Taking a significant minority stake in Monster Beverage Corp rather than launching a full-scale takeover is a smart move on Coca-Cola’s part, boosting its participation in one of the beverage sector’s fastest-growing categories but providing a ‘hedge’...
Coca-Cola and Monster Beverage Corp have entered into a strategic partnership which will see Monster assume control of Coke’s energy brands and Coke assume control of Monster’s non-energy brands. Coca-Cola will also take a 16.7% stake in Monster.
Youngevity International, a multilevel marketer of nutritional supplements as well as a bulk coffee roaster, reported big increases in net revenue and gross profit in its second quarter of 2014, driven mostly by organic growth aided by acquisitions.
Survata is 'democratizing' consumer insights, says CEO
Until pretty recently, food marketers looking to test new product ideas, brand names or pack designs could look to friends, family, and colleagues for cheap - though notoriously unreliable - feedback, or expect to spend serious time and money on hiring...
Senoymx says it expects either PepsiCo or flavor house Firmenich to commercialize proprietary sweet taste modifier Sweetmyx S617 in 2014 but is tight-lipped over who will be first to market.
Selling everything from coffee flour to ‘Chimp Food’, egg white chips, artichoke water and kids’ tea, here's FoodNavigator-USA's latest pick of entrepreneurs to watch in the US food and beverage market.
Settlement offers injunctive, but not monetary, relief (Coke required to amend labels but consumers won't get any money)
Coca-Cola has agreed to settle a series of 'copycat' lawsuits accusing it of deceptively marketing Vitaminwater. But the lawsuit that inspired them all - filed by the Center for Science in the Public Interest in 2009 - is still pending, as the...
Nestle USA is poised to launch a 26-serve Nescafe ‘to go’ liquid coffee concentrate that consumers can add to water to create RTD coffee on demand, along the same lines as its Nestea liquid water enhancer.
Vermont AG: 'Natural' labels do not belong on foods made with GMOs
Vermont’s new GMO labeling law (Act 120) does not violate the First Amendment because the disclosures it mandates are “purely factual” and the law “does not require manufacturers to state a particular viewpoint, such as whether GE foods are good or bad”,...
New labels would highlights calories, include 'added sugars'
UPDATED: Significant changes to the Nutrition Facts panel on foods & beverages have been proposed in the US and Canada, with the plan to include ‘added sugars’ tweak rules on dietary fiber labeling, and update the reference values used to calculate...
Keurig Green Mountain said fiscal third-quarter earnings rose 33% on strong sales of coffee machines and K-cup coffee pods, but revenues failed to meet Wall Street’s expectations.
Big interview: Robin White, co-founder of Single Cup Coffee
Two longtime coffee industry veterans who took part in the launch of Keurig K-cups in the late 1990s and watched the subsequent meteoric rise of single-cup coffee brewing say they found a void in the nearly $2 billion market for variety and quality. They...
Bulk coconut importer iTi Tropicals claims that about 15% of the coconut water sold in the US is tainted with unlabeled added sugar, and the firm is calling on retailers and manufacturers to crack down on economically motivated adulteration.
Almond water is made for taste and refreshment, like lemonade or iced tea
Almond water has been a runaway success story for LA-based start-up Victoria’s Kitchen. But not because it's the next big thing in functional beverages. It isn't, says CEO David Meniane, who stresses that his product should not be confused with...
ENERGY GIANT RUMORED TO BE READYING LAUNCHES TO GRAB MORNING, AFTERNOON, EVENING CONSUMPTION
Monster Energy has filed a US trademark for the term Ultra Sunrise and one analyst predicts the name will be used for a CSD that will take on $150m brand Mountain Dew Kickstart.
Red Bull: 'All future claims will be medically and/or scientifically supported'
Red Bull has agreed to pay $13m to resolve a class action lawsuit accusing it of falsely advertising its energy drinks as providing functional benefits above and beyond what might be obtained from “a simple cup of coffee or a caffeine pill”.
This does not prove that stevia isn't ready for prime time, say experts
There are lessons to be learned from Coca-Cola’s abortive attempt to introduce a new ‘natural’ sweetening system to selected Vitaminwater products, say formulation experts. But they are not necessarily about stevia.
'The fans have spoken. We’re changing back to the taste you know and love'
UPDATED: Coca-Cola is reformulating some Vitaminwater products following negative feedback from fans about its new sweetening system (stevia + cane sugar), according to a statement on the brand's website.
Sugar is sugar, say bakers, our bodies don't distinguish between 'naturally occurring' and 'added' varieties
A row is brewing over the merits of including ‘added sugars’ on the Nutrition Facts panel, with critics arguing that our bodies don’t distinguish between ‘naturally occurring’ and ‘added’ sugar - and neither should food labels - and supporters saying...
5-Hour Energy has hit back at a sports science researcher who says there is ‘chasm’ between the claims made by America’s top-selling energy shot and the scientific evidence for its effectiveness.
Public, private, religious, managed, self-operated, primary, secondary, university, trade school. Food manufacturers eyeing the massive school foodservice landscape have to first understand the animal they’re dealing with, according to the latest data...
Flash cooking process helps retain vibrant color, taste & nutrients
A new entrant to the aseptic fruit & veg puree market is hoping to disrupt the category by using a proprietary rapid steam infusion process it claims can produce products of unparalleled quality that retain the color, flavor and nutrient levels of...
