Fruit, vegetable, nut ingredients

Kellogg exec presents three ways to improve the food system

18-May-2022 By Mary Ellen Shoup

With the global food system under significant pressure to keep up with the world's growing population, The Kellogg Company's SVP of global R&D and innovation Dr. Nigel Hughes presents how international food and beverage companies can take...

NotCo dips into foodservice with test launch at select Shake Shack locations

18-May-2022 By Mary Ellen Shoup

NotCo, a foodtech startup that uses patented AI technology to produce plant-based versions of traditional animal products, has partnered with fast food chain Shake Shack on a test launch of a plant-based chocolate custard and milk shake.

Nuritas establishes US HQ to support growth of AI-powered bioactive peptide discovery platform targeting everything from blood glucose management to wrinkle-reduction

17-May-2022 By Elaine Watson

Nuritas – a Dublin-based biotech firm deploying artificial intelligence (AI) to identify bioactive peptides in plants that could impact everything from blood glucose management to skin aging – is setting up its US headquarters in Connecticut to support...

Plant-based meat gamechanger? Rebellyous Foods tackles two key hurdles facing the industry: cost, and quality-at-scale

16-May-2022 By Elaine Watson

While even the analysts downgrading Beyond Meat’s stock in the wake of grim Q1 figures believe meat alternatives are “not a fad” (to quote Brian Holland at Cowen), the brand’s slowing sales and elevated costs have prompted some soul-searching about why...

Soup-To-Nuts Podcast: Collaborative spirit, sustainable mission help Pipsnacks reach 10-year anniversary

16-May-2022 By Elizabeth Crawford

Being an entrepreneur can feel desperately lonely – especially in the early days when budgets are tight, days are long and challenges crop up constantly – but as romantic as the idea of buckling down and becoming ‘self-made’ may be, few founders actually...

Study: Do vegetarian diets impact growth outcomes for kids?

13-May-2022 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Children following vegetarian diets have similar growth and biochemical measures of nutrition compared to children consuming non-vegetarian diets, but are more likely to be underweight, according to a new study from researchers in Toronto.

Rising food costs outpace those for all goods, suggesting more inflation to come

13-May-2022 By Elizabeth Crawford

Food prices likely will remain stubbornly high as the cost of key ingredients, packaging materials, transportation and warehousing paid by producers continues to rise, albeit at a slightly slower pace – sparking optimism among some that high inflation...

Health benefits of ‘true tea’ support including drink in dietary guidelines, researchers argue

13-May-2022 By Elizabeth Crawford

Daily tea consumption should be recommended in the upcoming 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, argue scientists and industry stakeholders who point to its safety and a growing body of research supporting health benefits from the Camellia sinensis...

Vita Coco co-founder: 'The overall coconut water category continues to show robust growth'

12-May-2022 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Vita Coco now commands a 50% share of the coconut water category and has grown household penetration of its brand to 11%, a strong indicator that consumer demand for coconut water remains elevated with plenty more runway, said Vita Coco co-founder and...

SpoonfulONE enters Walgreens stores nationwide expanding access to early allergen introduction

12-May-2022 By Mary Ellen Shoup

SpoonfulONE, a line of nutritional products that introduces babies to 16 food allergens at the beginning of their feeding journey, has expanded distribution to nearly 5,000 Walgreens stores nationwide helping make early allergen introduction a common...

Beyond Meat CEO faces grilling from analysts after posting grim Q1 figures

12-May-2022 By Elaine Watson

Despite its grim near-term figures, Beyond Meat’s long-term prospects are good, insisted CEO Ethan Brown on the firm’s Q1 earnings call Wednesday as analysts queried how much longer the plant-based meat firm would have to speculate before it started to...

Soaring prices for food at home outpace overall inflation, signaling need for strategic shift by retailers, manufacturers

11-May-2022 By Elizabeth Crawford

Rising food prices slowed slightly in April over the prior month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics April Consumer Price Index released today, but they continue to climb at a brisk pace that is significantly faster than all items, allowing them...

Cacao-free ‘alt choc’ mimics the real thing, with 80% fewer CO2 emissions

11-May-2022 By Flora Southey

UK start-up WNWN Food Labs is launching what it claims to be the ‘world’s first’ cacao-free chocolate. Made from two ‘hero ingredients’ – barley and carob – we ask co-founders Arhum Pak and Dr Johnny Drain what makes their product better than the real...

Inflation triggers 3.8% decline in online grocery sales in April 2022 vs. April 2021

09-May-2022 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Online grocery activity declined across the board last month in three main segments including pickup (in-store, curbside, lockers, etc.), delivery (first and thirst party providers such as Kroger, Instacart, Shipt), and ship-to-home (parcel carriers including...

