Mars is backing a new coalition that aims to support climate action through global supply chains. Kevin Rabinovitch, VP Global Sustainability, tells us that procurement is one of the most powerful tools in the company’s arsenal in the fight against climate...
Motif FoodWorks – a Boston-based startup focused on high-impact ingredients that can be added to plant- based meat and dairy formulations in small quantities but make a significant difference to the eating experience – has raised $226m in Series B* funding,...
San Francisco-based Change Foods – one of a new breed of startups making 'animal-free' dairy ingredients using microbes instead of cows – has closed an oversubscribed $2.1m seed funding round,* and plans to launch its first consumer products...
After disrupting the sleepy dried fruit category with its skin-on, nutrient-dense, zero food-waste approach, emerging superfruit snack brand RIND is expanding into the salty snack aisle with the launch of thin-cut, crispy fruit chips with help from Valor...
The COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing legal quagmire surrounding CBD supplements and foods in the US have knocked what was a booming category – along with scarce science and raw material pricing and QC concerns – but the sector is looking to economic and...
Is consumer sentiment around MSG (monosodium glutamate) shifting? According to MSG supplier Ajinomoto, perceptions of the flavor enhancer have improved over the last three years since the company undertook a full-scale awareness campaign to educate consumers.
Lightlife Foods’ recent campaign pitting its ‘real food’ credentials vs the 'hyper-processed' wares of Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat was dismissed by some as a PR stunt. However, it started a conversation, says president Dan Curtin, who predicts...
Even in the face of rising inflation and ostensibly competing financial priorities, Mondelez’s multi-year shopping spree shows no sign of slowing as executives last week touted the steady “high-single digit” returns from recent acquisitions that are part...
With an infusion of $7m in series A funds, baby food challenger Serenity Kids hopes to prove its high-fat, meat- and vegetable-based purees, grain-free puffs and bone broths “are not just for the elite, crunchy consumer,” by expanding distribution and...
Royal DSM has entered into a broad commercial partnership with Colorado-based cannabinoid company Mile High Labs (MHL) for next generation science-backed cannabinoid solutions.
Vertical Roots, a vertical farming company which grows its leafy greens in repurposed shipping containers year-round, has opened its third indoor farm in Atlanta, Georgia, reducing produce transportation and expanding access to fresh, locally-grown leafy...
As the G7 summit draws to its end and groundwork commences for COP 26, world leaders have been urged to look at the food system to deliver progress on COVID-19, economic security, climate change and health.
French investment firm Roquette Ventures (part of ingredients company Roquette Group), which supports start-ups in the food, nutrition, and health markets, is looking to scale up production of plant protein sweeteners made using precision fermentation.
From emerging keto ice cream brand, Rebel, and Beyond Meat's plant-based sausage, to big food's permissibly indulgent takes on legacy brands (Reese's Thins and Zero Sugar Mountain Dew), one theme rang true in IRI's 2020 New Product...
Chobani has launched an industry first – a nationally-distributed line of dairy yogurts with zero grams of sugar – to meet growing demand from consumers that want to reduce sugar without feeling like they’re eating ‘diet’ products or compromising on taste...
While the pandemic shined a light on the role of diet and nutrition in health and wellness, it also revealed that most consumers don’t have a firm – or even loose – idea of what constitutes healthy – underscoring a need for more research and better education...
“Global and local” dairy companies have approached Imagindairy - one of a clutch of startups using microbes (not cows) to produce milk proteins – about developing ‘animal-free’ dairy milks and other products, says the Israeli company, which lags some...
Despite recent rapid growth in non-dairy options, dairy consumers are still more frequently opting for dairy products over their plant-based counterparts, with plant-based cheese facing the biggest consumer acceptance challenges among dairy buyers, according...
Campbell Soup Co. executives were braced for a tough third quarter as vaccinated consumers began eating at home less just as the company cycled past the peak pantry stocking phase of the pandemic from a year ago, but even they appeared surprised by how...
Does the market need another snack bar? In short, probably not, but it may be time for a reset of the bellwether category, says Nicholas Fereday, senior analyst, consumer foods at Rabobank.
Natural and organic brands catering to alternative eating styles and combining better nutrition with convenience are shifting consumer perceptions of frozen to boost purchase intent and sales that could outlast the pandemic pantry stocking surge of 2020,...
With US retail sales of cannabidiol-infused foods, beverages and supplements declining sharply in the past year and some early-adopters souring on the ingredient after experiencing lackluster ‘results,’ some players in the space are discontinuing their...
