Sales of specialty snacks, chips & pretzels surged 19.1% between 2011 and 2013. To get up to speed with the latest snacking trends, from seaweed to spelt, FoodNavigator-USA headed to New York for the summer Fancy Food Show...
In the latest of a string of acquisitions for TreeHouse Foods, the private label manufacturer said it will acquire private label health snacks maker Flagstone Foods for $860 million from Gryphon Investors.
Women, protein blends, and the ‘anti-wasting’ market are all areas of significant opportunity in sports nutrition, says Jeff Hilton, co-founder and CMO of BrandHive.
US sales of specialty foods & beverages topped $88.3bn in 2013, up an astonishing 47% since 2008. To find out what all the fuss is about and get up to speed with the latest beverage trends, from tart cherries to blossom water, FoodNavigator-USA headed...
Snacking is becoming more of a lifestyle than simply a between-meal indulgence for time-strapped US consumers, which means more opportunity to innovate in flavor, nutrition and delivery formats for snack food manufacturers like Snyder’s-Lance Inc.
Relaxation Solutions, a subsidiary of Bebida Beverage Company (BeBevCo), has partnered with 80s comedy duo Cheech and Chong to launch a hemp-infused relaxation ice cream in the US.
If artificial sweeteners have an image problem, then General Mills’ move to replace one artificial sweetener (aspartame) with another (sucralose) in its Yoplait Light yogurts might seem like an odd move.
Starbucks will launch ‘handcrafted’ Fizzio soft drinks in US cafes this summer, and one analyst says the brand represents ‘potential for bubbles everywhere’ and thinks the Seattle chain and Pepsi may take it to grocery stores.
While the percentage of groceries purchased online remains significantly below that of books, TVs and pretty much everything else, e-commerce sales of food and consumables (food, beverage plus home/personal care items bought via online grocers) rose 13.7%...
Starbucks-owned brand Evolution Fresh is test marketing a new range of co-branded smoothies made with cold pressed, high pressure processed juice and Dannon Greek yogurt in 200 Starbucks stores in San Jose and St Louis.
You'd think that pro-science,'molecular gastronomists' such as Chef Homaru Cantu would be all in favor of genetically engineered foods, especially if they can add nutrition, or reduce the environmental impact of food production, right?...
Hawaii-based coffee fruit beverage maker KonaRed has teamed up with at-home carbonation expert Sparkling Drink Systems International (SDS) to develop a line of powdered beverage pods.
Will Keurig Cold really turn the soft drinks market on its head? Can natural sweeteners pull diet soda out of its funk? And what’s the next coconut water?
Growing consumer interest in positive nutrition, demographic shifts, new eating patterns, recent scientific findings, and the recommendations from the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans all point to a bright future for protein-rich foods and beverages,...
Potential buyers of Monster Energy including Coke and Anheuser-Busch may be ‘waiting on the sidelines’ until the firm’s potential liabilities on outstanding legal issues have been settled.
The flow of caffeinated foods hitting the US market “slowed to a trickle” after Wrigley pulled its Alert Energy gum in the wake of the FDA probe into caffeine, says Datamonitor. But it’s too early to write off this trend just yet, as consumers still crave...
PepsiCo has inaugurated its first R&D facility in Mexico – a baking innovation center that will be dedicated to strengthening its better-for-you portfolio across brands like Quaker, Lay’s and Sabritas.
Dannon is looking to drive incremental growth to the dairy category with the launch of a new indulgent dessert brand called Dannon Creamery that targets a day-part US yogurt marketers have traditionally struggled to corner: the evening.
The Honest brand could extend well beyond the ready-to-drink tea category into a wider array of beverages and even foods, says the co-founder of Honest Tea, which posted a 27% surge in sales to $112m in 2013, and is growing even faster this year.
Greek yogurt manufacturers in the US could cut acid whey output by a collective 1m tons a year, by using this by-product to make additional dairy foods, claims Arla Foods Ingredients (AFI).
Coca-Cola has confirmed that the sugar level in its new stevia-sweetened beverage Coca-Cola Life may vary considerably in different markets, with the UK version containing a lot more calories than the version sold in Argentina, for example. Meanwhile,...
