Leading Canadian organic baby food brand Baby Gourmet is eager to expand its manufacturing capacity and bring its organic meals and snacks for babies and toddlers into the US after joining Hero Group’s “goodness of nature” portfolio, which also includes...
Cell-based seafood startup BlueNalu – which is building a pilot plant, demo kitchen and new HQ at a 40,000 sq ft facility in San Diego – hopes to get its first product (mahi mahi) into a small number of US restaurants by the end of the year, assuming...
Checkout who is moving onwards and upwards in FoodNavigator-USA's latest new hires gallery, featuring high profile new hires at indoor farming startups AppHarvest and Plenty; a new management team at ZICO coconut water; and changes at Impossible...
Ajinomoto has defended the safety of flavor enhancer MSG against claims made in a citizen's petition filed by the nonprofit Truth in Labeling Campaign that urges the FDA to rescind the ingredient's GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) status.
AppHarvest -- an indoor vertical farming ag tech company based in Morehead, Kentucky -- is shipping out its first harvest of beefsteak tomatoes to national and regional grocery store chains including Kroger, Publix, Walmart, Food City, and Meijer.
PepsiCo has stepped up its carbon footprint targets, with the ambition to become carbon neutral by 2040. FoodNavigator speaks to European sustainability chief Chris Daly about why it is an ‘absolutely aggressive challenge’ but also a timetable that is...
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced the final rule regulating the production of hemp in the United States — well over a year after publishing draft regulations.
Successfully meeting rising demand for “functional benefits” goes beyond adding on-trend ingredients with health properties to line-extensions or new products – it also requires brands to navigate a “two-way street” with consumers to balance education...
Start-up Slice of Sauce’s promise of a “mess-free” eating experience that won’t compromise on flavor or lead to soggy bread while eating sandwiches and wraps on-the-go helped married founders Emily and Cole Williams secure a $200,000 investment from former...
New research findings from The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center found that the artificial sweetener saccharin did not alter the gut microbiota or induce glucose intolerance (an indicator of the development of diabetes) in healthy adults as...
Consumer and regulatory pressure is mounting once again for the CPG industry to cut back on the use of single-use plastics, Styrofoam, and other non-recyclable packaging despite a temporary reprieve during the pandemic when safety and hygiene fears outweighed...
Plant-based meat and dairy products dominate our gallery of new launches, coupled with a wave of products highlighting immunity and digestive health, and a high-profile CBD beverage launch from Molson Coors.
Krill oil specialist Aker BioMarine is taking the next step in deriving value from its raw material by launching a soluble protein that the company says has the complete amino acid profile and formulation flexibility to make it an important player in...
Swedish brand Nick’s – which entered the US in late 2019 with a range of light ice creams and generated revenues of $10m in its first full year on the market (2020) – has hired dairy industry veteran Carlos Altschul to head up its US business after raising...
Hydroponic vertical farming company Plenty has hired Impossible Foods VP of sales, Dana Worth, as its SVP of sales to lead the company's next phase of commercial growth.
Now more than nine months into the pandemic consumer marketing communications firm HUNTER has uncovered that while some behaviors are moderating back to pre-COVID times, others have intensified and represent a long-lasting shift in the way Americans eat.
Almost a year since the start of the pandemic in Europe, many of those infected who reported losing their sense of smell and consequently taste -- even without displaying other symptoms -- still haven’t recovered these senses. What implications could...
Most grocery retailers are strongly encouraging employees to vaccinate against the coronavirus as more states expand access to the vaccine to frontline essential workers, but few are mandating it and even fewer are paying their employees to take the preventive...
Speaking at Expo West in 2015 two years after selling his coconut water brand to Coca-Cola, ZICO founder Mark Rampolla observed that his nine years running the business had been “absolutely brutal.” Six years later, he’s back at the helm, after buying...
The European Food Safety Authority has published its first scientific opinion on an insect-derived food. The conclusion? Mealworms are safe for human consumption.
With in store sampling off the table during the pandemic, the non-alcoholic spirits brand Ritual Zero Proof drove “explosive” growth in 2020 and has high hopes for 2021 with help from partnerships with established CPG brands, including most recently Campbell’s...
Amazon blew past traditional grocers H-E-B and Trader Joe’s to secure the coveted title of best overall grocery retailer in dunnhumby’s fourth annual Retailer Preference Index, which also placed the company at the top of its new “Covid Momentum Metric”...
PepsiCo is targeting a reduction of absolute greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across its value chain by more than 40% by 2030. It is aiming for net-zero emissions by 2040.
