Mondelēz explores Hershey acquisition
The Oreo and Ritz brand owner is reportedly eyeing a gamechanging acquisition of The Hershey Company
Brands & manufacturers
Food-Tech In Focus
Vertical farm Oishii expands into Harris Teeter stores, plans to unveil Tokyo R&D hub
Oishii’s retail expansion into Harris Teeter locations across Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia this fall, along with the planned 2025 opening of its R&D center in Tokyo, Japan, highlights the company’s dynamic growth and its role in increasing...
Lifeway turns down second Danone bid
The kefir manufacturer feels its strong financial metrics warrant a higher offer if it is to sell up
Will PepsiCo’s acquisition of Sabra, Obela kickstart its slumping North American snack business?
PepsiCo continues its buying spree with the acquisition of hummus brands Sabra and Obela from Israeli food manufacturer Strauss Group, further bolstering its better-for-you portfolio as its traditional snack business continues to face headwinds.
The Yoghurt Shop eyes North America for global expansion after Saudi launch
Australian premium yoghurt brand The Yoghurt Shop will soon enter North America as the next step of its global expansion, on the back of encouraging responses for its recent Middle East debut.
FoodNavigator-USA’s glow up: Our new look gives you more of what you love
Our site has moved to a new platform to improve your reading experience. Here is what is new.
Startup Spotlight
Happy Wolf’s Whole Foods expansion is a ‘make or break’ moment for kid’s snack brand
Clean-label children snack brand Happy Wolf is leaning on brand ambassadors to spread awareness of its Whole Foods Market launch and where the product can be located, Jana Goodbaum, co-founder of Happy Wolf, shared in a recent Startup Spotlight interview.
Apothékary secures additional funding, bridges beverage, beauty categories
Apothékary continues its expansion in the wellness space, securing additional funding for its Series A round from global Japanese beauty brand Shiseido and launching on Ulta.com as the retailer’s first alcohol alternative product.
Ben & Jerry's, Unilever in fresh legal clash
The ice cream maker and its parent are back in the courtroom over censorship allegations.
Founders’ Fundamentals podcast shares strategies for enduring CPG brands
Building a successful food and beverage CPG business often requires the right mix of ingenuity – knowing where the market is heading before it is there – and carefully expanding retail distribution while keeping an eye on margins, velocities and cash...
One Trick Pony bucks CPG industry’s high failure rate to celebrate second birthday
As peanut butter brand One Trick Pony celebrates its second anniversary, co-founder Lucy Dana acknowledges how few startups reach this milestone and she reflects on lessons she learned to achieve this rare success, including the concept that “done is...
Fresh from the freezer: Dorot Gardens’ rebrand highlights fresh taste of frozen herbs
Dorot Gardens’ rebrand emphasizes the fresh taste of its flash-frozen, pre-portioned garlic and herbs, positioning the brand as a convenient and healthy option with a two-year shelf life — a differentiator for its retail partners.
How to choose a name for a new beverage brand
For some, it's the most difficult part of beverage NPD...
Nestlé to spin off water brands into a standalone business
Nestlé's water brands will be separated into a standalone business as of January 1, 2025, the company announced this morning.
ADM reveals 2025 strategy – healthy indulgence takes centre stage
Ingredients giant ADM has revealed the NPD and consumer trends driving its business forwards, including healthy indulgence.
Top food tech trends for 2025 revealed
Innovation in the food space has seen a boom in recent years. But this is just the beginning.
Kroger partners with bitewell to ‘opt up’ its nutrition program
Kroger’s OptUP nutrition program in collaboration with food data technology company bitewell will use bitewell’s Food Health Score algorithm to help consumers make healthier choices and strengthen shopper loyalty.
Silk Kids’ patented oat milk blend targets children's’ nutritional needs
Silk Kids’ oat milk blend is formulated with kids’ nutrition in mind featuring a proprietary vitamin and mineral blend that differentiates the brand within the booming plant-based milk category, according to Kallie Goodwin, SVP plant based beverages at...
