Nestlé is dipping a toe into the increasingly crowded but still highly fragmented and nascent animal-free dairy category by teaming with startup Perfect Day to use synthetic biology to create a milk-like beverage from genetically engineered microflora...
North Carolina based Elo Life Systems aims to commercialize a new natural high-intensity sweetener “inspired by monk fruit” in 2025 that boasts a “cleaner” taste profile, more affordable price tag, and a higher sweetness intensity than monk fruit extracts...
Since the launch of its strategic ‘end-to-end’ transformation agenda, dubbed Pep+, the company has hit a number of milestones on topics ranging from regenerative agriculture to reformulation. FoodNavigator catches up with Katharina Stenholm, Chief Sustainability...
As children nationwide return to the classroom this week, many caregivers are worried about providing them nutritious food amid rising inflation and the expiration of pandemic-era waivers for universal free school meals – prompting General Mills, Orgain...
“I see all these emails going around saying once the [2018] Farm Bill passes, CBD is legal in all 50 states… and that’s just not true,” observed one attorney in December 2018. Four years later, while a lot has changed, the FDA maintains that CBD is not...
Gatorade is preparing for a massive 2023 rollout of energy drink brand Fast Twitch, designed for athletic performance with 200mg of caffeine, B vitamins, and electrolytes.
From Reishi to Lion’s Mane, medicinal mushrooms are gaining traction in foods, beverages and supplements, buoyed by interest in ingredients that may support immunity, mood and cognition. FoodNavigator-USA caught up with California-based organic mushroom...
Coca-Cola Europacific Partners and the University of California Berkeley are investigating scalable methods of converting captured CO2 into sugar. The idea – which is already being developed separately with NASA for long-haul space missions – has the...
A study exploring the connection between ultra-processed foods (UPF) consumption and reported adverse mental health symptoms found that participants who had a diet high in UPF were more likely to report instances of 'mentally unhealthy' and...
Every day Americans drink an estimated 517 million cups of coffee, according to the most recent consumer research from the National Coffee Association, which found that while nearly one in five savor a classic black cup with no adornments, the percentage...
Hain Celestial had a tough fiscal 2022 year but has a positive outlook on its North American business as supply chain disruptions abate and consumers remain loyal to the natural and organic segment.
Despite an ongoing recall of Jif peanut butter, JM Smucker eked out better than expected net sales thanks to the success of its popular coffee brands, including Café Bustelo, Folgers and Dunkin, and its Uncrustables brand – all of which faced their own...
Coca-Cola has named Jennifer Mann as the new president of the company's North America operating unit, replacing Alfredo Rivera, who will be stepping down on Dec. 31.
While inflation has impacted the entire food and beverage industry, recent data from Euromonitor shows that in certain categories the price of lower-priced items has increased exponentially compared to more modest price increases on higher-priced premium...
While sales of refrigerated plant-based meat may be slowing, shares of some plant-based milk brands are slipping and consumer response to a handful of new products are tepid at best, industry leaders argue the party is far from over for the overall plant-based...
From sparkling beverages laced with adaptogens and probiotics to plant-based cream, milk, luncheon meat and dips, and the latest animal-free launch fueled by Perfect Day's whey protein (made without cows), checkout FoodNavigator-USA's latest...
A new study – published a month after the World Health Organization (WHO) sounded a cautionary note about the long-term effects of zero-calorie sweeteners such as sucralose and saccharin – suggests some diet sweeteners are not inert and can alter the...
Target has cut its inventory levels by 20% in the last two months in a conscious effort to streamline its business and set the company up for improved long-term growth, shared chairman and CEO Brian Cornell.
Still a niche segment within the plant-based food category, plant-based yogurt is poised to become a much larger piece of the chilled dairy set as consumers find products that can closely mimic the taste and mouthfeel of its conventional dairy counterparts,...
Health and wellness company Laird Superfood has confirmed its receipt of an unsolicited offer from EF Hutton SPV I LLC to acquire the company's outstanding common stock for $3.00 per share in cash.
In a worst-case scenario, McKinsey is predicting a food deficit representing a year’s worth of nutritional intake for up to 250m people – or 3% of the global population.
The acute health threat of COVID-19 may be ebbing for most Americans, but the desire it instilled in many to bolster their physical and mental wellbeing continues to push consumers to seek food as medicine, according to industry insiders.
The “huge bet” SunOpta has placed on oatmilk through an aggressive series of investments in production capacity “has absolutely paid off,” says CEO Joe Ennen as the firm gears up to open a new aseptic production facility in Midlothian, Texas and expand...
US honey consumption reached record highs last year while domestic production dropped to its lowest since 1991, primarily due to lower yield per colony, according to USDA’s latest sugars and sweeteners outlook report, which notes that imports have surged...
