It’s been a busy summer for Hampton Creek. After just six months on the market and $30mn raised in funding from the likes of Bill Gates and Yahoo cofounder Jerry Yang, its plant-based mayonnaise brand Just Mayo is the No. 1 selling mayo at Whole Foods...
A new trade organization has formed with the mission to define what 'natural' means. The nascent Organic and Natural Health Alliance (ONHA) plans to go about defining that attribute in a way that is unique in the natural products business in...
Nestle USA is poised to launch a 26-serve Nescafe ‘to go’ liquid coffee concentrate that consumers can add to water to create RTD coffee on demand, along the same lines as its Nestea liquid water enhancer.
Vermont AG: 'Natural' labels do not belong on foods made with GMOs
Vermont’s new GMO labeling law (Act 120) does not violate the First Amendment because the disclosures it mandates are “purely factual” and the law “does not require manufacturers to state a particular viewpoint, such as whether GE foods are good or bad”,...
Retailers are going to reduce the space given to legacy brands
Leading CPG companies are like huge ships that cannot change course quickly enough to address evolving consumer trends, claims the boss of Boulder Brands (which owns the Udi’s Gluten-Free, Earth Balance and EVOL brands). But unless they make some bold...
Interview with John Eldridge, 30-year CPG industry vet and Guiding Stars strategy consultant
Almost eight out of 10 popcorn products launched in the US in the 12 months to June 2014 were on a 'health' platform of some kind, according to Innova Market Insights.
New labels would highlights calories, include 'added sugars'
UPDATED: Significant changes to the Nutrition Facts panel on foods & beverages have been proposed in the US and Canada, with the plan to include ‘added sugars’ tweak rules on dietary fiber labeling, and update the reference values used to calculate...
Keurig Green Mountain said fiscal third-quarter earnings rose 33% on strong sales of coffee machines and K-cup coffee pods, but revenues failed to meet Wall Street’s expectations.
SEE INSIDE MONSTER ENERGY'S INNOVATION LOCKER: THE BEVERAGEDAILY.COM TOP 5
Monster Energy CEO Rodney Sacks insists new launch Ultra Sunrise will not go head-to-head PepsiCo's Mountain Dew Kickstart, despite its lighter 'Orangina-type flavor'.
Big interview: Robin White, co-founder of Single Cup Coffee
Two longtime coffee industry veterans who took part in the launch of Keurig K-cups in the late 1990s and watched the subsequent meteoric rise of single-cup coffee brewing say they found a void in the nearly $2 billion market for variety and quality. They...
More than half of eating and drinking occasions now occur when consumers are alone, as US consumption behavior has become more individualized compared to previous generations, according to market research firm The NPD Group.
The world’s biggest food manufacturing group Nestlé has posted a better-than-expected rise in a key sales figure for the first half of the year despite currency impacts causing a 10% fall in net profits.
As Kraft’s CEO recently observed, smaller, more agile players seem to be better at coming up with exciting new products than many CPG giants, for whom innovation is often more about trade management than addressing genuine consumer needs. But if this...
Almond water has been a runaway success story for LA-based start-up Victoria’s Kitchen. But not because it's the next big thing in functional beverages. It isn't, says CEO David Meniane, who stresses that his product should not be confused with...
ENERGY GIANT RUMORED TO BE READYING LAUNCHES TO GRAB MORNING, AFTERNOON, EVENING CONSUMPTION
Monster Energy has filed a US trademark for the term Ultra Sunrise and one analyst predicts the name will be used for a CSD that will take on $150m brand Mountain Dew Kickstart.
A few weeks ago, it looked like the FDA's decision to look again at evaporated cane juice (ECJ) labeling might halt the tidal wave of lawsuits over the controversial term. But recent court filings suggest this may have been wishful thinking.
The Organic Consumer’s Association (OCA), is calling on the organic dairy industry to cut ties with the IDFA (International Dairy Foods Association) because it is one of several trade associations suing Vermont over its GMO labeling mandate.
Red Bull: 'All future claims will be medically and/or scientifically supported'
Red Bull has agreed to pay $13m to resolve a class action lawsuit accusing it of falsely advertising its energy drinks as providing functional benefits above and beyond what might be obtained from “a simple cup of coffee or a caffeine pill”.
This does not prove that stevia isn't ready for prime time, say experts
There are lessons to be learned from Coca-Cola’s abortive attempt to introduce a new ‘natural’ sweetening system to selected Vitaminwater products, say formulation experts. But they are not necessarily about stevia.