Dairy innovation trends: From weight management to protein
We narrow down the most important market and consumer trends that could influence dairy product innovation in 2025.
Startup Spotlight
Pistakio secures retail deals with last-minute recipe pivot
Pistachio spread brand Pistakio landed key retail partnerships despite a last-minute formula change driven by logistical challenges — a feat made possible by the founders’ pistachio expertise and their commitment to filling a gap in the nut butter market.
New Product Development from Toblerone to Hotel Chocolat
Staying up to date with the newest confectionery products, trends and flavour combinations on the market is key to keeping on top of the fast-paced and competitive sweet sector.
Tyson’s turnaround: ‘We have a fundamentally different and better chicken business’
Tyson Foods’ chicken business is booming once again and investors are flocking back to the company, which has spent years reenvisioning its poultry business to focus more on fundamentals, value-added products and “operational improvements.”
Founders' Fundamentals Podcast
Karen Anderson on identifying, capitalizing on whitespace innovation
Delivering on whitespace innovation can propel a CPG food and beverage startup into mainstream success, and filling a gap in the market might be simpler than some startups think, explained Karen Anderson, CEO of Purple Peak Marketing, during a recent...
Gopuff integrates SNAP, expands private label & fresh food offerings
Gopuff’s Supplemental Assistance Nutrition Program (SNAP) integration for its e-grocery platform will also include its recently introduced Basically Premium private label line, reaching millions of eligible households.
Innovation watch: Natural clean energy drinks
Health conscious consumers don’t want sugar-laden, taurine energy drinks: but they still want a burst of energy to keep them powering through their day. How are brands providing that better-for-you buzz?
Yo Mama’s sauce leverages Amazon growth, secures Albertsons’ retail partnership
When going up against legacy players that dominate the shelf, new brands can justify shelf space by highlighting the unmet consumer demand they fill, as illustrated by low-sodium, high-flavor pasta sauce startup Yo Mama's.
Beyond Meat grows in Q3 despite demand dip
Beyond Meat’s strategic decision to reposition its products as premium and rely less on discounts helped the company return its revenue to growth for the first time since 2022, but it cost the company volume, which continued to slide.
Startup Spotlight
An unexpected strategy for startups to land retail shelf space: Saying ‘no’
Knowing when to say ‘no’ to a retailer, distributor or broker can be just as powerful of a growth driver for emerging brands as saying yes, as illustrated by the initial success of the clean-label barbeque sauce startup Tamarind Heads.
Hummus for children? Little Sesame addresses lemon supply chain issues to dip into new segment
Little Sesame navigated supply-chain issues — including climate change-related sourcing challenges — to expand its core lineup of products with a child’s version of its hummus, as the brand uses recent government and venture funding to fuel growth in 2025.
The push for PHA: How Mad Tea’s compostable pods shift packaging standards
Mad Tea’s 100% compostable tea pods, made from a blend of PHA and other compostable bioplastics, aim to satisfy consumer demand for sustainable packaging, yet experts warn that high production costs, limited infrastructure, and regulatory confusion pose...
Kellanova shareholders approve $35.9bn Mars merger amid shifting snack industry trends
The transformative takeover by Mars Inc. has been overwhelmingly approved, marking a pivotal moment in the snack industry. What does this mean for the future of snacking?
Love + Chew navigates cocoa price hikes to expand Whole Foods partnership
Cocoa shortages cannot stop vegan superfood cookie brand Love + Chew's retail growth as the company expands its Whole Foods store count from 135 to over 500 stores and tees up product innovation in 2025.
Millie's disrupts tea, broth category with convenient tea bag broth format
Millie’s tea bag broths, made with herbs, spices and dehydrated vegetables landed in 2,000 Walmart stores last month, marking a major milestone for the brand as it disrupts the tea and broth categories.
