Chocolate and confectionery ingredients

Investing in the Future of Food: Soylent shares strategies for expanding distribution beyond online

11-Sep-2019 By Elizabeth Crawford

The success that brands incubated online often enjoy with direct-to-consumer marketing and distribution doesn’t always translate well to brick and mortar, but according to Soylent’s VP of sales Melody Conner building a company online first can provide...

NEWS IN BRIEF

CP Kelco expands its gellan gum production capabilities in the US

22-Aug-2019 By Mary Ellen Shoup

CP Kelco is expanding its gellan gum production capabilities in the US in response to rising demand for clean label, multi-functional ingredients.

Increased ‘health claims’ on children’s food belies products’ poor nutritional quality, study reveals

15-Aug-2019 By Elizabeth Crawford

The percentage of children’s products making front-of-pack nutritional and ‘better-for-you’ claims has increased significantly in the past decade, as has the use of ‘fun appeals,’ but the nutritional quality has not, according to a recent study that prompted...

New campaign wants to make Werther’s Original more ‘relevant’ by highlighting diversity, inclusion

15-Aug-2019 By Elizabeth Crawford

A new “more diverse and inclusive” marketing campaign for Werther’s Original that launched this week seeks to make the brand more “relevant” to modern consumers by showing that it offers more than the iconic hard candy for which it is best known, but...

Chocs away! Sir Kensington’s cofounder Mark Ramadan joins Hu Products as CEO

09-Aug-2019 By Elaine Watson

Sir Kensington’s co-founder Mark Ramadan is joining upmarket vegan chocolate maker Hu Products (pronounced ‘hue’ as in ‘human’) as CEO following the departure of Rita Hudetz, who left a week ago to pursue other opportunities.

The Bubbies mochi brand is on fire, says CEO: ‘This year our business will be 4x larger than when we acquired the company two years ago’

08-Aug-2019 By Elaine Watson

If growth in the frozen novelties category has not set the world on fire in recent years, one shiny bright spot in the market has been mochi: portable ice cream bites encased in chewy sweet rice dough that are lighting up retailers’ freezer cabinets,...

Investing in the Future of Food: Founder of Creation Nation shares tips for finding a co-packer

07-Aug-2019 By Elizabeth Crawford

When starting out most entrepreneurs could use a hand, especially when it comes to making their products, but finding the right kind of help isn’t always easy and picking the wrong partner can negatively impact the brand – lessons that the founder of...

60-second interview: NSF International updates Non-GMO certification program

05-Aug-2019 By Elaine Watson

NSF International has just updated its Non-GMO certification scheme and logo. FoodNavigator-USA (FNU) caught up with Sarah Krol (SK), global managing director of food safety product certification to find out what this means... and whether firms are ready...

OHi’s rapid expansion underscores consumer demand for refrigerated bars, ‘perimeter snacking’

10-Jul-2019 By Elizabeth Crawford

When the founder of the refrigerated bar brand OHi decided 18 months ago to expand her business from Hawaii to the mainland she thought it might take some time to educate retailers and shoppers about the category she was helping to build, but she was...

‘No longer does the mass channel have to be the last piece of the puzzle,’ vendor rep says

08-Jul-2019 By Elizabeth Crawford

As consumers increasingly demand natural, organic and innovative products across all retail channels, emerging brands are no longer restricted to the classic route to market that began with independent, natural retailers and slowly expanded to conventional...

Most consumers want and will pay more for ‘sustainable’ options, but struggle to easily find them

24-Jun-2019 By Elizabeth Crawford

Consumers increasingly want products that are better for them, but also better for the planet – unfortunately, it is not always easy to tell which products are healthy or sustainable, which is why it is important to use claims that resonate with shoppers...

Texture plays a key role in product acceptance, study reveals

19-Jun-2019 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Along with taste and smell, texture plays an equally important role in our like or dislike of specific food, according to researchers at Penn State University.

IFT Summit 2019

Tate & Lyle’s low-calorie sugar allulose easily snaps into formulas as traditional sugar replacement

18-Jun-2019 By Elizabeth Crawford

Ever since FDA decided to exclude Tate & Lyle’s super low-calorie sugar allulose from the total and added sugar declarations on the Nutrition Facts panel, manufacturers across categories have been clamoring to learn how the ingredient might help them...

Investing in the Future of Food: RangeMe helps startups become shelf ready & business savvy

15-May-2019 By Elizabeth Crawford

Under pressure to beat the competition or secure returns for investors, most startups want to get on store shelf as fast as possible, but first they must checkoff a litany of minimum requirements that can turn into unexpected roadblocks if they don’t...

Mondelēz advances mindful and sustainable snacking roadmap

14-May-2019 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Mondelēz International is making headway against its 'mindful and sustainable snacking' goals including growing its portion control snack sales to 15% of total net revenue last year, and improving the nutritional profile of some of its legacy...