Mexico announced last week that it was restricting television advertising on high-calorie food and soda in an effort to stem the rising tide of obesity. Registered dietitians weigh in on the impact of the measure, which is the farthest any country has...
Vermont has serious concerns over cost of defending GMO labeling law, claim CFS/VPIRG
The Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG) and anti-GMO activist group the Center for Food Safety (CFS) have formally asked for permission to help the state of Vermont defend its new GMO labeling law in the wake of a legal challenge from food...
Not so long ago, Tate & Lyle had the sucralose market to itself. In recent years, however, the Chinese have emerged as serious rivals. But while demand for the zero-calorie sweetener is rising, new capacity in China has been added even more rapidly,...
Obviously taste rules when it comes to any food or beverage. But many consumers are also looking for indications that what they’re eating has been minimally “messed with”—hence the growing incidence of “all natural” and related terms on product labels.
Bottled water, energy and iced tea are expected to win big in 2014 as C-store operators predict a ‘banner year’ in packaged beverages led by brands including Sparkling Ice, Monster and Lipton.
Although the US private label market has a ways to go in catching up with Europe, a shifting consumer landscape has more consumers than ever examining products’ origins, paving the way for private label manufacturers to seize on those looking to shop...
The vast majority of sodium reduction activity in the US food industry is now being conducted by ‘stealth’ in order to avoid alienating shoppers, according to Tate & Lyle.
US retail sales of gluten-free products surged 47% in 2013, with a significant chunk of the growth coming from snacks, according to flour milling giant Ardent Mills.
As the US Food and Drug Administration prepares to issue voluntary sodium guidelines for food manufacturers and restaurants, US consumers are demonstrating less concern about sodium intake and seeking it out less on labels than in the past, according...
Volumes in US gum market have slumped 20% in past five years
It’s well known that the American love affair with soda has hit a pretty significant rough patch, but a new report from Rabobank suggests the nation has also been steadily falling out of love with gum, with US volumes dropping a staggering 20% in the...
Despite tight margins and even tighter competition, it’s a great time to be in the food and beverage industry—and an even better time to be a seller, according to New York accountant and advisory firm, Anchin, Block & Anchin.
Aiming for a lower cost way to boost flavor and mouthfeel of stevia extract, sweetener supplier Sweet Green Fields (SGF) launched Natrose I natural flavor at last month’s IFT 2014 show in New Orleans.
When consumers think about GMOs, they tend to contrast them with “some hypothetical alternative food that is pristine”, when in most cases, going ‘non-GMO’ just means returning to a food production system that is less efficient - and worse for the environment...
The terms “local” and “organic” have become increasingly coveted characteristics for packaged foods and beverage in the North American market, as evidenced by a growing number of marketing campaigns touting local and organic foods—not to mention the impressive...
FoodNavigator-USA takes you through the latest and greatest in new product launches, from affordable healthy snacks and chia energy drinks to all-purpose stevia and dairy-free desserts.
Trader Joe's 'purposefully railroaded business relationships', alleges lawsuit
Trader Joe’s move to ditch a broker and a vendor it had been working with for years and deal directly with key suppliers of ice cream and other dairy products left the pair “high & dry”, says a lawsuit accusing the retailer of “systematically eliminating...
Fourteen years after Unilever spent $2.3bn (€1.7bn) to buy Slim-Fast, it has sold up for an undisclosed sum to a private equity player. Analyst and author Julian Mellentin tracks the decline of a mega-brand and considers what he sees as a category in...
Crumbs' closure could spell trouble for the cupcake category
The struggling retail cupcake chain Crumbs Bake Shop closed its doors for good this week as it mulls filing for bankruptcy. Analysts from market research firm NPD Group weigh in on what went wrong, and whether this signals the end of the cupcake’s reign.
European dairies Nestlé, Danone and Lactalis made up the podium in the latest Rabobank Dairy Top 20. Can you guess how the likes of Fonterra, Saputo, Yili and Mengniu lined up?
During the IFT 2014 show in New Orleans, FoodNavigator-USA caught up with RIBUS Inc. CEO Steve Peirce for an update on its all-natural and organic rice-based ingredients and the sustainability of rice in a world that faces staggering levels of food waste.