Soup-To-Nuts Podcast: Climate Neutral helps brands calculate, offset emissions & tell sustainability story

09-May-2022 By Elizabeth Crawford

More consumers are factoring sustainability into their purchase decisions, according to data from NielsenIQ, but effectively and efficiently communicating a product’s environmental impact in less than the 10 seconds most shoppers spend deciding what to...

Hain Celestial’s positive North America performance softens blow of international business challenges

06-May-2022 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Batting many of the same macro headwinds as the rest of the industry including continued inflation, supply chain disruptions, and ingredient and packaging shortages, Hain Celestial maintains a positive outlook on its North American business where consumer...

NEWS IN BRIEF

Voyage Foods lands $36m Series A funding, first product launch planned for Q2 2022

05-May-2022 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Oakland, California-based food tech company Voyage Foods has raised $36m in a Series A funding as it prepares to launch its first product in Q2 2022.

Mars exec talks innovation: 'We're at a fascinating moment, where we will be creating the next relevant portfolio for consumers'

05-May-2022 By Mary Ellen Shoup

As a 100+-year-old company of some of the most well-known CPG brands, Mars Inc. sees innovation as the driving force behind the company's next chapter of growth and the key to maintaining consumer relevancy.

Tate & Lyle bets big on chickpea protein, flour, with deal to acquire Nutriati

03-May-2022 By Elaine Watson

Tate & Lyle – a global ingredients company best known for sweeteners, fibers, and texturizing ingredients – has moved into the burgeoning plant-based protein arena with a deal to acquire Virginia-based chickpea protein and flour co Nutriati, six months...

'There's no simple solution to eliminate arsenic in food....' USA Rice Federation, Gerber, address heavy metals in baby foods at public meeting

29-Apr-2022 By Elaine Watson

More work is needed to tackle heavy metals in foods & beverages, especially those consumed by young children, but we shouldn’t throw out the baby with the bathwater, said food industry executives at a public meeting held as the FDA issued new action...

Impulse purchases evolve to meet new consumer demands, shopping habits post COVID

27-Apr-2022 By Elizabeth Crawford

After taking a hit early in the pandemic, sales of impulse purchases are beginning to rebound – but they look different now than before the outbreak as brands and retailers redefine the category to better align with consumer needs and lifestyles reshaped...

Beneo builds new pulse-processing plant for ‘rising star’ ingredient faba bean

27-Apr-2022 By Flora Southey

The ingredients supplier is investing €50m in the new facility to make protein concentrate, starch rich flour and hulls from faba beans – a crops that comes with ‘convincing sustainable credentials’, Beneo’s Christoph Boettger tells FoodNavigator.

Blueberries show cognitive benefits in study

25-Apr-2022 By Hank Schultz

A new study has suggested that whole blueberry powder provided cognitive benefits in older individuals with insulin resistance and a heightened risk of future dementia.

Potential review of ‘ultra-processed food’ by dietary guideline committee could portend trouble for packaged food industry

22-Apr-2022 By Elizabeth Crawford

Undefined and increasingly under fire for allegedly delivering low nutrition but high calories, so-called ultra-processed food could be under the microscope during the next review of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, slated for publication in 2025.

IFIC: More Americans seek pro- and prebiotics, but confusion about sources abounds

20-Apr-2022 By Elizabeth Crawford

More Americans are trying to consume probiotics and prebiotics than a year ago, but many are confused about the best sources for each and the relationship between them, fermentation and strain-specificity – hindering their goals, according to new data...

Nowadays raises $7m, gears up for Whole Foods launch: 'Plant-based meat has to be delicious, nutritious, and affordable'

18-Apr-2022 By Elaine Watson

While shoppers care about animal welfare and sustainability, these things are not, yet at least, primary purchase drivers for most Americans, despite what they tell you in surveys, says the co-founder of plant-based chicken startup Nowadays. “What’s the...

Could sunflower protein join the plant-based protein major league? It ‘checks all the boxes’ says Burcon

15-Apr-2022 By Elaine Watson

Sunflower is the world’s third largest oilseed crop behind soy and canola, so why isn’t it a major player in the plant-based protein arena?

Misfits Market launches private label line: 'It's clear shoppers are looking for new ways to save'

14-Apr-2022 By Mary Ellen Shoup

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 makes $300m investment to expand alternative protein production capabilities

14-Apr-2022 By Mary Ellen Shoup

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.

Record-breaking spike in cost of goods portends inflation will go higher before it levels off

14-Apr-2022 By Elizabeth Crawford

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...

