News & Analysis on Food & Beverage Development & Technology
Deli, dairy and bakery innovation has focused on pack sizes, flavorful options and functionality over the last two years, according to insights shared during an International Dairy Deli Bakery Association webinar.
The Canadian bakery industry’s legal tensions are heating up, with Grupo Bimbo filing a CAD $2 billion counterclaim against Maple Leaf Foods over the controversial 2014 sale of Canada Bread
New product launches this holiday season are all about limited time offerings, including a barrage of peppermint-chocolate flavor extensions, and a smattering of inclusive allergen-friendly and better-for-you options.
American Bakers Association’s inaugural Bakery Playbooks unveils the hottest trends shaping how consumers shop, eat and savour baked goods. Are you ready to turn these insights into your bakery’s next big win?
Nestlé has revealed the top food and drink trends that will drive its research, development and innovation in 2025, with speed, personalisation and fusion taking centre stage.
FDA is giving the food and beverage industry an additional two months to respond to its request that they slash sodium in their products over the next three years to help Americans reduce their risk of diseases associated with overconsumption of the...
FDA’s fiscal year 2025 priority deliverables for the Human Foods Program emphasize transparency and accountability amid state funding cuts and resource constraints.
The transformative takeover by Mars Inc. has been overwhelmingly approved, marking a pivotal moment in the snack industry. What does this mean for the future of snacking?
Health trends are big business for food and beverage brands. So, will the new Nordic Diet take the industry by storm or be a foodie flash in the pan?
Cocoa shortages cannot stop vegan superfood cookie brand Love + Chew's retail growth as the company expands its Whole Foods store count from 135 to over 500 stores and tees up product innovation in 2025.
Young and old consumers are divided on their top desires for future product innovation — with the former wanting cleaner labels and the latter wanting more high protein foods and beverages — but both agree that digital tools are crucial to keeping...
November Launch Pad
The holiday season is here bringing a slew of food and beverage launches to help consumers celebrate with seasonal products featuring nostalgic fall and winter flavors that make entertaining easier and warm consumers as the weather cools.
Belly Brand Foods is delivering gut and skin health benefits with its collagen-infused and gluten-free bakery mixes, as the company gears up to spread brand awareness in 2025 with trade shows.
Originally intended as a treatment for diabetes, GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic could be set to turn the food and drink industry upside down.
Plant-based diets remain popular, but associations with UPF and low-quality ingredients has shaken consumer trust in alt meat, fish and dairy brands. So, what can the sector do to restore public opinion?
Brand Alchemy
Today’s marketing strategies need flexible adjustments and a blend of channels to keep pace with rapid shifts in media consumption, unlike the fixed annual media plans of yesteryear.
Drumroll Snacks received $3 million in capital from CPG incubator 7 Mile Brands to fuel growth after a "rocket ship year," as the better-for-you sweet baked goods brand gears up to go after large national accounts like Whole Foods and Sprouts, the two...
Creating and building brand awareness, with potential customers, is essential to success. Here’s how to recognise and connect with your target market.
Some nutritious foods under the current NOVA system could be demonised alongside unhealthy variants. Industry's calling for reform, but what would the next generation look like?
Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee
Diets that exclude foods high in added sugar and saturated fat, like sugary drinks, snacks and processed meat, still provide sufficient levels of essential nutrients, like vitamins, minerals and fiber, according to the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee.
Dairy’s nutrient density and decadent eating experience create a powerful canvas for startups innovating across categories to offer better-for-you moments of permissible indulgence while simultaneously supporting the health of consumers, the planet and...
From bread crisps to puffs made from drought-resistant, gluten-free sorghum, along with a sourdough that stood out with its deep purple colour, which of these trendsetting products will be the next big hit?
Peanut butter and jelly maker JM Smucker continues to refine its portfolio with the sale of better-for-you cookie brand Voortman to Brownie Brittle-maker Second Nature in a $305 million deal that follows a slew of divestments across its portfolio in the...
Biotech company LanzaTech is making strides in global microbial fermentation protein production with the launch of its proprietary LanzaTech Nutritional Protein (LNP), in collaboration with organizations like the US Navy to accelerate commercialization.
Size matters – at least when it comes to crafting nutrient content and health claims for food based on servings, according to a recent BBB National Programs’ National Advertising Division decision for a challenge brought by Olé Mexican Foods against...
