New data from Placer.ai tracking foot traffic at America’s leading food retailers shows that traffic at Whole Foods – while rebounding - remains lower than it was in 2019, while many rival grocers have staged a stronger recovery.
Oatmilk or oat drink? Plant-based cheese or cultured nut product? A report from the House Committee on Appropriations “encourages the FDA to provide clarity around the labeling of plant-based foods that use traditional meat, dairy, and egg terminology,”...
Accounting for 20% of US consumers with an estimated direct buying power of $143bn, Gen Z is not a generation to be glossed over by brand marketers, says IRI, characterizing this young cohort as technologically savvy with an underlying practical streak...
Facing higher than previously expected inflation, flavor and spice giant McCormick & Company anticipates raising prices in late 2021 even as it pursues other cost savings and revenue management – a refrain that has been on repeat this year by most...
Packed with protein, shortfall nutrients, antioxidants and more, dairy is well-positioned to meet rising consumer demand for functional foods and beverages, but a seemingly blasé approach to marketing and on-pack claims is holding the category back from...
Harmless Harvest and majority stakeholder Danone Manifesto Ventures (DMV) are exploring opportunities to take the organic coconut water into international markets, says CEO Ben Mand, who says the San Francisco-based brand also has the potential to stretch...
“Inflation has been dramatic in the locust bean gum market and we do believe the situation is now at a tipping point for customers,” says CP Kelco, a leading supplier of hydrocolloids and other texturizing ingredients.
The FDA is aiming to release long-awaited voluntary sodium reduction goals and draft guidance on the labeling of plant-based milk alternatives in the next 12 months.
A global consumer study* funded by ‘animal-free’ dairy startup Formo (previously LegenDairy) suggests consumers are surprisingly open to trying and buying cheese featuring dairy proteins made via microbes instead of cows after reading a detailed description...
A combination of supply chain disruptions and surging demand for sugar alternatives has created a very tight market for selected specialty sweeteners - notably erythritol and crystalline allulose – with some firms reporting shortages, longer lead times,...
More than 450 exhibitors and 8,000 attendees traveled to the Sweets & Snacks Expo in Indianapolis last week for one of the first in-person food and beverage tradeshows since the coronavirus outbreak in early 2020 to showcase two years of product innovations...
China looks likely to be the world’s largest consumer market of cultivated meat due its population size and government support, but a long, arduous journey lies ahead before this becomes a reality, according to an industry expert.
The price of locust bean gum – a clean-label thickener and stabilizer from carob seeds used in everything from Philadelphia cream cheese to Planet Oat oatmilk – has more than doubled over the past year, as demand continues to exceed supply, prompting...
As children transition away from breast milk, infant formula and other milk as their primary source of nutrition to a diet more reflective of their family’s, they are increasingly vulnerable to micronutrient deficiencies, according to research recently...
Less than a month after Mondelez revealed it was performing a strategic review of its gum business, triggering speculation about a possible divestment, the CPG giant appears to be reasserting the value of its brands in the category while simultaneously...
Cell-cultured meat pioneer UPSIDE Foods (formerly Memphis Meats) has brought in high-flying PepsiCo exec Amy Chen as its chief operating officer as it prepares to launch its first consumer product – UPSIDE chicken – later this year, pending regulatory...
Unilever experienced an “explosion” in the growth of non-dairy ice cream when it introduced products through mainstream brands such as Ben & Jerry's and Magnum, according to global ice cream EVP Matt Close. But getting plant-based proteins to...
Attempts to put plant-based meats “in the same category as Twinkies” because they are both “processed foods,” should be dismissed as “meat industry propaganda,” Impossible Foods CEO Dr Pat Brown told delegates at the Future Food Tech alternative proteins...
By Matthew Walker, managing director, S2G Ventures
A market with a variety of alternative meat sources provides ultimate flexibility for the consumer, and several emerging technologies have a role to play in the meat supply chain of the future.
Months ago, many may not have even been aware of the existence of this cannabis compound. Today, Delta-8 is the fastest-growing category of hemp products, with US sales of products listing Delta-8 jumping 144% from a year earlier, according to cannabis...
Sales of non-alcoholic beverages last year rose across categories, including segments that were stubbornly flat pre-pandemic, as consumers looked for ways to recreate at home beverage rituals they once enjoyed while dining out or on-the-go, according...
California’s olive oil producers are clashing over proposed state legislation on olive oil labeling that supporters say is essential to ensure consumers are not being misled, and critics say is a blatant attempt to restrict competition.
A California court has allowed a proposed class action lawsuit over ‘No Antibiotics’ claims on Sargento cheese to proceed, with some caveats, finding that “there is a factual dispute as to what a reasonable consumer would understand” by this claim.