FoodNavigator-USA takes you through the latest and greatest in new product launches, from coconut water for kids to Stonyfield's sweet cream that's neither Greek nor yogurt, to Campbell's 200-strong new product portfolio and Jimmy Dean's...
Launching big is not the definitive way to sustainable growth
How many consumer packaged goods that launch in the US today will still be around in two years’ time? The answer is a miserable 15%, according to Nielsen data.
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) on Wednesday introduced a bill that would require a mandatory tax on sugar-sweetened beverages in a contentious move aimed at curbing the “dual” crises of obesity and diabetes.
First there was juice, then there were smoothies, now there is, er, Chimp Food, the brainchild of Florida-based entrepreneur Scott Joseph, who lost 100lbs after eating like a chimp (he ditched meat, dairy & grains and ate nothing but fruits, vegetables,...
IRI Consulting warns that US food and beverage manufacturers risk a significant impact on their profitability when they get sucked into unduly aggressive promotional cycles.
Added sugars account for 14.1% of total energy intakes for Americans
While we tend to assume that fast food outlets (the bottomless soda cup) contribute a disproportionate amount of added sugar to the US diet compared with store-bought groceries, new data shows that the reverse is actually true.
We have become a nation of fitness and nutrition go-getters, as evidenced by the skyrocketing number of fitness and nutrition apps and the mainstreaming of the sports nutrition market.
Just a week after Mexico banned commercials for soda, snacks and confectionery products during cinema showings of children’s movies and during children’s TV programming, Mexican authorities say ads for Nestlé, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Hershey´s and Holanda products...
When 13-year-old acai and coconut water manufacturer Zola decided to revamp its web presence to shift attention toward its growing coconut water line, founder and CEO Chris Cuvelier knew he risked losing some followers in the short term, but the long-term...
Whole Foods' labels are misleading, deceptive, unfair and fraudulent, alleges lawsuit
Whole Foods Market has been targeted in another class action lawsuit alleging that products it labels as ‘all-natural’ are misbranded because they contain “artificial ingredients and flavorings, artificial coloring and chemical preservatives”.
A new mobile app enabling CPG companies to get instant feedback on new product concepts from target consumers while they are grocery shopping will slash the time and money spent on testing new ideas, claims consumer insights expert uSamp.
PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi says the company is positioning itself as the highest growth food and beverage manufacturer in a ‘relatively low growth’ US retail landscape where fresh food is trending strongly.
Odwalla founder: Large companies have to buy innovation
Launching a beverage brand is the easy part. The challenge is growing and sustaining it without running out of cash, steam or patience, delegates were told at the FoodNavigator-USA Beverage Entrepreneurs Forum.
While beverage’s biggest guns have pumped some serious cash into developing ‘mid-calorie’ versions of their iconic brands (Dr Pepper TEN, Pepsi Next, Coca-Cola Life), not everyone is convinced they will deliver the incremental growth to the ailing soda...
The Coca-Cola Company CEO Muhtar Kent says the ‘romance of the smaller package’ is critical to building more romance around brands such as Coke in the US.
Monster Beverage Corporation has moved to quell investor disquiet as a jury trial starts to decide if it is liable for injury suffered by a teen whose mother claims its drinks caused his heart attack.
Find out what's hot and what's next in the beverages aisle
Will tea replace 100% juice in your child's lunchbox? And what's the next $1bn beverage brand? Find out what our panel of beverage entrepreneurs thinks at our free-to-attend online forum kicking off at 11.30am EDT tomorrow.
Mexico announced last week that it was restricting television advertising on high-calorie food and soda in an effort to stem the rising tide of obesity. Registered dietitians weigh in on the impact of the measure, which is the farthest any country has...
Walmart cranberry pomegranate juice is mostly grape & apple juice, says lawsuit
Six weeks after the Supreme Court gave POM Wonderful the green light to sue Coca-Cola over its juice labels, Walmart has been targeted in a consumer class action lawsuit making near-identical allegations.
Vermont has serious concerns over cost of defending GMO labeling law, claim CFS/VPIRG
The Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG) and anti-GMO activist group the Center for Food Safety (CFS) have formally asked for permission to help the state of Vermont defend its new GMO labeling law in the wake of a legal challenge from food...
'WE WILL FIGHT TO DEFEND OURSELVES AGAINST CIVIL INTIMIDATION': 5-HOUR ENERGY
Washington state attorneys insist that 5-Hour Energy wouldn’t work if it wasn’t for its caffeine content in a fierce attack on the credibility of America’s top-selling shot.
FDA proposals to change the way serving sizes are calculated to better reflect real-life eating behavior could encourage some people to eat even more unless the wording is changed or the move is accompanied by strong consumer education, behavioral science...
Not so long ago, Tate & Lyle had the sucralose market to itself. In recent years, however, the Chinese have emerged as serious rivals. But while demand for the zero-calorie sweetener is rising, new capacity in China has been added even more rapidly,...
The FDA’s proposed label changes would draw attention to a lot of issues worrying public health officials—from calories and added sugar to serving sizes and vitamin D. But one nutrient that won’t be mandated on labels, in spite of growing concern over...
