Protein snacks company IWON Organics recently closed a $1m financing round from friends and family, helping to fuel the brand's evolution into becoming an organic legume-based foods company with products that span across salty snacks, cereal, and...
Despite recent warnings that key holiday foods may be out-of-stock or more expensive than previous years due to ongoing supply chain challenges, consumer concern about obtaining food and the impact of inflation hasn’t changed much compared to August,...
Virginia-based Nutriati – which has developed a patented process yielding highly functional pulse proteins and flours with potential to unlock new opportunities in plant-based meat, dairy, gluten-free bakery and snacks – has struck a five-year global...
On a long-term mission to become the world's leading food solutions group, HelloFresh continues to register strong year-over-year growth in revenue and in key performance metrics including order rates, and active customer acquisition.
While the CPG industry continues to steadily add jobs, the rate at which companies are onboarding new employees still falls woefully short of what is needed to keep pace with quickly rising consumer demand – prompting industry leaders to reevaluate the...
The CPG industry is facing a potential $3bn loss as temporary pandemic-related stimulus earmarked for groceries was phased out last month – despite the launch of a simultaneous permanent increase in monthly benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance...
Online grocer Imperfect Foods is now a Certified B Corporation (B Corp), underscoring the brand's commitment to sustainability and transparency in the food supply chain.
CaPao is introducing consumers to an underused part of the cocoa plant, the cacao fruit (the raw, white pulp surrounding the cocoa beans), with its range of 'cacaofruit' bites and quinoa squares.
Fresh Bellies has pivoted away from its original line of HPP fresh baby food and refocused its resources and efforts on the kids snacking category, a decision CEO and founder Saskia Sorrosa says has put the brand on the map in a big way.
While most of the grocery retail sector experienced record sales last year, independent and small regional grocers experienced a notable lift in sales despite increased costs of doing business and dealing with the same supply chain issues as many of its...
Given the food system currently contributes a third of greenhouse gas emissions and is a driving cause of soil and species loss, adopting ‘sustainable’ practices is no longer enough to save the planet’s health or ensure sufficient nutritious food for...
Aspire Food Group - which is on a mission to automate and professionalize edible insect farming – aims to start production at a CAD $90m 100,000sqft automated cricket processing facility near London, Ontario, in Q1/Q2 of next year that will produce 10,000...
Plant-based online retailer Vejii Holdings has received conditional approval for public listing on the Canadian Stock Exchange (CSE) under the symbol “VEJI” once a commencement date of trading is confirmed.
Defying expectations, meal kits continue to hold their own as economies reopen and competition from restaurants, in-person gatherings and travel cut into consumers’ appetite and time for at-home cooking – underscoring an evolution in the category led...
Swedish keto-friendly brand Nick’s – which entered the US in late 2019 with low carb light ice cream pints and has since expanded into ice cream sandwiches and keto snack bars – has raised $100m in a Series C round led by Kinnevik, Ambrosia Investments...
Flavor experts or even astute consumers will say that biting into a strawberry can taste very different depending on where, when, and how it was grown, such as in a wild or commercial setting.
While Kraft Heinz continues to raise prices to offset higher costs, it does not expect consumers to shoulder the full brunt of worsening inflation – rather it is leveraging its scale to mitigate increases while simultaneously elevating product value through...
Best known for its lightly-coated chocolate-covered almonds and other nuts, SkinnyDipped has evolved into a platform brand expanding into high-growth adjacent categories, said CEO Breezy Griffith.
When Layn Corp subsidiary HempRise first announced plans to invest a cool $80m into a state-of-the-art hemp processing facility in Jeffersonville Indiana a couple of years ago, the expectation was that by the time it opened, we’d have clarity on the regulatory...
Plant-based foods brand Tattooed Chef has entered into an agreement to acquire Ohio-based Belmont Confections, a private label co-manufacturer of nutrition bars, for approximately $18m in cash and stock.
As Mexican flavors settle into mainstream US culture, flavor and fragrance innovator T. Hasegawa predicts that Americans, especially Millennials and Gen Xers, are ready to try other Latin American cuisines and more nuanced and complex flavor profiles...
Chicago-based startup Aqua Cultured Foods – which is carving out new territory in the seafood alternatives space with a Non-GMO fermentation-based production platform capable of delivering high-protein ‘whole cuts’ of fungi-based seafood - has closed...
Shiru - an Emeryville, CA-based startup producing proteins via microbial fermentation to create label-friendly alternatives to everything from methylcellulose to gelatin and casein - has closed a $17m Series A round* led by S2G Ventures that will help...
Consumers have evolved their definition of what qualifies as a snack and are increasingly seeking out permissibly indulgent options, which has given rise to a new type of snacking behavior in the frozen set, Mintel consumer insights research suggests....