Is consumer sentiment around MSG (monosodium glutamate) shifting? According to MSG supplier Ajinomoto, perceptions of the flavor enhancer have improved over the last three years since the company undertook a full-scale awareness campaign to educate consumers.
While the pandemic shined a light on the role of diet and nutrition in health and wellness, it also revealed that most consumers don’t have a firm – or even loose – idea of what constitutes healthy – underscoring a need for more research and better education...
Campbell Soup Co. executives were braced for a tough third quarter as vaccinated consumers began eating at home less just as the company cycled past the peak pantry stocking phase of the pandemic from a year ago, but even they appeared surprised by how...
Does the market need another snack bar? In short, probably not, but it may be time for a reset of the bellwether category, says Nicholas Fereday, senior analyst, consumer foods at Rabobank.
With US retail sales of cannabidiol-infused foods, beverages and supplements declining sharply in the past year and some early-adopters souring on the ingredient after experiencing lackluster ‘results,’ some players in the space are discontinuing their...
The Superior Court of California has ordered the state of California to answer a petition brought by a nonprofit calling for it to add processed meat to the Proposition 65 list of substances known to cause cancer or reproductive harm.
The Better Meat Co – a startup best-known for providing plant-based meat enhancers – has completed construction of a “substantial mycoprotein fermentation facility” in Sacramento that will produce fungi-based meat alternatives that “work phenomenally...
After years of slow but steady declines, juice sales in the US are rebounding in a trend that may have originated with consumers seeking wellness-enhancing products and moments of intentional indulgence during the pandemic, but which industry insiders,...
The thresholds for heavy metals proposed in the Baby Food Safety Act - introduced in the wake of the recent Congressional Subcommittee report alleging ‘dangerous’ levels of lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic in baby foods – are challenging but feasible,...
The Swiss food giant has confirmed it will update its nutrition and health strategy after British newspaper the Financial Times published leaked internal documents acknowledging that nearly 70% of its main food and drinks products, making up about half...
Poverty in the coffee industry is an “enduring crisis,” despite US consumers’ willingness to pay upwards of $16-$22 per 12-ounce bag of roasted coffee and a premium for products that promise to ethically source beans and pay farmers a fair price.
CPG brands that invest in restoring healthy farmland can earn more than the goodwill of consumers who increasingly care about sustainability – they also could cash-in on the surge of ESG-earmarked funding and secure high-value assets that will support...
Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods enjoy more than twice the in-store velocity of other plant-based meat brands in the US retail market, "and so we believe this is still very much a two-horse race,” claim analysts at Bernstein, who say some of the...
After 16 years of blood, sweat and tears building a consumer brand, Hint Inc founder Kara Goldin has been through some ups and downs, and 2020 offered up both in equal measure. But while many beverage brands struggled to adapt in a rollercoaster year,...
Despite significant unmet demand for convenient keto products across categories, consumers who follow the diet are becoming more selective and less willing to settle for options that use low-quality or unhealthy ingredients to meet the diet’s strict macro...
As consumers adopt a more flexible and holistic approach to ‘dieting,’ brands have more room to innovate at the ingredient-level through “mindful omissions and swaps” to create products that appeal to shoppers’ lifestyles, according to new research from...
‘Why is it that at a time when people have never known more about health and nutrition, they have never been more obese?’ asks Jack Bobo in the intro to his new book.
One cigarette won’t kill you, observes pediatric neuroendocrinologist and sugar’s arch-nemesis Dr. Robert Lustig, but 10,000 cigarettes over 10 years just might. Processed food is also poisoning us, it’s just doing it much more slowly, contends Lustig,...
As inflation threatens to crest double digits for CPGs by the end of the year, consumer price sensitivity also is increasing while volume consumption is decreasing – creating an “uncertain, idiosyncratic and uneven” market in which manufacturers must...
Consumers are awakening to the idea that their dietary choices impact climate change, and while some already consider environmental sustainability when selecting products many more say they would if they had more information – creating a unique marketing...
While many of the grocery shopping and eating habits adopted during the pandemic remain elevated compared to before the coronavirus outbreak, some are beginning to erode as the threat of COVID-19 subsides and local economies – including restaurants and...
Kombucha market leader GT’s Living Foods has withdrawn its CBD-infused Dream Catcher functional beverage line, with founder GT Dave acknowledging that regulatory uncertainty and a slightly confused consumer proposition both played a role.
Cognitive decline over time may be inevitable, but according to the husband and wife team behind the recently launched whole food functional beverage blend Memore, feeding the mind the right nutrition early and often not only could delay onset and slow...
Despite an uptick in snacking and consumption of indulgent foods and beverages during the pandemic, the number of Americans dieting last year held steady compared to previous years – but their approaches and motivations shifted to reflect changing pressures...
