Walmart is ditching the plastic wrap on long English cucumbers in select stores after striking a deal with veggie grower Houweling’s Group to test cucumbers coated in Apeel, an invisible plant-based edible skin proven to dramatically extend the shelf-life...
Sophie’s Kitchen is heading to the frozen food aisle at 400 Walmart stores this month with vegan crab cakes and vegan breaded shrimp, in a move CEO Dr Miles Woodruff says provides a further proof point that plant-based seafood has the potential to move...
To create a “perfect food system” that can feed more people with fewer resources in the next 50 years, the food industry needs to turn 180-degrees away from long-considered “best practices,” including focusing on high yield crops, concentrating production...
Venture capitalists’ initial hesitancy to enter new deals immediately following the coronavirus outbreak appears to be easing with the most interest and activity focused on grocery CPGs and food delivery, according to an analyst with Pitchbook.
US retail sales of refrigerated kombucha and other fermented beverages edged up 2.4% to $703.2m in measured channels* in the year to July 12, 2020, with dollar sales up 5.1% in the conventional (MULO) channel but down -6.1% in the natural channel, delegates...
At six months into the pandemic, we are well-past the frantic pantry stocking days that left many store shelves bare, and yet, the broad product selection available in stores before the coronavirus outbreak has not returned – prompting questions about...
Public health advocates fear Congress will adjourn for fall break without first extending emergency food assistance that is set to expire at the end of the month – potentially leaving millions of families whose children rely on free or reduced school...
Looking back, spring 2020 was not the ideal time to debut in grocery retail, observes Planterra Foods CEO Darcey Macken, who was gearing up to make a splash in the plant-based meat set in mid-April with the OZO brand before a certain pandemic threw a...
Strong Roots – the fastest growing frozen food brand in the UK, founded in 2015 – is entering 2,000+ Walmart stores in the US as part of its mission to “fix the freezer aisle,” says founder Samuel Dennigan.
As the number of Americans dependent on what was once known as food stamps swells to 13% of the population due in large part to an unemployment spike related to the pandemic, they have become an increasingly important demographic for CPG retailers, according...
PepsiCo is launching Driftwell: a functional beverage containing L-theanine to promote relaxation. Representing PepsiCo’s fastest beverage brand ever to market, it was created through an internal idea pitch competition for employees.
Israeli fermentation-based technology firm Phytolon has secured $4.1m in funding from Millennium Food-Tech, EIT Food, Consensus Business Group (CBG), The Trendlines Group, Yossi Ackerman (former President and CEO of Elbit Systems), and the Israel Innovation...
'The spike in searches for immunity, stress relief, and sleep are off the charts'
Bulletproof has closed a $13m capital raise led by new investors, Beliv and Rocana Ventures, and existing investors, CAVU Venture Partners and Trinity Ventures, to fuel the brand's omnichannel vision of "being present where the consumer finds...
Higher income shoppers are frequenting discount retailer Dollar General more often than they did before the coronavirus pandemic, but it isn’t because they are avoiding crowds at higher end retailers or desperately searching for items out of stock at...
While hiring an experienced executive can help scaling companies avoid common pitfalls, a master career coach with Shields Meneley Partners warns that they aren’t a panacea, and founders should be prepared for ongoing and significant challenges – especially...
Lavva – best-known for its pili nut and plaintain-fueled plant-based yogurts – has moved into the plant-based milk category with a higher-fat product made with three ingredients: organic coconut water, filtered water, and pili nuts; with no added sugar,...
Based in Massachusetts, Little Leaf Farms has doubled its hydroponic greenhouse-growing capacity to 10 acres of fields under glass capable of producing more than two million packages of lettuce each month, which will broaden the company's distribution...
Consumers have grown accustomed to eating and cooking more meals at home due to the pandemic and will continue this behavior well into 2021, said Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen during the company's Q2 2020 earnings call.
Direct to consumer meal delivery service Freshly is aggressively ramping up capacity to meet demand and expects sales to grow by more than 50% this year as consumers embrace the convenience of having fresh prepared meals delivered to their door.
Last Friday marked six months since the coronavirus pandemic was declared, which for many Americans means six months of either risking exposure to go to work as essential employees or six months of working remotely from a repurposed kitchen table or other...
Mars Inc. has hired Dr. Maria Velissariou as its new vice president of global corporate research & development and chief science officer to lead the company's quality and food safety, scientific & regulatory affairs and R&D strategy.
CHOMPS – known for its brightly-colored meat sticks and miniature CHOMPLINGS products – is seeking to capture a 'significant share' of the meat snacks category by focusing on the "metrics that really matter," says co-founder and CEO...
Nestlé is ready to be “much more acquisitive” now after 18 months of aggressively selling underperforming businesses and brands that did not tidily fit into the company’s new image of itself as a primarily nutrition, health and wellness business, according...
