Being a minnow in a pool of sharks is both scary and exhilarating, admit the entrepreneurs behind caffeinated fruit juice Frava. But “in the worst case scenario, it’ll make the subject of a good business school essay” (presumably about biting off more...
Despite Coke’s worrying soda sales slide, CEO Muhtar Kent revealed yesterday that not-from-concentrate juice brand Simply Orange brand bucked broader category declines to grow double digit in the US last year.
If you want to see what success looks like in US grocery retailing, look no further than Trader Joe’s. Its unique combination of affordable prices, innovative private label items and gourmet, organic, and natural foods have helped drive sales per square...
Managing explosive growth is not a problem most entrepreneurs have to worry about. Most of them are too busy burning money, and wondering what on earth motivated them to give up the day job to compete for shelf-space with the likes of PepsiCo and Kellogg...
“Multiple leading companies” are looking for ingredients or foods that have a positive effect on the mind, and nutrients and materials used in Chinese medicine are at the top of their shopping list, according to a new posting on open innovation site NineSights.
BUT BONNIE HERZOG SAYS PEPSICO COULD BE ON RECOVERY ROAD
US beverage analyst Bonnie Herzog says she is ‘increasingly concerned’ about The Coca-Cola Company’s ability to reach its 2020 vision due to a US soda slowdown and global instability.
Peruviuan cuisine is a hot culinary trend and a “powerful funnel for bringing resurgent South American cuisine into the US food retail and foodservice market”, according to a new report from Packaged Facts.
There’s a reason why soda is generally sweet and comes in three flavors (cola, lemon & lime and root beer), because that’s what sells, right? Wrong, says DRY Soda founder and CEO Sharelle Klaus, whose best-selling flavors include lavender, rhubarb...
The FDA’s March 5 decision to re-open comments on its 2009 draft guidance on ‘evaporated cane juice’ (ECJ) may well kill off most ECJ-related lawsuits, or at least kick them into the long grass, say legal experts. But food and beverage firms should wait...
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a warning letter to Dewmar International BMC Inc., alleging that despite labeling its Lean Slow Motion…Potion beverage as a dietary supplement, the manufacturer is representing it as a conventional food...
San Diego-based flavor innovator Senomyx has entered into a collaborative agreement with PepsiCo to identify flavors with "modifying properties intended to restore the desired salty taste in products with reduced salt".
Talking Rain’s Sparkling Ice brand plugs a market gap that Pepsi and Coca-Cola missed, enabling $350m in annual sales to tot up with little to no competition, its CEO says.
Another class action lawsuit taking issue with the food industry’s use of the phrase ‘evaporated cane juice’ (which plaintiffs argue is just plain old sugar and should be described as such) has been impacted by the FDA's decision to look again at...
The creators of a semisweet cola believe that their healthier approach to indulgence is just the type of disruptive jolt the soda industry needs to get out of its so-called funk.
Beverage brands can blur the lines both within the category and steal outside cues to create novel products such as beer-flavored ice cream that arrest the consumer’s attention, according to Mintel.
The energy drinks market has become more segmented in recent years, but relentlessly negative PR, a flurry of lawsuits and an FDA-probe have not dampened consumers’ enthusiasm for the original caffeine-fuelled formulas, says one beverage industry veteran.
As the focus has switched from fat to sugar as public enemy #1 in the battle against obesity and diabetes, juice - once promoted as a healthy alternative to soda - has been unfairly caught in the crossfire, claim manufacturers.
PepsiCo was the biggest loser in US carbonated soft drinks in 2013, according to Beverage Digest, with worrying volume and market share loss data contrasting sharply with Monster’s stellar sales.
SIG Combibloc is predicting a bright future for the dairy drink with bits category in Brazil following the launch of the latest "drinksplus product" - chocolate milk containing flakes of coconut.
When Winder Farms CEO Mike Dutton first started tapping private equity firms for cash to support his online grocery shopping business, memories of Webvan (which went bankrupt in 2001) were still fresh, and more than a few doors were slammed in his face...
First Lady Michelle Obama has called it “liquid sugar” and the World Health Organization warns that much of our sugar intake is “hidden” in processed food and beverages such as soda (a 12-ounce can contains 10 teaspoons). As public health officials continue...
A class action lawsuit accusing Coca-Cola subsidiary Odwalla of misleading consumers and misbranding its products by using the term ‘evaporated cane juice’ (ECJ) on labels has been put on ice by a California judge following the FDA's decision to...