Chobani is moving into new territory with the launch of a Chobani Coffee, a line of multi-serve ready-to-drink coffees made with single origin cold brew and the company’s new oatmilks and dairy creamers, which might seem like a leap into the unknown,...
GoodSam Foods, a new brand of no-sugar-added, direct-trade chocolate launched by BeyondBrands, has entered the sugar-free chocolate confectionery category with products sweetened with emerging sweetener allulose.
Tyson Foods is investing $26m to expand production at its Wright Brand Bacon facility in Vernon, Texas. The expansion project is scheduled for completion in March 2021.
Craft pickle brand SuckerPunch Gourmet’s new look shifts the focus from its iconic prizefighting mascot to the bold flavors and high-quality ingredients that set the brand apart from the competition, while also balancing the visual priorities of in-store...
PepsiCo is driving incremental growth for two of its hottest brands by bringing together flavored sparkling water bubly and at home water carbonation platform SodaStream to launch a line of bubly drops that will hit store shelves and ecommerce this month.
Gut microbiota composition may be associated with the severity of COVID-19 and the risk of on-going symptoms, according to a newly published observational study.
Stevia specialist SweeGen has commercialized Reb N, a lesser-known steviol glycoside “with a unique sensory profile… that makes it especially attractive for beverage applications.”
By Robert Guite and Abby Meyer, Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP
If your company sells any vanilla-flavored food or beverage product, then you are probably aware of the innumerable class action cases that have been filed over the last 18 months attacking these products – 67 cases by our count. Here, we trace the history...
The trend of home cooking and kitchen creativity, which scores of households exhibited last year will stick around in 2021 solidifying the dining table as the centerpiece of family eating, says New York-based online grocery retailer FreshDirect which...
As consumer taste preferences shift to reflect a deeper understanding of the connection between health and diet during the ongoing pandemic, PepsiCo is expanding the scope of its Greenhouse Accelerator program to embrace emerging science and technology...
Black Lives Matter supporters may not be taking to the streets or grabbing headlines as often as they were last summer, but the social and racial injustices that drove them their persist, which is why KIND Healthy Snacks is deepening its commitment to...
Matrix Meats – an Ohio-based startup developing customizable nanofiber scaffolds for cell-cultured (a.k.a. ‘cultivated,’ ‘cell-based’) meat production – has completed a seed round to help expand its team and develop partnerships in the nascent industry.
Outstanding Foods, maker of PigOut Pigless Pork Rinds, has raised $10m in a recent Series A financing round led by existing investor SternAegis Ventures to fuel rapid retail expansion and new production innovation.
Maple Leaf Foods and its wholly-owned subsidiary of plant protein products, Greenleaf Foods, has acquired a 118,000-square-foot facility in Indianapolis, Indiana, which will increase the production of Lightlife tempeh products to meet rising consumer...
For many Americans in 2020, pouring a stiff drink at the end of the day – or in the middle of it – was less about socializing with friends and more about coping with the chaos of the pandemic, and while many of the challenges from last year remain – research...
Meal kits have gained fresh impetus during the coronavirus pandemic as consumers have embraced food e-commerce and looked for ways to recreate restaurant-quality meals at home. But will they retain their luster post-COVID-19, and what will distinguish...
For food & supplement brands hoping 2021 might be the year the FDA unveils a long-awaited regulatory framework for CBD, its Jan 7 progress report citing the need for more safety data does not provide much encouragement, with the Council for Responsible...
Industrialized animal slaughter is something the meat & poultry industry has perfected over the years. Most consumers, however, are blissfully unaware that the egg industry also slaughters billions of animals every year, but not to put meat on the...
Allergy-friendly food company Partake has completed a $4.8m Series A funding round backed by a diverse and star-powered lineup of investors from private equity investment firm CircleUp Growth Partners to Rihanna and Seattle Seahawks' Bobby Wagner.
Consumer interest in global flavors and new experiences has skyrocketed during lockdowns as they look for ways to escape the monotony of life at home – creating opportunities for manufacturers to push the flavor envelope or leverage “cultural tourism”...
Federal regulators could do more to protect consumers by using existing import authorities as well as moving forward on hemp/CBD regulation, the National Products Association has said.
Supplement manufacturer Zarbee’s Naturals has been advised to qualify some of its claims in a National Advertising Division case that bears on the question of what is meant by the term ‘natural.’
New brand immi is aiming to bring instant ramen into a new 'better-for-you' era with the launch of its high-protein, low-carb, noodles to shake up the stagnant instant ramen category.
