The Jackfruit Company has developed a ready-to-eat pulled pork imitation that it hopes should propel growth, drawing interest from meat eaters considering plant-based alternatives for health and environmental reasons.
Shaka Tea, Bushel, and Toast Ale scooped the top prizes at FoodBytes! San Francisco 2019, Rabobank’s 15th global pitch competition for food and ag startups, after wowing judges with their innovative products and business models.
The FDA has ruled in favor of a citizen petition requesting dietary fiber status for MGP Ingredients' Fibersym RW and FiberRiteRW -- both resistant starches 4 (RS4) -- with the agency stating that it will propose that cross-linked phosphorylated...
French cookie brand Michel et Augustin has spent the last year trimming back its portfolio to refocus on its strengths, and is now ready to take a bite out of the mass retail cookie market, its US CEO says.
Gluten-free frozen pizza brand Caulipower is on track to generate revenues of $100m in 2019, after just two years in business, with a mission to revolutionize America's relationship with vegetables, says founder Gail Becker.
Emerging and new-to-market brands are all vying for precious shelf space at retail, so where should founders focus their time and energy to secure a spot in their desired store area?
While terms such as a 'natural' and 'clean label' may not have a regulated definition attached to them, these particular descriptors do motivate over half of US shoppers to purchase a product, a new survey of 1,000 adults conducted...
Chloe's has made its first line extensions with "permissibly indulgent" chocolate dipped pops and a kids line in partnership with Nickelodeon since launching five years ago.
How brick-and-mortar retailers merchandise and present their fresh produce selection plays an important role in driving sales, shares the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) in its 2019 Power of Produce report.
Sparkling botanical beverage brand Petal has had a busy first year as the company doubled its product line with three new flavors, underwent a reformulation (swapping out stevia and erythritol for organic agave), and is now primed for national distribution...
Not long ago, high protein content call-outs were reserved for ready-to-drink milkshakes and protein bars. Today, everything from snacks to pasta to frozen food boast high protein content on their packaging. What’s sustaining the protein fortification...
Pasture-raised egg and butter specialist Vital Farms has branched out into ghee – a category that has benefited from changing consumer attitudes towards fat - and saturated fat in particular.
Plant-based meat start-up Impossible Foods has issued a voluntary recall of a single lot number of its product after a restaurant in California discovered a “food-safe, sealed, one-inch plastic object in a case of Impossible Burger bulk product.”
Meat often gets a bad rap on the sustainability front, but not all animal production systems have the same impact on the planet, says Blue Apron founder Matthew Wadiak, who has launched a regenerative agriculture venture that will initially focus on pasture-raised...
In the past five years, online grocery retailer Thrive Market has grown its business to 500,000 paid members shopping its 6,000+ products, allowing the company to dive head first into new projects around regenerative agriculture, and "dramatically"...
If areas of the grocery store were to be placed in a figurative bracket based on annual volume growth over a three year period (2015-2018), which departments would come out on top? According to Nielsen's "Total Store Bracket" ranking 16...
While most new plant-based brands debut in the natural channel, the trend is becoming so red hot that Alpha Foods – which has just raised $7m in a round co-led by New Crop Capital and AccelFoods – started by knocking on Walmart’s door… and found it open,...
Colon cancer used to be considered a threat mostly to adults older than 50, but the disease is becoming more prevalent among Millennials, which some experts believe may be linked to the rising popularity of low-carb and grain-free diets, a trend that...
Scientific and technology advances, coupled with the increased consumer interest, means that there is a need to update and harmonize the recommendations for protein intakes around the globe, says the head of the International Protein Board.
Detector dogs have played a major role in the seizure of one million pounds of pork smuggled from China into the US, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has revealed.
60-second interview: Mike Mauzé, founding partner, VMG Partners
If you walk into someone by mistake as you push through the crowds at the Natural Products Expo West show these days, you are just as likely to find yourself apologizing to an investor as a retail buyer searching for hot new brands. But what does all...
As consumers learn more about digestive health and all the implications that it has for the wellbeing of their bodies and minds, they are looking for products that go beyond probiotics – creating a booming digestive health category that is ripe for innovation....
Despite efforts by the largest food and beverage manufacturers in the United States to tackle obesity and diet-related disease in the market, nearly 40% of adults and 18.5% of children in the US are obese – putting them at risk of Type 2 diabetes, high...
Poultry processor Pilgrim’s Pride has announced the appointment of Jayson Penn, current president of its USA division, to succeed Bill Lovette, who is retiring from the position of president and chief executive officer.
