading down as inflation rises, simultaneously are looking to offset lower dollar sales with a broader selection of premium offerings that can boost basket rings – creating an opportunity for...
Food-tech startup Aqua Cultured Foods’ plant-based, whole-muscle seafood made through biomass fermentation will launch in select restaurants this summer thanks in part to an infusion of $5.5 million in seed funding led by Stray Dog Capital announced this...
Once reserved for special occasions and parties, dips are breaking out as an everyday snack – and in some cases meal – to emerge as a fast-growing category driven by pandemic-fatigue, consumer interest in global flavors and an enviable family-friendly...
Upcycling food, or turning would-be wasted byproducts from one product into something delicious and nutritious for people, has emerged as one of the hottest trends in food and beverage in recent years with the market projected to grow at a compound annual...
Newly formed trade group Founders Heritage is connecting consumers to authentic products with a new certification that highlights food and beverage brands focused on unique heritages and cultures.
It is too soon to give up on the plant-based meat segment, which has seen sales and household penetration slip in the past year, but which is evolving to meet demand for products that are healthier, tastier and more convenient, argued industry stakeholders...
Precision fermentation is emerging as one of the buzziest technologies in food, and even though it has been used safely for decades without raising eyebrows, new uses and broader awareness are prompting consumer questions that if left unanswered could...
Singapore-based WhatIF Foods looks to bring its line of products derived from the bambara groundnut to a wider audience in the coming year, focusing on educating consumers about the legume’s benefits and appealing to the “climate anxious GenZ consumer,”...
Emerging and maturing trends revealed at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim last week ranged from dips delivering delightful dinners, mochi moving into multiple day parts, plant-based expanding beyond analogues, and beverages brimming with better-for-you...
Organic rice grower Lundberg Family Farms is on a mission to certify all of its organic rice as regenerative organic by 2027 to better meet growing consumer demand for sustainable food and to “leave the land better.”
As dollar and unit sales of frozen and refrigerated plant-based meat at retail continue to slide and grocers cut back on their selections of refrigerated meat alternatives, many stakeholders are wondering if the honeymoon period for the category has ended,...
Ahead of schedule and in partnership with like-minded plant-based protein brand Aloha, California-based Terviva’s much-anticipated, “ultra-sustainable” Ponova oil is debuting in its first commercially available food – a limited edition bar that celebrates...
Xiao Chi Jie (XCJ), the modern Chinese food brand that helped put authentic soup dumplings on the US map by cultivating a cult-like direct-to-consumer following during the pandemic is ready to expand into brick and mortar stores this April with a new...
Since Project Potluck was founded in 2020 to support people of color in the CPG industry, the landscape and conversation around diversity and inclusion has changed dramatically, but according to the grassroots group turned non-profit a lot remains to...
Alongside falling sales, volume and units, plant-based meat has slid into the trough of despair, also known as valley of disillusionment or sorrow, and while it is unclear if the category has hit bottom yet, many stakeholders already are looking for a...
Against the grim backdrop of tumbling sales, units and volume for fresh and frozen alternative proteins, plant-based bacon is emerging as a bright spot – with sales inching up, thanks in part to innovative production techniques, like those championed...
A new partnership between a small business funding and research arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Springtide Seaweed will help to address the challenges of broadening seaweed cultivation “beyond kelp” and into other seaweed varieties.
Most Americans think about food in terms of servings, but Johns Hopkins-trained cardiologist Elizabeth Klodas talks about the snack bars, pancake mix, granola-like sprinkles and packets of oatmeal she offers under her brand Step One Foods’ in terms of...
As frozen pierogi maker Mrs. T’s celebrates 70 years of tucking ‘the stuff you love’ into a soft pasta pockets shaped ‘like a smile,’ the founder’s son and now company president reflects on what it takes to not only survive but thrive for seven decades...
A new start-up incubator and investment platform from the team that helped KIND climb from concept to a $5b business with only $5m in primary investment is throwing out the tried-and-true playbooks for growing a brand in favor of focusing on the values...
It’s becoming increasingly clear that early projections about the speed with which cultivated meat might gain market share now seem pretty optimistic. But Rome wasn’t built in a day, and significant progress is being made to build the ecosystem needed...
Ayana Bio — one of a new wave of startups seeking to unlock the potential of plant cell culture in the food and nutrition industry — is turning its attention to cacao bioactives with a $3m investment it claims will also benefit the wider industry.
Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has granted a world-first regulatory approval to GOOD Meat for the use of serum-free media in the production of cultivated meat.
The Live Green Co – a startup deploying an artificial intelligence platform called 'Charaka' to mine databases of plants in search of replacements for animal-based ingredients, synthetic, or highly-processed ingredients from BHA to methylcellulose...
A study published in the journal Nature Food outlining key production metrics at cultivated meat co Believer Meats, “shatters” some of the assumptions made in a high-profile article in The Counter, which argued that cell-cultured meat faced “intractable”...
San Diego-based Seminal Biosciences – one of a growing number of startups deploying precision fermentation to produce specialty fats – is aiming to get its first product, a cocoa butter alternative, to market next year in a dark chocolate bar, with additional...
Bay area-based cultivated meat startup New Age Eats (formerly New Age Meats) is letting go of an almost-complete pilot facility in Alameda where it had planned to showcase its tech to produce cell-cultured pork.
Multiple semi-finalists in the prestigious XPRIZE ‘Feed the Next Billion’ competition have pulled out following a rule change enacted mid-way through the process relating to title sponsor ASPIRE which contestants argue is “unrealistic for any venture-backed...
Massachusetts-based startup Superfrau is targeting the emerging functional soda category with a vitamin and mineral packed sparkling beverage made from one core ingredient: upcycled liquid whey from Greek yogurt production.