'The fans have spoken. We’re changing back to the taste you know and love'
UPDATED: Coca-Cola is reformulating some Vitaminwater products following negative feedback from fans about its new sweetening system (stevia + cane sugar), according to a statement on the brand's website.
Public, private, religious, managed, self-operated, primary, secondary, university, trade school. Food manufacturers eyeing the massive school foodservice landscape have to first understand the animal they’re dealing with, according to the latest data...
FoodNavigator-USA takes you through the latest and greatest in new product launches, from coconut water for kids to Stonyfield's sweet cream that's neither Greek nor yogurt, to Campbell's 200-strong new product portfolio and Jimmy Dean's...
Kraft: 'We have to unlearn what we believed to work in the past'
Trade spending is not delivering in the way that it used to, and if the food industry wants to deliver profitable growth, it needs to reallocate resources into bigger and better innovations and brand-building - which “requires discipline”, says Kraft...
Mars has filed a patent for ‘multi-texture’ caramel products, using a method that prevents moisture migration from caramel to crispy components without the need for a fat-based moisture barrier.
Launching big is not the definitive way to sustainable growth
How many consumer packaged goods that launch in the US today will still be around in two years’ time? The answer is a miserable 15%, according to Nielsen data.
Nestlé has applied to patent a method it says will produce reduced-lactose skim milk-based Greek yogurt with a protein content of up to 14%, without adding protein or the use of straining technology.
Big Interview: Chris Licata, CEO of Blake's All Natural Foods
The success of the frozen section hinges on the continued trend toward prepared meals with cleaner ingredient decks and accessible price points, says Chris Licata, CEO of natural and organic frozen meals line Blake’s All Natural Foods.
First there was juice, then there were smoothies, now there is, er, Chimp Food, the brainchild of Florida-based entrepreneur Scott Joseph, who lost 100lbs after eating like a chimp (he ditched meat, dairy & grains and ate nothing but fruits, vegetables,...
IRI Consulting warns that US food and beverage manufacturers risk a significant impact on their profitability when they get sucked into unduly aggressive promotional cycles.
Added sugars account for 14.1% of total energy intakes for Americans
While we tend to assume that fast food outlets (the bottomless soda cup) contribute a disproportionate amount of added sugar to the US diet compared with store-bought groceries, new data shows that the reverse is actually true.
Voluntary labeling of non-GMO products is a better use of resources, says Safeway
Shareholders at Safeway have rejected a proposal from the Green Century Equity Fund calling for mandatory GMO labeling on its store brands, which company bosses claim would cost $15m+ to implement, while providing zero consumer benefits.
Big Interview: Maggie Radzwiller, Maggie's Conscious Vegan Cuisine
A chef and caterer was motivated by her special diets customers to launch a vegan, gluten-free line of globally inspired meals with no added sodium or oil to provide clean, flavorful meal solutions for everybody.
Just a week after Mexico banned commercials for soda, snacks and confectionery products during cinema showings of children’s movies and during children’s TV programming, Mexican authorities say ads for Nestlé, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Hershey´s and Holanda products...
NineSigma client wants to deliver edible paste via squeezable container
A Fortune 500 food company is looking for a partner to help it develop squeezable 'flowable' pastes that don’t require consumers to use a knife to spread them, but still retain the same eating qualities, according to a posting on NineSigma’s...
When 13-year-old acai and coconut water manufacturer Zola decided to revamp its web presence to shift attention toward its growing coconut water line, founder and CEO Chris Cuvelier knew he risked losing some followers in the short term, but the long-term...
The Epic Seed is now available in 700 stores across the country
The Greek yogurt aisle was already pretty crowded by the time Jesse Rudolph started pitching his wares to the market around 18 months ago. But chia - the superfood of the moment - proved to be his secret weapon.
Beyond the focus group? Next generation concept testing
A new mobile app enabling CPG companies to get instant feedback on new product concepts from target consumers while they are grocery shopping will slash the time and money spent on testing new ideas, claims consumer insights expert uSamp.
PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi says the company is positioning itself as the highest growth food and beverage manufacturer in a ‘relatively low growth’ US retail landscape where fresh food is trending strongly.
Launching a beverage brand is the easy part. The challenge is growing and sustaining it without running out of cash, steam or patience, delegates were told at the FoodNavigator-USA Beverage Entrepreneurs Forum.