Jimmy Dean sausage maker Hillshire Brands has recommended terminating its agreement to acquire Pinnacle Foods in the wake of the $63/share takeover offer from Tyson Foods.
“My background is in sales, so I’m used to dealing with disappointment,” observes the founder of quinoa-based snacking brand eatKeenwa. But for every door that’s been shut in Blake Niemann’s face in the past 18 months, another one has opened. And his...
Savory snacks are a perfect fit for the World Cup and industry has injected huge efforts into flavor development, pack design and marketing campaigns to draw the punters in, says the director general of the European Snacks Association (ESA).
FoodNavigator-USA takes you through the latest and greatest new product launches, from peanut butter cereal and gluten- and dairy-free probiotic drinks to Wonka’s ice cream bananas with edible peels.
While POM Wonderful’s Supreme Court victory over Coca-Cola doesn’t have any direct impact on the wave of consumer class action lawsuits over false advertising engulfing the trade, it still makes uncomfortable reading for regulatory affairs bosses at food...
You can have an FDA-compliant label, but still face a false advertising lawsuit brought by a competitor, concluded Supreme Court justices today in an 8:0 opinion described by legal experts as a “resounding victory” for POM Wonderful in its spat with Coca-Cola...
'OUR LABELS COMPLY WITH ALL LAWS & GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS': CAMPBELL'S
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) today threatened to sue Campbell's Soup Company alleging that it makes misleading statements about the juice content, nutritional value and healthfulness of V8 juices sold in the US.
SCIENTIST INSISTS PEN NANO INVENTORY 'MISREPRESENTED' STUDY CONCLUSIONS
PepsiCo and Coke insist they do not use titanium dioxide in SoBe and Powerade drinks after a controversial report warned they use the colorant in a 'potentially dangerous' nano-sized form.
US dairy consumption patterns “have shifted away from plain fluid milk to highly processed forms of dairy that are little more than vessels for salt, sugar, and fat”, while cash from the dairy checkoff scheme is being used to promote ‘junk foods’ such...
Merchandizing gaps in convenience stores need to be plugged and snack makers must collaborate to drive progress forward, says the category development head at General Mills Convenience as it launches Nature Valley c-store tailored products.
The US ready-to-eat popcorn category has been “growing in the double-digits for the past 3-4 years” and is now worth “north of $600m in annual [retail] sales”, according to Diamond Foods CEO Brain Driscoll, who says new launches under the Kettle and Pop...
Many people developing new products at CPG companies feel frustrated and demotivated according to a new survey, which probably comes as no surprise given the high failure rate in the trade. But looking at what firms that produce more winners have in common...
The neuropsychologist behind cognitive health beverage Nawgan reckons his latest innovation 'ON powered refreshment’' - which combines caffeine and the fatigue-busting amino acid ornithine - has more mainstream appeal, bringing a fresh twist...
Nestlé has filed a patent for high-carb and high-protein bite-size dough snacks for athletes and health-conscious consumers looking to manage nutritional intake before and during exercise.
While Chobani, Dannon and Yoplait have been battling for supremacy in the US yogurt market (and at halftime at the Super Bowl), another equally ambitious player has recently emerged from the leftfield and served as a reminder that Greek isn’t the only...
In the latest iteration of FoodNavigator-USA’s What do you do interview series, we talk with the boss of organic ancient grain specialist Ancient Harvest about the challenges of long-distance (work) relationships, his move from banking to CPGs and what...
Becoming a target of opportunistic lawsuits is the price you pay for being successful, says Chobani’s marketing boss, who says he is “baffled” by a complaint filed by Dov Seidman accusing the yogurt firm of infringing his trademarks with its ‘How Matters’...
Dannon, Daisy Brand and Lactalis American Group (LAG) have questioned the reliability of a US study that reported finding levels of titanium dioxide nanoparticles in their products.
DIGGING INTO INNOVATION AND NPD WITH DATAMONITOR CONSUMER
Chobani is laying off a small but undisclosed number of temporary workers at plants in Twin Falls, Idaho and South Edmeston, New York as it harmonizes production between the two facilities after a labor-intensive ramp-up phase, and moves to new shift...