While economic stimulus spending has helped drive up Walmart’s market share in general merchandising in recent months, it may have taken an unexpected toll on the retailer’s grocery business when paired with other pandemic-related operational changes,...
Driven by shifting shopper attitudes toward COVID-19, overall grocery delivery and pickup sales for August were down to $5.7bn from June’s peak of $7.2bn. However, some key performance indicators including average order value and intent to make a repeat...
Canola is the third largest oilseed crop after soybeans and cottonseed, with an established supply chain (for oil crushing) featuring protein with a highly attractive nutritional profile and great functional properties. So why has taken so long for canola...
As record high sales from the early days of the coronavirus pandemic level out at rates significantly lower than March and April but still higher than last year, CPG companies are trying to reassure investors that they can hold on to new customers and...
Santiago-based food tech company NotCo has closed an $85m Series C funding round co-led by Future Positive and L Catterton,* and is gearing up for a move into the US market in late 2020 or early 2021.
Retailers interested in attracting more Black shoppers, who Nielsen reports wield an annual buying power of $1.5 trillion and make more grocery trips per year than all other racial groups, need to stock and prominently highlight more products by Black-owned...
Consumers’ attitudes, priorities and behaviors are shifting significantly as a result of the global health pandemic, and ADM has identified six emerging behavioral changes highlighting consumers' prioritization of health and wellness.
Responding to “overwhelming demand” in Canada, the Impossible Burger will be available this year in a wider variety of restaurants and grocery stores throughout the country.
Under normal circumstances the Campbell Soup Co.’s 12% organic sales increase, 13% operating profit increase and strong double-digit consumption growth across all core brands in the fourth quarter would be lauded as great – but during the pandemic, when...
Launched in September 2019, Target’s newest private label line Good & Gather has generated more than $1bn in sales and will nearly double its line with 600 new items this fall.
Walmart+, a new membership program launched by Walmart this month, clearly illustrates the retailer’s online grocery ambitions as it goes toe-to-toe with Amazon Prime. Concurrently, the move also signals Walmart’s ambitions of becoming more than a leading...
Giving up meat was tough… but there are lot of great alternatives out there, says LOCA Food founder Lauren Joyner, a UX designer turned food entrepreneur. Giving up nacho cheese sauce – a staple of her childhood diet – was a whole different ballgame....
Once considered a top priority for a food or beverage brand’s success, ‘winning at shelf’ is now only “somewhat important” as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic reshapes how consumers plan and shop for groceries and how manufacturers and retailers engage...
Honey Mama's, a brand of truffle-like chocolate wellness bars made with whole foods merchandized in the burgeoning refrigerated bar set, has closed a $4.5m Series A round led by Amberstone Ventures, to fast track the brand to mainstream consumer...
Upcycled ingredients startup Renewal Mill has launched a crowdfunding campaign, which will help fund the commercialization of the company’s second ingredient, oat okara, made from oat pulp leftover when oatmilk is made.
New opportunities are opening for functional foods and beverages as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic pushes consumers to seek products that will boost their “resiliency,” support their health and wellness and personally empower them while simultaneously...
Making the next-generation of plant-based foods might not be rocket science, but it will take a hefty dose of data science, predicts the astrophysicist behind Climax Foods, a Berkeley-based startup on a mission to reverse engineer animal foods and re-build...
As demand for more meat-like plant-based products grows, Dr. Praeger’s Sensible Foods continues to expand beyond the vegetable-forward frozen foods it is best-known for with the launch of the Perfect Turk’y Burger, while still holding the line on its...
NatureBox – a VC-backed startup that burst onto the scene in 2012 as the Trader Joe’s of online snacking with curated subscription boxes – has evolved its business model over the years, making a move into bricks & mortar retail, and getting heavily...
Impossible Foods is rolling out the Impossible Burger to 350 Sprouts Farmers Market stores in 23 states starting this week, bringing its total retail footprint to more than 10,000 locations across the US.
As many schools negotiate how to teach children safely during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, they also must navigate how to feed them – a challenge that will require creativity and cooperation from regulators, legislators, and school nutrition professionals...
Plant-based protein specialist PURIS – a key supplier of pea protein to Beyond Meat - is rolling out a series of new products this year including a pea syrup that can serve as an alternative to corn-, brown rice- or tapioca syrup; and sweet lupin flour,...
While sales of natural and organic products continue to grow in the high single- digits year-over-year, the industry’s lack of leadership diversity, including brands owned by people of color and women, is holding it back from its full market potential,...
Boulder-based Sovos Brands is building out its portfolio of what it calls 'one-of-a-kind brands' with a signed agreement to acquire Birch Benders, the #1 'just-add-water' pancake and waffle mix in the natural channel.
What’s hot and what’s not in the world of sweeteners? FoodNavigator-USA caught up with Icon Foods, Cargill and Beneo to explore formulation trends as brands remain under pressure to reduce sugar and keep labels clean.
