Entrepreneurs launching products that are unfamiliar to consumers or vastly different than previously available versions offered by competitors may struggle to gain initial trial – but partnering with chefs and distributing through foodservice can be...
Andy Jacobs, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Hostess Brands, talks trends and how the company is set to disrupt the breakfast category with new product launches.
Introducing consumers to a new brand isn’t easy, but when the product is an entirely new concept, this challenge is magnified ten-fold, as illustrated by the struggles startup Ayoba-Yo experienced trying to explain biltong to American shoppers.
Parents to young kids face many competing demands for their time. So is sitting down to dinner together a realistic option seven days a week? Is it a daily struggle to get kids to eat healthy?
For many entrepreneurs who dream of launching the next big national brand, the future can’t get here fast enough; but the founder of the “curiously pink” antioxidant lemonade brand Poppilu, warns growing too quickly without first nailing down the fundamentals...
With kids spending so much of their day in school while also being heavily influenced by their parents' eating habits, how can we get kids to make healthy food and beverage choices?
When Kraft Heinz launched its Springboard incubator program earlier this year, it was flooded with more than 200 applicants for only five spots – an overwhelming response that underscores the importance of fine-tuning a pitch when presenting to potential...
The ideal situation for families with young children is a sit-down dinner seven days a week, but in many cases that's just not realistic, says co-founder of Nurture Life Jennifer Chow.
Three simple farming strategies, based in regenerative agriculture philosophy, could hold the key to the “ancient and ongoing” problem of soil degradation, which could be nearing a tipping point as the world’s population – and need for more food – continues...
While phrases such as ‘eating clean’ are starting to appear more frequently in consumer marketing, Mintel research shows some consumers are confused by the term ‘clean’ when used on pack, says Stephanie Mattucci, Mintel’s associate director for food science,...
According to recent research from Innova Market Insights, consumers are making more mindful choices about their diets and it is changing how they evaluate products, including pushing them to look more closely at ingredient decks and to consider the product’s...
Slightly more than two years after setting out on a mission to make childhood dreams of safely eating raw cookie dough a reality, the founder of The Dough Jar is realizing her own dream come true with the opening of a brick and mortar store in the Washington,...
Renewal Mill – a startup founded by two Yale grads that works with food manufacturers to upcycle byproducts from food processing to create value-added ingredients and food items – is tackling the mounting issue of US food waste, specifically the 6 million...
Consumers increasingly are adopting plant-based diets not just for animal welfare reasons, but also for environmental ones – placing a premium on products and crops that are sustainable, such as peas.
Why will cellular agriculture succeed? “Because people don’t want to stop eating meat, they just have an issue with the process beforehand,” says the founder and president of the Cellular Agriculture Society (CAS).
Through a two-prong approach focused on innovation and acquisition, Nestle is remaking its image from a company perceived in the US to make primarily chocolate and confections to one that is “fit for the future” with brands across multiple categories...
Walter Robb, former co-CEO of Whole Foods Market, will join Apeel's board of directors
Apeel Sciences – the Santa Barbara-based firm behind Apeel, an invisible plant-based edible skin proven to dramatically extend the shelf-life of fruits and vegetables – has raised $70m in a funding round led by Viking Global Investors with Andreessen...
Almonds have a had a strong consumer perception for being “heart healthy” with one gram of unsaturated fat and nine grams of monounsaturated fats per 30 gram serving (according to the Almond Board of California), but can they compete on protein content?...
New Jersey-based FlavorHealth is aiming to commercialize a novel natural high-intensity sweetener with a flavor profile it claims is much closer to sugar than stevia by 2019 or 2020.
Cell-cultured and fermentation-based milk proteins, egg whites and meat are creating novel challenges for food marketers and regulators, but as long as products are safe and shoppers are not being misled, regulators should not stymie innovation by favoring...
As the world’s population increases and squeezes limited resources, everyone will have to do more with less – and one tool that can help with this is enzymes, such as those made by Novozymes.
If plant-based ‘milk’ is keeping some parts of the dairy industry – and the FDA commissioner – awake at night, what might milk producers make of the latest innovation to emerge from Silicon Valley: animal-free dairy (casein and whey made without cows)?...
Plant-based meats and clean-label are two of the most influential trends in food currently, but often they run counter to each other with many mock-meats made from highly-processed ingredients and protein isolates that most consumers would never find...
Thousands of anecdotal reports collected by the Center For Science in the Public Interest and others correlating artificial dyes, such as Red 40, with behavior problems have prompted some parents to seek naturally colored products – many of which fall...
Sustainably produced and packed with protein and vitamins, microalgae holds significant promise to help feed the growing population without exhausting the Earth’s limited resources, but its strong flavor has stopped many manufacturers from using it –...