WATCH: Gut health soda, plant-based, and regenerative agriculture... Trendspotting with PRESENCE

13-Apr-2022 By Mary Ellen Shoup

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.

Annual inflation for food at home surges 10%, calling into question future elasticities

12-Apr-2022 By Elizabeth Crawford

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...

Soup-To-Nuts Podcast: The rise of kelp & seaweed as ecological, economical & nutritional powerhouses

11-Apr-2022 By Elizabeth Crawford

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...

Private label returns to solid single-digit growth while outpacing national brands, reports PLMA

08-Apr-2022 By Mary Ellen Shoup

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...

Four emerging plant proteins to watch: Pongamia, hemp, barley, and chickpea

08-Apr-2022 By Elaine Watson

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...

Ocean ag startup ALORA unveils ‘the most salt-tolerant terrestrial plants on the planet'

07-Apr-2022 By Elaine Watson

We’re running out of agricultural land, and fresh water is an increasingly precious commodity in many parts of the world. But one thing we’re not short of is sea water, which covers more than 70% of the earth’s surface, say the founders of ALORA, a startup...

Flashfood helps retailers boost EBIT 3-5%, drive store traffic by connecting shoppers to would be wasted food

07-Apr-2022 By Elizabeth Crawford

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...

Mondelēz SnackFutures VP talks future of snacking: 'I think COVID shocked our systems in a lot of ways'

06-Apr-2022 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Snacking behaviors evolved in a few key ways over the past few years as consumers balanced familiarity with health and wellness and are now looking to expand and diversify their snacking routines, says Brigette Wolf, VP, global head of SnackFutures at...

KeHE ‘golden ticket’ winners reveal hot trends retailers and consumers want

06-Apr-2022 By Elizabeth Crawford

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...

Square Roots continues steady expansion of indoor shipping container farms: 'The whole idea is to shorten the supply chain for food wherever we go'

05-Apr-2022 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Emerging indoor farming company Square Roots has opened a new modular farm in Springfield, Ohio, where the company will be able to reach local customers in Cincinnati, Columbus, and Dayton metropolitan areas with its fresh, locally-grown salad mixes and...

Do current advertising rules for children’s products go far enough to protect their health?

05-Apr-2022 By Elizabeth Crawford

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...

Tracking Instacart's growth: 'Grocery delivery has shifted from a nice perk... to a convenience that is worth the cost of use'

01-Apr-2022 By Mary Ellen Shoup

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).

MycoTechnology raises $85m in series E to expand mycelium-fueled platform

31-Mar-2022 By Elaine Watson

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...

‘Think Shark Tank meets the Kardashians…’ Art imitates life at Mid-Day Squares

31-Mar-2022 By Elaine Watson

“We don’t talk too much about product benefits in our marketing... that comes later,” observes Jake Karls, co-founder at Montreal-based ‘functional chocolate’ startup Mid-Day Squares. “What we think about, is how do we interrupt your day on your phone?”

Fruit + fiber + probiotics: General Mills unveils Doolies snacks for kids

30-Mar-2022 By Elaine Watson

Doolies – the latest innovation to emerge from General Mills’ G-Works corporate venture studio – is a fruit- and fiber-packed snack for young kids designed to “help your kid go #2 with ease.”

OCA brings simpler, cleaner alternative to energy drink category: 'What drives me the most is to make a change in the category'

30-Mar-2022 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Led by a PepsiCo alum turned beverage entrepreneur, OCA is carving out a spot for itself in the growing 'clean' energy drink category with a simple ingredient deck which includes 120mg of caffeine from green coffee extract.

Gotham Greens doubles greenhouse footprint capturing under penetrated market opportunity for indoor farming companies

29-Mar-2022 By Mary Ellen Shoup

In its largest expansion to date, Gotham Greens is doubling the size of its greenhouse capacity from 600,000 to over 1.2 million square feet this year unlocking new regions, national distribution at key retailers, and getting one large step closer to...

Agtech startup Koidra lands $4.5m in seed funding to advance intelligent automated growing technology

29-Mar-2022 By Mary Ellen Shoup

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.

WATCH EXPO WEST 2022… Four Sigmatic CEO: ‘The mushroom category has exploded’

28-Mar-2022 By Elaine Watson

From reishi to lion’s mane, ‘medicinal’ mushrooms are gaining traction in foods and beverages, buoyed by growing interest in adaptogens and immunity, says Four Sigmatic CEO Tero Isokauppila, who caught up with FoodNavigator-USA at the Natural Products...

EXPO WEST 2022: Above Food bets big on oats debuting new plant-based cheese products and disruptive processing technology

28-Mar-2022 By Mary Ellen Shoup

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...