November Launch Pad
Holiday-themed launches for 2025 tap into nostalgia, balance health & indulgence
The holiday season is here bringing a slew of food and beverage launches to help consumers celebrate with seasonal products featuring nostalgic fall and winter flavors that make entertaining easier and warm consumers as the weather cools.
USDA wants more organic dairy in US schools: what this means for producers
A new promotional initiative will create business opportunities for small and mid-sized organic dairies.
Belly Brand taps into functional, clean-label trends with gluten-free baking mixes
Belly Brand Foods is delivering gut and skin health benefits with its collagen-infused and gluten-free bakery mixes, as the company gears up to spread brand awareness in 2025 with trade shows.
GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic set to shake the global food industry
Originally intended as a treatment for diabetes, GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic could be set to turn the food and drink industry upside down.
Kraft Heinz snips full-year forecast as demand drags
Kraft Heinz has cut its full-year 2024 forecast following a third-quarter net sales slump, as price hikes worked against the food major by dampening consumer demand.
ELAVI’s Costco expansion highlights demand for better-for-you options, innovative packaging
Better-for-you snack brand ELAVI doubled its Costco rotation to 30 Southern California stores in less than a year while addressing cocoa shortage and packaging changes.
Gen AI boosts revenues, marketing efforts for CPG brands & retailers, Google reports
CPG companies and retailers are moving beyond generative AI (gen AI) testing to realizing tangible business benefits of the technology, including increased revenues and operational efficiencies, Google shared in a recent report.
Mondelēz International joins Unilever and Danone with strong Q3
Confectionery and snacking giant Mondelēz International has driven revenues and profits above expectations, through higher volume sales as both Unilever and Danone also showed this month.
Mars' Kellanova buyout the start of hefty snacking M&A
Mega deals within snacking are picking up pace after a quiet start to the year, with Mars’ Kellanova acquisition the tip of the iceberg as strong financial performances provide corporates with healthy cashflows.
Chobani’s yogurt cups, drinks feature up to 30-grams of protein
Yogurt-maker Chobani's clean-label, high-protein and lactose-free yogurt is part of the company’s mission to make protein more accessible to everyday consumers.
Brand Alchemy
How F&B brands can boost their ROI with a diversified media strategy
Today’s marketing strategies need flexible adjustments and a blend of channels to keep pace with rapid shifts in media consumption, unlike the fixed annual media plans of yesteryear.
Donut brand Drumroll adds fuel to ‘rocket ship year’ with $3m in capital from 7 Mile Brands
Drumroll Snacks received $3 million in capital from CPG incubator 7 Mile Brands to fuel growth after a "rocket ship year," as the better-for-you sweet baked goods brand gears up to go after large national accounts like Whole Foods and Sprouts, the two...
How to identify and engage with your target market
Creating and building brand awareness, with potential customers, is essential to success. Here’s how to recognise and connect with your target market.
NOVA reform: The flawed UPF classification system requires change
Some nutritious foods under the current NOVA system could be demonised alongside unhealthy variants. Industry's calling for reform, but what would the next generation look like?
Dairy innovation and trends
Letter from the editor: Innovations, trends & startups reshaping the dairy category
The dairy case is no longer a limited selection of fat-free, low-fat or whole milk in generic white bottles or a bare-bones choice between just “orange” or “white” cheese – rather an explosion of innovation in recent years has dramatically multiplied...
A new way to scale precision fermentation: Daisy Lab teams with dairies to produce bioidentical proteins
Foodtech startup Daisy Lab is rethinking how to scale precision fermentation efficiently and economically to produce bioidentical dairy proteins without the cow by developing plug-and-play technology that can be dropped into existing, large-scale dairy...
Why buy the cow? Animal-free casein grows to drive the future of dairy alternatives
The growing interest in animal-free casein, the key protein responsible for the flavor, texture and nutritional profile of conventional dairy, is driving innovation in the alternative dairy space as a solution that replicates dairy’s complex qualities...