Soup-To-Nuts Podcast
After a year of “unapologetically” embracing luxury, indulgence and whimsy through vivid colors and unexpected flavor combinations, consumers will rediscover and recenter themselves in 2025 by choosing taste profiles and hues that more realistically...
Consumer demand for ‘gut-friendly’ foods and beverages is growing fast, and industry is innovating just as quickly to meet it. So, what’s next for this seemingly unstoppable trend?
More consumers are buying pricier organic food and drink, despite continuing cost-of-living pressures, with sales expected to rocket as governments push to make organic farming central to future sustainability strategies.
The FDA's phase two draft guidance on sodium reduction, released on August 15, sets new voluntary targets for food manufacturers to reduce average consumption to 2,750 milligrams per day by 2024, as nearly three-quarters of Americans' sodium intake...
Brands are reformulating to improve nutritional value and reduce or remove ‘unhealthy’ ingredient levels. But this is not always a vote winner with customers. Why?
Future Food-Tech 2024
Alternative raw materials aim to provide sustainable versions of commodities, including cocoa, coffee and palm oil, that are both integral to food and linked to deforestation. Will consumers accept them?
A new platform designed by ADM to help food and beverage manufacturers better understand and meet the needs of weight-loss drug users brings together proprietary consumer research and science, a portfolio of targeted ingredients and more than 25...
New research has linked ultra-processed foods to type 2 diabetes. How will this latest blow impact the food and beverage industry and is reformulation the only solution?
Colorado-based Myna Snack’s latest launch is a prime example of how consumer input can drive successful product innovation. But just how effective is giving consumers a voice in NPD in staying competitive?
Health concerns have put the sweetener industry in jeopardy. Could new research help to restore its reputation?
The Mexican bakery giant is using the power of running to make a global impact, donating over 3 million slices of bread to food banks through its Bimbo Global Race.
Letters sent by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Madeleine Dean (D-Penn.) to the CEOs of Coca-Cola, General Mills and PepsiCo express concern over pricing and tax practices that, according to the policy makers, “squeeze profits out...
A round-up of the cocoa sector as we move into the 2024/2025 season.
Soup-to-Nuts Podcast
Consumer interest in products made with ingredients from regional smallholder farmers or those practicing regenerative agriculture is on the rise, but CPG companies and suppliers are struggling to meet their demand in part because most farmers are unable...
Women’s health continues to grow as a hot food and drink topic, with brands exploiting the increasing NPD opportunities available
Food-tech business The EVERY Company recently secured a patent for ovalbumin produced via precision fermentation, which has potential to introduce a “new class of product applications,” and “expand the size of the overall egg market,” CEO and Co-Founder...
As the bakery and snack sectors seek more sustainable solutions, regenerative agriculture is emerging as a transformative force. Could adopting these eco-friendly farming practices help companies reduce their environmental impact while meeting the rising...
Conagra Brands executives warned investors earlier this year that its fiscal 2025 would start with “plenty of noise,” and it did – including not just anomalies for which the maker of Slim Jim and Healthy Choice planned, but also unexpected dynamics that...
Babylife Organics is reducing the levels of heavy metals in baby food by carefully sourcing ingredients and committing to certified regenerative organic processes while providing caregivers an easy way to check arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury levels...
Launch Pad
New pumpkin spice products continue to hit store shelves as other food and beverage product launches in September usher in the holiday season from Halloween to Rosh Hashanah to Christmas.
Manufacturers have just over three years to reformulate packaged snacks, confections and beverages with six common – and controversial – food dyes if they want to continue selling their products in California schools.
Food and beverage industry stakeholders and consumer advocates are lauding FDA’s commitment to enhance its post-market assessment of chemicals in food, but they worry the agency’s proposed process is “thin on details,” including lacking sufficient...
Deli counters and bakeries boost sales by meeting Gen Z demand for global and convenient cuisine — from sushi to street foods — Circana representatives shared during a recent IDDBA webinar.
Following Bakery&Snacks’ report on the backlash against Kellogg’s over chemicals in its US cereals, the pressure is still mounting. What lessons can bakery and snack producers take from this?
Building a net zero, water secure future in food & beverage
Increasing water scarcity is prompting stakeholders across the food industry to rethink and reup their stewardship practices, and in doing so they not only are reinforcing supply chains and the health of the planet, but market research suggest they could...