Attending a series of sessions on sugar reduction during the Institute of Food Technologists’ (IFT) 2014 Wellness conference, a few common themes kept resurfacing: that obesity remains a big problem, and that—like it or not—the sugar industry is assuming...
Diet soda sales remain in a funk according to the latest Nielsen data, with dollar sales in the four weeks to March 15 plunging 7.3%. Regular soda fared somewhat better (+ 0.6%), while energy drinks (+8.3%) and sparkling water (+26.2%) continued to steam...
Rates of type two diabetes have rocketed in recent years, with poor diet and a lack of exercise largely to blame. But as dietary guidelines for people with diabetes are the same as for the general population, and the FDA doesn't think diabetics need...
Sometimes it’s hard to think inventively about the ingredient that comprises half the ubiquitous peanut butter and jelly sandwich or is passed to us in small pouches on most airplane rides. But from flours and spreads to use as a legume, the potential...
Consumers like the delivery of omega-3 fatty acids in a liquid, and many innovative products are already on shelves, but what technology is being used, what are the challenges, and where are the next opportunities coming from?
'The first such patented drinks ever been made in the world': Hydro One CEO Sammy Nasrollahi
Hydro One Beverages has won a US patent for healthy soft drinks line REVd that uses a special cinnamon extract to tackle problems associated with high blood sugar such as diabetes and hyperglycemia.
Leading stevia supplier PureCircle posted a (much reduced) net loss of $1.9m in the six months to Dec 31, 2013, while sales surged 32% to $34.9m over the same period. (In the same period in 2012, net losses were $6.9m.)
The manufacturer of a ready-to-drink coffee beverage line looks to snag some market share from category-leading Starbucks with a cold brewed line that’s more about the flavor of coffee than masking it with milk and sweeteners.
Diageo has hit back at Brown-Forman in an acrimonious dispute over the designation of ‘Tennessee Whiskey’ claiming its ‘Jack Daniel’s recipe law’ stifles innovation.
An all-natural fermentation process using mushrooms to remove bitter and acidic qualities from food ingredients created by food technology firm MycoTechnology Inc. claims it will revolutionize the coffee and chocolate markets.
By ‘Whatever happened to my beverage rock ‘n roll?'
PepsiCo must return to its roots as a ‘lean, hard-hitting’ $30bn+ revenue beverage business under standalone management as the current strategy risks destroying its North American arm, Nelson Peltz warns.
If it’s in the natural channel today, it could be in food, drug and mass merchandise stores tomorrow, so food and beverage trend-spotters were out in force at the Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim on March 6-9.
Flavor expert Senomyx - which is collaborating with PepsiCo over sweet taste modifier Sweetmyx (S617) - has been rapped over the knuckles by the FDA for implying that the agency had approved (ie. sent a letter of ‘no objection’ about) its GRAS determination...
Sambazon - the firm that made açai a household name in the US - has donated $50,000 to Whole Planet Foundation to help fund microcredit for poverty alleviation worldwide.
Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) plans to move into full-commercial scale production of CLARISOY - the ‘invisible’ soy protein developed by plant protein pioneer Burcon.
It’s been gracing food labels for years, but more recently, it’s also prompted a tsunami of civil litigation against firms from Chobani to Trader Joe’s. So what exactly is ‘evaporated cane juice’ (ECJ), and does the name accurately reflect what it actually...
It’s 70 degrees, and there are a lot of free snacks, so the FoodNavigator-USA team did the decent thing and headed to Anaheim to bring you the highlights from the nation’s biggest natural products show: Natural Products Expo West…
The word ‘game-changer’ is used so liberally these days that Cargill has not given in to the temptation to employ it here. But ViaTech - its new range of stevia-based sweeteners - opens up completely new territory for food and beverage formulators, enabling...
Activist group GMO Inside has turned its attention towards Starbucks in the latest phase of its campaign to persuade big brands to move away from GMOs.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has again urged the FDA to come up with its own mandatory front-of-pack nutrition labeling system and “ignore” the industry-backed, voluntary ‘Facts up Front’ scheme.
SodaStream has signed a exclusive deal with Sunny Delight that allows the controversial Israeli firm to add its juice-based drinks to its home carbonation platform.
Check out who’s moving onwards and upwards as we head into spring with the latest FoodNavigator-USA round-up of movers and shakers in the food industry.
By Winnie Byanyima, executive director, Oxfam International
Food and drink companies can have a big influence over sustainability and ethical issues in their supply chains - and have the power to change them rapidly. One year on from Oxfam's first Behind the Brands sustainability scorecard, nine of the ten...