An estimated 15 million Americans suffer from food allergies, including 5.9 million children – or about two per classroom – and while an increasing number of companies offer products that are safe for them, there is still significant room for growth,...
Colorado startup FoodMaven has an ambitious goal to reclaim some of the estimated $200 billion of revenue lost annually in America due to food waste by redirecting oversupplied food from manufacturers and producers to restaurants and institutions through...
At the intersection of the crowded cold-brew coffee category and the highly competitive energy drink segment, the founders of startup Bold Brew Coffee saw an opportunity to bring something new to each space.
It’s easy to look at the Annie’s brand now – which achieved double-digit household penetration during former president and CEO John Foraker’s tenure – and think the company never took a wrong turn on its path to center-store ubiquity.
For many consumers the idea of instant tea evokes nose-wrinkling rejection due to its extensive processing, long ingredient lists and a flavor unlike a freshly brewed cup, but startup Cusa Tea wants to change this with a version made in an all-new way...
When it comes to marketing on social media it is easy for companies to spread themselves too thin by trying to be everywhere and reach everyone, which is why the public relations experts at Konnect Agency recommend that firms pick one or two platforms...
For all the enthusiasm surrounding cold-pressed juice, the category faces significant challenges, including high sugar content and a substantial amount of food waste generated during production – two problems that startup Origin Almond says its new line...
Starting next month, a small but diverse group of organic stakeholders from across the supply chain will test-drive a rigorous set of fraud prevention, detection and mitigation strategies that once fine-tuned will become subject to the annual inspection...
Members of the Organic Trade Association went on the defensive last week when they met with Congressional leaders and their staff on Capitol Hill to lay out their legislative priorities for the coming year, and to ask for help protecting the integrity...
With an estimated one in three people suffering from malnutrition, the extent of hunger around the world is significant – but so too is the impact of investments in malnutrition prevention, such as those made this week in Washington, DC, by Kraft Heinz.
More often than not, better-for-you products are more expensive than their traditional counterparts – limiting their accessibility to those who can afford higher prices. But online grocer Brandless believes everyone deserves better and to make that possible...
As reducing food waste becomes a higher priority in America’s collective consciousness, some companies, such as beverage manufacturer Kishr, are creating novel foods and beverages from by-products of ingredients that previously would have been thrown...
Many parents strive to feed their babies a variety of fruits, vegetables and proteins, but for the most part in the US they shy away from spices – something several up and coming baby food makers want to change.
A year since launching the Chicagoland Food & Beverage Network, executive director Alan Reed has said the message of connecting the Chicago food community, an area with more than 4,500 companies, has spread like wildfire with major industry players...
The Organic and Natural Health Association recently visited Capitol Hill to ask Congress for help reducing the more than 1,000 preterm births that occur daily in North America by supporting its FDA petition for a health claim declaring the link between...
For years pouches of baby food have been all the rage, but now concerns that they may create unnecessary waste are prompting new brands such as Little Roots Puree, to propose new packaging solutions.
As the clean label movement expands, food and beverage manufacturers should lean more heavily on science to explain to consumers how products are made and the role specific ingredients play to ensure shelf stability and safety are not lost along with...
For many, the idea of an apprenticeship program likely conjures images of entry-level construction workers, but in reality it is a flexible training and recruitment model that can be more effective than internships at cultivating a workforce pipeline...
Location is key to any business’ success, but for food and beverage startups the best place to set up shop may not be the hottest spot in town – rather it could be one surrounded by underserved populations where the community and company can help each...
Consumers place significant onus for ensuring the safety of food and beverages on the companies that make them, and yet their trust in manufacturers to deliver this is at rock bottom – creating a dangerous gap that can be closed only with increased transparency,...
Creating a business plan isn’t as fun as launching a new product or company, but it is fundamental to succeeding in the long term in the highly competitive food and beverage industry, according to an executive with FamilyFarmed’s Good Food Accelerator....
The Whole30 Approved logo has become a shortcut for consumers looking for products made with real, simple and nutritious ingredients, and as such it is giving products that bear the certification a huge market boost, as Applegate recently discovered....
Beech-Nut is hoping to do for the toddler snack space what it did four years ago for the ‘tired and dated’ baby food category by launching new products in revamped packaging for young children that are inspired by what parents make at home, but more convenient.
“I wish we had as much energy around a regenerative, climate-smart Farm Bill as we did around the marketing of regenerative, because now is the time to craft a Farm Bill that could actually improve climate and the quality of our farming,” says Clif Bar’s...
After decades of a slow build, the regenerative agriculture movement is finally taking off, thanks in part to the Savory Institute, which has launched the Land to Market verification program, which is designed to help stakeholders not just sustain the...