Food prices continue their steady climb, rising in the last month nearly as much as they did for all of 2019 before the pandemic wreaked havoc on supply chains and dramatically altered consumer demand, according to data released Oct. 25 from the US Department...
With an eye towards identifying technologies and innovations that “exemplify the new food economy” by offering scalable solutions that increase nutrition with minimal environmental impact, FoodBytes! by Rabobank has winnowed down from 45 global startups...
Above Food, a vertically-integrated plant-based foods company, has entered into an agreement to acquire Atlantic Natural Foods and its portfolio of shelf-stable, plant-based food brands Loma Linda, TUNO, and Neat for an estimated $30m.
Recognizing that what and how parents choose to feed their newborns and toddlers goes beyond just nutrition, Gerber undertook an ambitious investigation into the universal pressures that caregivers face with an eye towards better supporting them as they...
Back in 2013/14, no food innovation conference was complete without at least one session promoting edible insects as the next big thing in ‘alternative protein.’ Since then, the field has become littered with the corpses of bug-fueled startups that ran...
From Nestle's vegan 'Vrimp' in Europe to Good Catch's crab cakes on trial at Long John Silver's in the US, many players believe plant-based seafood represents a significant untapped opportunity in a sector dominated by beef, pork...
PepsiCo's $18bn Frito-Lay food division is making strong strides towards its "bold and important" sustainable packaging goals to make every bag across its snack portfolio recyclable, compostable, biodegradable or reusable by 2025, shares...
Unilever joins the parade of CPG manufacturers hiking prices “significantly” to offset rising commodity costs and other inputs, with CEO Alan Jope warning, “there is more pricing still to come.”
Nestle boosted its full year sales guidance this week after raising prices once again to account for climbing costs, but leadership cautioned those increases may not be enough to fully counter worsening inflation – suggesting more hikes likely are necessary...
San Francisco-based Change Foods – one of a small group of startups making 'animal-free' dairy ingredients using microbes instead of cows - plans to launch its first consumer products (cheese) in 2023. FoodNavigator-USA got into the weeds with...
A leading player in plant-based dairy with its Silk and So Delicious brands, Danone North America has made significant strides in improving the taste and texture of plant-based cheese, yogurt, and milk over the past 12 months, says chief research &...
If plant-based dairy is going to go truly mainstream, brands need to reach consumers that right now, are not engaging in the category at all, says Santiago-based NotCo, which says most people don’t want to buy three different plant-based milks for different...
Beginning at conception and continuing through first bites to afterschool snacks and beyond, nutrition plays a pivotal role in children’s brain development, emotional lives, and long-term health – but all too often they aren’t getting all the nutrients...
Nestlé has entered the refrigerated snacking set with its line of permissably indulgent Rallies, a three-bite snack of chocolate enrobed nut butters, which is targeting a growing group of consumers who need a pick-me-up to rally themselves out of a slump,...
Berkeley-based startup Mission Barns – which has developed a platform to cultivate fat from animal cells, outside of the animal - has teamed up with gourmet sausage maker Silva Sausage Co to produce hybrid sausages combining cell-cultured fat and plant...
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has green-lighted the mung bean protein ingredient used in Eat Just’s egg substitute product, paving the way for the company to launch its JUST Egg plant-based alternative in Europe.
Clearly communicating the environmental benefits of CPGs can be a heavy lift given the complexity of sustainability, the relative lack of space on most packages, and differences in consumer awareness across demographics – but new research suggests doing...
Fresh off closing its Series B $35m funding round, Cometeer is introducing more coffee drinkers to a new way of making barista-quality coffee at home with flash-frozen, dissolvable pucks of brewed coffee.
A consumer study funded by Israeli startup Future Meat Technologies suggests US consumers are surprisingly open to cell-cultured or ‘cultivated’ meat (from animal cells grown outside an animal), although the firm acknowledges the true test will come when...
After leading the Organic Trade Association as CEO for 13 years, Laura Batcha will step down next spring – leaving a legacy of savvy political acumen and active member engagement that helped the trade group expand the reach, impact, awareness and sales...
Online food marketplace BUBBLE – a fast-growing platform enabling new and emerging natural food brands without the bandwidth to set up DTC operations seek new routes to market – has launched a self-service platform enabling vendors to get approved and...
'Ultra-processed' food comprises the majority of the average US adult diet, according to a new study by researchers at NYU School of Global Public Health, who suspect the pandemic has further fueled the trend.
What will be trending in 2022? According to Whole Foods' annual food trends report, consumers are seeking products that contribute to their personal definition of wellbeing, whether it be less-boozy beverages, leafy greens grown locally, or ice cream...
The tide appears to be turning for direct-to-consumer subscription boxes, including for food and beverage, with consumer interest dropping dramatically in 2021 compared to last year when the pandemic pushed many people to try the services as a safe and...
