Food safety and labeling

Barclays Global Consumer Staples Conference

CPG companies strategize how to maintain new consumers, market share as pandemic sales normalize

10-Sep-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

As record high sales from the early days of the coronavirus pandemic level out at rates significantly lower than March and April but still higher than last year, CPG companies are trying to reassure investors that they can hold on to new customers and...

Retail strategies to support Black-owned businesses, tap into $1.5 trillion buying power of Black shoppers

09-Sep-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

Retailers interested in attracting more Black shoppers, who Nielsen reports wield an annual buying power of $1.5 trillion and make more grocery trips per year than all other racial groups, need to stock and prominently highlight more products by Black-owned...

5 strategies to engage with online shoppers

'Winning at shelf' is less important than 'winning at couch'

04-Sep-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

Once considered a top priority for a food or beverage brand’s success, ‘winning at shelf’ is now only “somewhat important” as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic reshapes how consumers plan and shop for groceries and how manufacturers and retailers engage...

Soup-To-Nuts Podcast: How can industry help feed students returning to school online & in person

31-Aug-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

As many schools negotiate how to teach children safely during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, they also must navigate how to feed them – a challenge that will require creativity and cooperation from regulators, legislators, and school nutrition professionals...

Hormel warns of lower inventory, stresses maintaining supply chain, production efficiency is ‘critical’

26-Aug-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

After months of meeting heightened consumer demand related to coronavirus pantry stocking and increased at-home consumption, SPAM and Skippy manufacturer Hormel Foods could face inventory shortages in the fourth quarter if additional outbreaks at facilities...

House Ag Committee requests relief for ranchers, specialty crop farmers & seeks investigation of cattle industry amid pandemic

10-Aug-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

Members of the House Agriculture Committee are demanding USDA take a closer look at and provide additional relief for the coronavirus pandemic’s “disproportionate toll on farmers and ranchers,” and the specialty crop sector.

USDA proposes stricter oversight, enforcement of organic to better detect, prevent fraud

05-Aug-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

Responding to increasing fraud threats to the organic industry, the US Department of Agriculture seeks to strengthen oversight and improve the transparency and traceability of organic food through a four-prong plan that praises and mirrors actions already...

Talkwalker report reveals shifting consumer preferences and pain points

04-Aug-2020 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Evolving shopping habits brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic are remolding consumer needs, and food brands must build new connections with their customers by paying close attention to new emerging issues, pain points, and desires that matter most to their...

Soup-To-Nuts Podcast: Baby food doesn’t have an ‘added sugar problem’ it has a ‘too much sugar’ problem

03-Aug-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s recent recommendations that children under 2 years avoid all added sugar to ensure they consume the nutrients they need without excessive caloric intake may not go far enough to drive a significant change in...

Sen. Booker targets corporate consolidation in agriculture for ‘fundamentally broken’ US food system

29-Jul-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

Decrying the US food system as “fundamentally broken and worsening the challenge of justice in our country,” Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., is on an mission to block and dismantle corporate consolidation in agriculture, which he argues places profits over...

NEWS IN BRIEF

Albertsons reports 21.4% total sales growth and 276% surge in e-commerce sales in Q1 2020

27-Jul-2020 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Retailer Albertsons, owner of Safeway and Jewel-Osco, reported a 21.4% increase in sales to $22.8bn for the 16 weeks ended June 20, 2020 compared to $18.7bn for the same period last year.

Better visibility in storage containers cuts waste, improves margins, creates more flexible food system

24-Jul-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

By using wireless sensors to detect subtle changes in the quality of stored crops, the CEO of California-based startup Centaur Analytics says food and beverage companies will be better able to ensure supply chain continuity in the face of “unique or random...

Experts and health organizations call for ‘stronger, better-funded’ federal nutrition research

23-Jul-2020 By Mary Ellen Shoup

The US must strengthen and increase funding for federal nutrition research to accelerate critical discoveries, and most importantly, improve public health, say a group of research, policy, and government experts in a new report.

General Mills CEO: Sustained sales must be earned with solutions to ‘real problems’ in the kitchen & society

17-Jul-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

Ongoing social distancing requirements, the resulting recession and a rediscovery of the joy of cooking and baking will help sustain some, but “certainly not all,” of the surging sales enjoyed by many CPG food and beverage brands since the coronavirus...

Americans need to more than halve their consumption of added sugars, says Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee

15-Jul-2020 By Elaine Watson

Americans need to more than halve their consumption of added sugars, reducing average consumption from 13% of daily energy intake to just 6%, the equivalent of 30g for someone on a 2,000 calorie-a-day diet, according to the expert committee advising the...