PepsiCo is investing $200m in its Frito-Lay plant in Rosenberg, Texas to add two manufacturing lines and increase capacity of the warehouse to ensure future growth.
At least 86 lawsuits have now been filed against firms named in the recent Congressional Subcommittee report on heavy metals in baby food, including Beech-Nut Nutrition, which has just announced plans to exit the infant rice cereal category citing difficulties...
First came chickpea pasta, now with a new foodservice partnership with Oath Pizza in the New England area and expanding retail distribution in the frozen pizza aisle, Banza is unlocking demand for chickpea-crust pizza.
With a new name and a new fund, Loft Growth Partners – formerly known as 2x Consumer Products Growth Partners for the past 20 years – is looking to invest $60m in six or seven emerging brands that solve complex problems, are led by ‘pathological optimists’...
The Superior Court of California has ordered the state of California to answer a petition brought by a nonprofit calling for it to add processed meat to the Proposition 65 list of substances known to cause cancer or reproductive harm.
Fresh research has come out comparing the heart benefits associated with low-fat and ‘plant-centred’ diets. The results are in – plant-centred diets could be more effective at lowering heart disease risk.
Craft sparkling water brand Aura Bora has raised $2m in a seed round to support the company's latest chapter of growth, which includes expansion into 7-Eleven, Sprouts, Whole Foods Pacific Northwest, and Fresh Thyme, as well as its new online subscription...
Following a nutrient-dense plant-based or pescatarian diet could protect against severe COVID-19, according to researchers who found healthcare workers at high risk of exposure to the coronavirus were less likely to experience severe infections if they...
The FDA is looking at how shifting shopping habits during the pandemic, including the rapid adoption of e-commerce to buy groceries and prepared food, may have “reinforced and accelerated” the need for new measures to ensure products are safe through...
Geltor – which has developed a computational biology platform to create a range of ‘designer’ functional proteins via microbial fermentation - will launch the world’s first ingestible ‘animal-free’ vegan collagen for the food and nutrition markets this...
The Better Meat Co – a startup best-known for providing plant-based meat enhancers – has completed construction of a “substantial mycoprotein fermentation facility” in Sacramento that will produce fungi-based meat alternatives that “work phenomenally...
GoodPop Frozen Pops, a better-for-you frozen treat brand, has appointed former Unilever exec, Rahul Shah, as president and chief operating officer to help lead the company's next chapter of "unprecedented growth."
Egglife Foods has taken on the lofty goal of disrupting the $4bn tortilla category with an egg-white based tortilla that CEO David Kroll says delivers everything consumers expect from a traditional flour tortilla but with a greater degree of versatility...
After years of slow but steady declines, juice sales in the US are rebounding in a trend that may have originated with consumers seeking wellness-enhancing products and moments of intentional indulgence during the pandemic, but which industry insiders,...
Food safety is a business-critical issue. People worry about food safety and security as much as global warming, pollution and poverty, research from confectionery giant Mars reveals. FoodNavigator hears from Dr Guangtao Zhang, director of the Mars Global...
Israeli cultured meat firm Future Meat Technologies has its eye on Asia as a major market for its products with China and India as key targets, after notching-up two successes in significantly lowering production costs this year.
Plant-based milk has captured 15% of the US fluid milk market. Plant-based cheese - which has been around for just as long - has captured less than 2%* of the market, because it's much more technically challenging to formulate, and consumers are...
Ready, Set, Food! has raised $3.5m in new funding to build brand awareness for its three-stage allergen introduction system, which begins by introducing babies (starting at 4 months of age) to peanut, egg, and milk.
The thresholds for heavy metals proposed in the Baby Food Safety Act - introduced in the wake of the recent Congressional Subcommittee report alleging ‘dangerous’ levels of lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic in baby foods – are challenging but feasible,...
Mondelēz is doubling down on digital marketing and increased distribution across channels as it continues its transformation from a 'margin-centric' business to a more 'consumer-centric' company, according to CEO Dirk Van De Put.
Brands with heavy, bulky and perishable products that are difficult or expensive to ship direct-to-consumer need not write-off e-commerce as cost prohibitive or lag behind competitors in other consumer categories when it comes to online sales penetration,...
The plant-based meat category is not short of starry-eyed founders armed with me-too products and a lofty mission to fix the broken food system (spoiler alert, they probably won’t). But there is still room for new players with a genuine point of difference...
Working against tough-to-beat comparables from the previous year when consumers were in full pantry-loading mode, J.M. Smucker reported an 8% decline in net sales to $1.92bn in Q4 2021 compared to the same period last year.