So-called ‘ultra-processed foods,’ which include a significant portion of CPGs, are often demonized as calorie-dense, nutrient-poor and a major contributor to diet-related chronic diseases, but is this characterization an oversimplification that is just...
Food elasticities are finally ticking up as middle- and upper-income consumers whose spending so far has remained resilient in the face of rising inflation begin to feel pinched – prompting them to shift to more affordable retailers, including Walmart.
Chamberlain Coffee, a DTC-focused brand created by YouTube star Emma Chamberlain, has sealed a $7m Series A funding round led by Blazar Capital and a stacked roster of DTC, retail, and beverage industry investors.
At a time when pushback against sugar is spurring large CPG players to exit the ready-to-drink smoothie and juice market by off-loading well-known brands, two best friends see an opening for a new line of produce-packed beverages positioned as having...
As Americans continue to adjust to post-pandemic life and mounting economic uncertainty, consumer research from Mintel shows that many believe there is no going ‘back to normal’ and as such are changing the way they think about, budget and shop for, and...
Notoriously thin operating margins in the food supply chain will likely keep manufacturers and retailers from incrementally lowering prices even as input costs begin to come down – preferring instead to wait until the economic landscape stabilizes and...
In the face of an unrelenting inflationary environment, zero sugar soda brand Zevia is reporting continued growth and consumer adoption of its products, especially in the club channel.
While overall inflation in the US cooled slightly in July, giving hope to some economists that financial pressures may be peaking, food prices continue to climb at their fastest rate in more than 40 years – suggesting the economic recovery still has a...
What’s more sustainable? Using acres of land, water and energy to grow plants that produce minuscule quantities of natural sweeteners; or making them via a fermentation process using a microbe that’s been engineered to produce exactly the same molecules?
While sports drinks are often loaded with sugar and can pack a hefty caloric punch, convincing people to replace them with water or unsweetened options may be more difficult than persuading them to ditch other sugar-sweetened beverages, including soda,...
As budgets tighten during periods of economic uncertainty or rising inflation, consumers often turn to private label products to save money, although this hasn’t always translated into long-term increases in market share. This time, however, predicts...
Sustainability “is probably on slide two or three of every customer presentation now,” notes Ingredion, but how can consumers cut through the PR noise to make meaningful comparisons between brands? Checkout our final gallery of trends at IFT FIRST exploring...
Monster Energy is fighting to grow its shelf space in the increasingly competitive energy drink category while also dealing with unrelenting inflationary cost pressures, said CEO Rodney Sacks on the company's Q2 2022 earnings call.
Health Canada has published new labeling standards for supplemented foods such as snacks and beverages fortified with vitamins and minerals or caffeinated energy drinks; and introduced new nutrition labelling regulations for packaged foods requiring a...
Food and beverage companies are under increasing pressure to measure, reduce, and accurately report their social and environmental impact, with the SEC recently outlining proposals* that would require all registrants to disclose their scope three greenhouse...
Sugar reduction is still top of mind for most US consumers, but their motivations for purchasing low- and no-sugar beverages have shifted from weight management and dieting pursuits to achieving a sense of general wellbeing, claims Howard Telford, head...
As the pandemic progresses and consumers delve deeper into how nutrition impacts their health, they are expecting more from the products they buy – pushing beverage makers to blur category lines to offer more benefits, according to Mintel.
Oatly posted a $72m net loss on net revenues up 21.8% to $178m in the second quarter of 2022, slightly under analysts’ expectations, with gross profit margins of 15.8%, a figure CEO Toni Petersson insisted would rise over time as the Malmö-based oatmilk...
PepsiCo will take a 20% equity stake in Romanian spring water brand Aqua Carpatica: eying up the potential to expand the brand to the US and other markets.
PepsiCo is making a $550m investment in functional energy drink Celsius: further boosting its focus on the energy category and eying up a shared opportunity to drive growth and innovation in the sector.
Net sales in Amazon's physical stores - Whole Foods Market, Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go - grew 12.5% year-on-year to $4.72bn in Q2 2022 and grew 2.8% vs Q1, 2022.
Capri Sun’s original juice drink pouches will now have an average of 40% less sugar, as the brand reformulates to use monk fruit concentrate in its drinks.
Dollar sales of refrigerated liquid plant-based creams and creamers were up +25.8% year-on-year to $527.4m in measured US retail channels* in the year to July 10, 2022, while unit sales were up +16.1%, led by strong growth in blends and ‘other’ (which...
Fine chemicals co DIC and San Diego-based startup Debut Biotech are developing a vibrant natural red color that is heat-stable, light-stable, and stable across a wide pH range, using a novel hybrid approach combining microbial fermentation and ‘cell-free’...
When it comes to plant-based milks for kids, the options are few and far between, say Alex and Lauren Abelin, founders of Kiki Milk, which is made with organic oats, hemp seeds, sprouted pumpkin seeds, coconut, and other “whole food ingredients.”
