Consumer spending remains strong – for now – despite historic inflation increases, but new data from the Census Bureau released Thursday suggests the gains in grocery last month may not be as significant as they appear and an overall slowdown could be...
Direct-to-consumer online grocer Misfits Market has launched its own private label offering of 'Odds & Ends' pantry staples specifically designed to address certain supply chain inefficiencies around sourcing, food waste, and elevated pricing,...
ADM has made a $300m investment to expand existing production capabilities of its soy protein concentrate and open a new protein innovation center in Decatur, Illinois.
March’s staggering 11.2% year-over-year producer price increase revealed yesterday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics suggests inflation, which reached a 41 year high of 8.4% last month, may be far from peaking and manufacturers, and consumers, should...
With 33 years operating in the natural foods industry, national food broker PRESENCE has seen many trends come and go and others grow into long-term growth drivers for the industry.
Despite soaring at home food inflation, Albertsons’ shoppers remain “strong” with minimal trading-down to less expensive products, including private label, or pulling back on overall spending, executives said during the retailer’s fourth quarter earnings...
Tate & Lyle has expanded production of allulose in a bid to meet surging demand for the rare sugar, which has exploded in popularity following the FDA’s decision to exclude it from the total and added sugars declarations on the Nutrition Facts panel.
Fueled by ongoing supply chain constraints and skyrocketing energy costs due partly to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, inflation continues its upward march with the Consumer Price Index topping out at a staggering 8.5% for all items and 10% for food...
After forgoing large Passover and Easter celebrations for the past two years, Americans are eager to gather with friends and family beyond their households – driving up projected unit sales of confections and groceries despite higher prices, according...
Walmart is offering truckers nearly twice the average salary and rolling out a commercial driver’s license and mentoring program in a bid to recruit and retain much needed drivers at a time when surging e-commerce sales are placing pressure on an already...
When it comes to eating seaweed, most Americans likely think about snacking on toasted sheets of nori, the wrapper around their sushi, or maybe a bright and briny salad at a restaurant, but a handful of startups cultivating fresh seaweed and kelp at scale...
After experiencing unprecedented double-digit growth in 2020 fueled by pandemic shopping behaviors, private label brands grew by a more modest 1% for the full-year 2021, but have gathered steam again in the Q1 2022 registering 6.5% sales growth compared...
In the face of ‘unprecedented’ inflation and transportation troubles, Slim Jim and Birds Eye maker Conagra Brands is raising prices – again – but executives are confident that sales, market share and household penetration will remain strong thanks to...
Hemp, barley, chickpeas, and Pongamia (a.k.a. ‘vertical soy’) are four plant-based proteins to watch in the next decade, according to panelists at FoodNavigator-USA's recent ‘Plant-based protein in focus’ webinar, who predicted advances in crop breeding...
While retailers’ practice of displaying an overabundance of fresh produce, baked goods, meat and dairy alongside shelves stacked deep with staples effectively boosts sales by enticing consumers to buy more, it also costs the industry a whopping $37m a...
New chickpea varieties with 75% more protein could transform the legume from a niche to a mainstream player in the plant-based protein arena, says San Francisco-based startup NuCicer, which is also developing varieties with specific functional attributes...
The terms ‘prebiotic’ and ‘probiotic’ are appearing on a growing number of food & beverage brands, while another term – ‘postbiotic’ – is also starting to emerge. But food marketers should do their homework before slapping these terms on their wares,...
In a highly competitive industry in which 80-85% of new products fail in the first two years, natural grocery distributor KeHE consistently picks winners and fosters growth among emerging brands thanks to several key initiatives, including its TrendFinder...
We are nowhere near on track to keep global warning below 2°C, was the stark conclusion of the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report. But hope was also on offer. FoodNavigator looks at how food system transformation can help mitigate...
Recently strengthened self-regulatory efforts to curb marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages to children still do not go far enough to “meaningfully protect” children, argue public health advocates after new analysis reveals “loopholes” in the Children’s...
Recognizing trucking as a “lynchpin” in America’s supply chains that moves 72% of the US economy’s goods and that a lack of drivers has held back ability to meet surging consumer demand since the start of the pandemic and now contributes to rising inflation,...
The US labor market continues to grow at an unprecedented clip with a near full recovery from the devastating drop early in the pandemic and with more women and retirees returning to the workforce – but a slowdown may be on the horizon even as the consumer...
Ongoing strain from the pandemic and increasing financial pressure related to rising inflation are causing consumers to reprioritize their health and wellness goals, and by extension their food and beverage purchases, according to new research from the...
Adoption of grocery e-commerce and delivery continues to increase even as the pandemic has lapped its two-year mark and foot traffic at grocery stores has picked back up, noted 1010 data which tracked the growth of Instacart over the past two years (2019-2021).
Most Americans believe that organic is healthier for people and the planet than conventional, but they also lack a fundamental understanding of the standard and as such give more weight to single-issue label claims when deciding what to purchase – underscoring...
Colorado-based MycoTechnology – which is building a functional ingredients platform utilizing mycelium, the filament-like roots of mushrooms - has raised $85m in a series E* round (taking its total funding to $200m) that will help it expand its portfolio...