H.U.M.A.N., the company behind better-for-you vending machines and healthy micro markets, has taken its business-to-business healthy snack distribution model into corporate offices with the launch of SnackNation.
The growth of the Non-GMO Project verification scheme has been nothing short of explosive over the past 18 months. But does the firm serving as its technical administrator have the resources to cope, and are competing certification schemes adopting the...
Archer Daniels Midland CEO Patricia Woertz insists that WILD Flavors' beverage and taste expertise complement her firm’s expertise in food ingredients and know-how in texture, function and nutrition.
The US food and beverage industry anticipates continued sales growth in 2014 on the heels of strong performances the past two years, according to the second annual "US Food & Beverage Industry Study" from accounting, tax and advisory services...
At $88.3bn in 2013, the size of the US specialty food prize is already mouthwatering, and if current trends continue (sales grew 9.6% in 2012 and 8% in 2013), it will blast through the $100bn barrier in 2015. But which categories are growing most rapidly?
Since it was created in 2012, Chapul Inc. has been on a mission to integrate edible insects into Western diets, using its cricket energy bars as the vehicle.
The concept of “energy” is a multifaceted one, to be sure: it can come in bursts or slowly; via beverages, shots, biscuits or bars; with appeal that spans sports nutrition, weight management and even kids.
What is the future of ‘naturality’ on product labels? Are sin taxes and warning just policy tools disguised as a consumer advocacy? And should health and wellness be part of every brand’s messaging?
Health-related buzzwords such as “heart healthy”, “organic” and “all natural” can lead consumers to rate unhealthy foods as healthy, according to a study of college students at the University of Houston (UH).
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.
More and more consumers rely on the internet for their news, and stories can go viral within minutes, so it’s unsurprising that certain food ingredients have become the subject of fear and avoidance in this information age.
Tea isn’t just for grown-ups anymore, as instant and ready-to-drink teas are paving the way for strong positioning among families, children and teens, according to a recent report by market research firm Packaged Facts.
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.
In our final day at the IFT 2014 annual meeting & expo in New Orleans, the FoodNavigator-USA team headed to the expo floor to find out what exhibitors had to say about formulating with stevia, plant-based proteins, probiotics, flavors and green tea...
Pills or foods? Experts from the world of functional foods will join NutraIngredients-USA for a discussion of the functional foods, from market sizing and key consumer demographics to the regulatory considerations.
Food and beverage manufacturers are holding their collective breath in anticipation of the proposed changes to the Nutrition Facts panel put forth by the Food and Drug Administration and likely to be finalized next year.
Fueled by jazz and Hurricanes, the team at FoodNavigator-USA and NutraIngredients-USA headed to the Morial Convention Center for another day of trend-spotting at the IFT annual meeting and expo in New Orleans (click HERE for day one's highlights)....
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.
When shopping for food, two-thirds of US consumers look for “locally grown” on labels, while 59% check to see if the products they’re buying are natural, according to a survey from Consumer Reports National Research Center.
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%...
As protein appears primed to continue its meteoric rise, buoyed by a strong health halo among US consumers, where is there still potential for this macronutrient?
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.
It's hot, it's sweaty, and it's the place to be if you're interested in what's next in the weird and wonderful world of food ingredients. Check out our first gallery of highlights from the 2014 IFT annual meeting & expo in...
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?...
Strategic alliances have enabled Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) to overcome the “emotion” that comes with attempting to enter emerging markets such as China.
The number of Americans aged 65+ will double in the next 25 years. But manufacturers of products that could have strong appeal to this demographic (Greek yogurt, protein bars) are not doing enough to target them, says IRI.
A novel ‘enzymatic enhancement’ process that can convert low grade stevia extracts into high purity Reb A could transform the economics of stevia production and help California-based Stevia First stand out in the market, claims its boss.
The packaged food industry has removed roughly three-quarters of the 8 billion pounds of partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) that abounded in the marketplace at the heyday of trans fats in 2004-‘05, though a few problem areas and holdouts remain—particularly...