Consumers want more natural, less processed, ‘clean’ foods. But do they give certain brands – and categories – a pass? And what cues are they looking for? Checkout what our consumer and legal experts had to say in the opening session of our Natural and...
Synthesized analogs of botanical ingredients, and ingredients of wholly artificial origin, could have a place in the dietary supplement industry. But if they do, full transparency would argue that they be labeled as such.
Mondelēz International has made an investment in The Hatchery, a Chicago-based non-profit food business accelerator, as part of the CPG company's SnackFutures innovation and venture hub.
With annual retail sales of cold brew coffee estimated at more than $29 million in 2017 and predicted to grow to $170 million by the end of 2025, it is easy to see why at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim earlier this month so many new players were...
In order to feed a nutritious, sustainable diet to the predicted 10 billion people who will populate Earth by 2050, environmental advocates and food & beverage industry stakeholders must work together rather than apart from – or even at times against...
US pig producers and veterinarians have been reminded about the risks of African Swine Fever (ASF) and the impact it would have on the domestic pig population.
Food and beverage brands targeting kids often promote their low sugar content, or highlight calcium for bones and protein for growing bodies. But what about the nutrients kids need to support the development of arguably their most important asset: the...
60-second interview: Koen Burghouts, Global VP, nutrition group at PepsiCo
While a flurry of brands have piled into the oatmilk category of late, Quaker is seeking to carve a unique position in the category with a product that delivers the creamy texture and performance that consumers have come to expect, but also offers unique...
Weller, a Boulder-based snack and beverage company, is not tip-toeing around using the word 'CBD' on its packaging as it launches a line of sparkling waters featuring 25mg cannabidiol (from full spectrum hemp extract).
Reimagining base brands, cultivating the M&A pipeline, and developing new innovation models
Will big food companies increasingly buy in innovation and serve simply as scale up platforms for smaller, more 'authentic' brands they didn’t create, or can they come up with their own cool stuff that will resonate with new generations of consumers?...
Agriculture Minister Tereza Cristina Dias has said that the US agreement to conduct further inspections on the country’s meatpacking system was an “insufficient gesture”.
If harnessed appropriately, rapid advances in digital technology could offer much-needed solutions to some of the unintentional negative diet- and nutrition-related consequences from otherwise positive Industrial Revolution era developments, according...
Levy board Beef + Lamb New Zealand is to launch a multi-million dollar US branding campaign to educate consumers on the benefits of grass-fed meat under the Taste Pure Nature origin brand.
The splits in the organic movement have given birth to a new initiative to regain the soul of the concept, according to an executive with a major retailer.
For some time, Amazon has been the dominant player in online grocery, but that lead may be starting to slip as brick-and-mortar retailers have been steadily winning back share in the competitive ecommerce race, says Nielsen.
Fermentation: A pathway to 'superior cannabinoids at significantly reduced cost'?
CBD (cannabidiol) produced via fermentation could hit the market early next year following a partnership between synthetic biology expert Amyris, and LAVVAN, Inc., a newly-formed company committed to “providing the market with superior cannabinoids at...
While modern wisdom may favor launching fast and iterating quickly based on consumer feedback, the director of innovation at Endangered Species Chocolate says when it comes to packaging and branding it is better to slow down and invest in consumer research...
Bulletproof360, Inc. (maker of Bulletproof Coffee) has named Cameron Kinloch (former CFO at Ripple Foods) as CFO, and Brian Watkins as the company's VP of ecommerce, reporting to Bulletproof president and COO, Anna Collins.
Revive Kombucha is taking a direct shot at the center aisle carbonated soft drink (CSD) consumer with a shelf-stable sparkling kombucha in 12-ounce cans that contains less sugar (5g) and lower calories (20 calories) than its raw refrigerated kombucha....
Are we approaching ‘peak plant milk’? Will ‘designer proteins’ created via synthetic biology catch on? And should dairy milk serve as the nutritional benchmark for plant-based ‘milk’? Elaine Watson caught up with Ripple Foods cofounder Adam Lowry at the...
While US household penetration of hummus has soared over the past decade, there is still a significant opportunity to increase consumption through new usage occasions, says Jason Levine, who has joined the nation’s leading hummus brand Sabra as chief...
Beverage startup mogul Lance Collins is making his first shift into food after snapping up small snack firm Core Foods for a namesake to continue the 'legacy' of his recently sold water brand, and says he's on a mission to create a $100m...
Mondelēz International is already a powerhouse in snacking (parent company to Ritz, Wheat Thins, Triscuit, and allergen-friendly brand, Enjoy Life Foods). In November 2018, however, the company decided to pour more efforts into its snack business strategy...