Recently named incoming Organic Trade Association CEO Tom Chapman inherits a strong organization that helped make organic mainstream and double industry sales during outgoing leader Laura Batcha’s tenure of nearly a decade, but which now must address...
While regenerative agriculture resonates with rising consumer interest in sustainability, it can be difficult to explain in snappy marketing sound bites and callouts – prompting natural and organic meat company Applegate to try a different approach through...
Koidra, an intelligent automation (IA) startup based out of Seattle, has raised $4.5m in a seed funding round to bring its data intelligence technology to precision and controlled environmental agriculture sectors.
While animal feed and pet food present bigger commercial opportunities for edible insects in the short term, two key European players in the segment - Innovafeed and Ÿnsect, who are both planning large-scale, highly-automated production facilities in...
Above Food has been quietly building a plant-based foods portfolio which spans plant-based seafood to plant-based cheese, and its market presence is about to explode with the unveiling of a disruptive, more sustainable, oat processing technology that...
While plant-based beef patties and grounds, pork sausages and chicken nuggets abound, seafood alternatives are still relatively scare – representing a significant, and fast-growing, opportunity that innovators and investors alike are moving quickly to...
As the line between functional and fun blurs, foods and beverages no longer need to fit neatly into the “healthy” or “treat” categories – they can simultaneously offer the lifestyle and health benefits consumers want and serve as the rewards they crave,...
While General Mills is aggressively – and to an extent successfully – tackling supply chain challenges causing shortages of some of its beloved convenience brands, including Pillsbury dough and Totino’s pizza rolls, it likely won’t be able to fully meet...
Worth an estimated $1.94b globally in 2020 and slated to grow at a compound annual rate of 17.7%, according to Research & Markets data*, the plant-based yogurt category is hitting its stride, even as manufacturers struggle to balance nutrition, mouthfeel...
The EVERY Company has teamed up with upmarket west-coast patisserie brand Chantal Guillon to road test EVERY EggWhite - billed as “the world’s first animal-free egg white” - in a product heavily reliant on the unique functional properties of egg whites:...
Health and wellness positioned products may account for only a small portion of the food and beverage industry’s overall dollar share, but they are disproportionately driving dollar growth alongside organic, which often outpaced its conventional counterparts...
Three years since first debuting its ClearFlo modifying ingredient technology used to reduce sensory off notes of stevia, Cargill is debuting a single solution and combination of the two: EverSweet stevia + ClearFlo, giving food and beverage manufacturers...
Shiru - a startup producing proteins via microbial fermentation - has teamed up with texturizing ingredients specialist CP Kelco to explore label-friendly replacements for methylcellulose and other highly functional ingredients.
After two years of lockdowns and uncertainty during the pandemic, consumers simultaneously are desperate to let loose and enjoy life and to reinstate a sense of self-control – creating a complicated marketing landscape that intelligence experts at Mintel...
Despite efforts in recent years to disrupt the roughly $5b fruit snack market with better-for-you options made with more, whole or only fruit, the category remains dominated by legacy products high in added sugars and fillers and low in nutritional value...
The total US online grocery market hit $8.7bn in sales in February 2022, an 8.5% jump from the same period last year as consumers pursued pickup/delivery (Instacart, Amazon Fresh, and the like) options in greater frequency over ship-to-home services (grocery...
EPG – a plant-based oil restructured in such a way that virtually none of it is absorbed by the body – has demonstrated intriguing properties in plant-based meat applications, where formulators have struggled to find vegan options that behave like animal...
Tate and Lyle - which has been marketing its PROMITOR soluble corn fiber for several years as a prebiotic that can support bone health by boosting calcium absorption and retention - says it is also exploring its potential to support cognitive health,...
Louis Dreyfus Company – a leading global agricultural commodity trader with interests in grains and oilseeds, coffee, cotton, juice, rice, sugar, and freight - plans to enter the plant-based protein market later this year.
With consumers placing more weight on the type and amount of fat in packaged food when selecting purchases, a group of five better-for-you brands are teaming up to ensure shoppers understand key nutritional differences between oils and how they are processed....
Ten years after its debut, upcycling pioneer Barnana continues to push the boundaries of would-be wasted bananas and disprove naysayers with a trio of diverse, savory snacks launched in as many years while simultaneously navigating the uncertainty of...
CPG companies with more diverse leadership and which intentionally engage a consumer base that more accurately reflects the racial composition of the US population are attracting shoppers and growing faster than brands that over-index among white shoppers,...
![Kathryn Cook: 'We’re increasing protein [from 20%] to 35% by dry weight, and we think we can drive that even higher in future generations...' Image credit: NuCicer](/var/wrbm_gb_food_pharma/storage/images/_aliases/news_teaser_medium/publications/food-beverage-nutrition/foodnavigator-usa.com/article/2022/04/06/new-varieties-with-75-more-protein-could-catapult-chickpea-from-niche-to-mainstream-player-in-plant-protein-arena-says-nucicer/15306706-1-eng-GB/New-varieties-with-75-more-protein-could-catapult-chickpea-from-niche-to-mainstream-player-in-plant-protein-arena-says-NuCicer.jpg)
