Consumer spending remains strong – for now – despite historic inflation increases, but new data from the Census Bureau released Thursday suggests the gains in grocery last month may not be as significant as they appear and an overall slowdown could be...
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.
Tate & Lyle has expanded production of allulose in a bid to meet surging demand for the rare sugar, which has exploded in popularity following the FDA’s decision to exclude it from the total and added sugars declarations on the Nutrition Facts panel.
Even if the conflict in Ukraine were to end tomorrow, the impact on the global food supply chain could last for months, if not years, say analysts at Mintec, while Rabobank predicts “national average farm prices in the US over the next decade will remain...
Beyond Meat has agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by common stockholders alleging that top executives breached their fiduciary duties in their dealings with former co-packer Don Lee Farms. Company executives named in the complaint do not admit any wrongdoing,...
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...
In the face of ‘unprecedented’ inflation and transportation troubles, Slim Jim and Birds Eye maker Conagra Brands is raising prices – again – but executives are confident that sales, market share and household penetration will remain strong thanks to...
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...
Beyond Meat is rolling out its Beyond Burger and Beyond Meatballs products at approximately 2,000 Rite Aid stores nationwide as the company aims to expand its presence across all retail channels including drugstores.
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...
New chickpea varieties with 75% more protein could transform the legume from a niche to a mainstream player in the plant-based protein arena, says San Francisco-based startup NuCicer, which is also developing varieties with specific functional attributes...
By Jonathan Sharp, CFO, Environmental Litigation Group PC
Last year’s Congressional Subcommittee report alleging 'dangerous' levels of lead, arsenic, mercury, and cadmium in leading baby food brands has brought the issue of heavy metals in foods targeting infants into sharp focus. So what can manufacturers...
The terms ‘prebiotic’ and ‘probiotic’ are appearing on a growing number of food & beverage brands, while another term – ‘postbiotic’ – is also starting to emerge. But food marketers should do their homework before slapping these terms on their wares,...
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...
We are nowhere near on track to keep global warning below 2°C, was the stark conclusion of the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report. But hope was also on offer. FoodNavigator looks at how food system transformation can help mitigate...
The key ingredient in Eat Just’s plant-based egg alternative, mung bean protein, has received approval from the European Commission. The decision ‘opens the door’ to distribution across the bloc, according to Eat Just CEO Josh Tetrick.
In FoodNavigator-USA's latest roundup of new product launches, we include an eclectic mix of new products, from shelf-stable 100% cheese sticks, to chocolate bars featuring 'animal-free' whey protein, to keto crackers made with almond flour,...
A district court in Louisiana has determined that a state law restricting the use of 'meaty' terms on food labels to products derived from slaughtered animals is unconstitutional, in a ruling hailed by Tofurky as "a victory for the entire...
While animal feed and pet food present bigger commercial opportunities for edible insects in the short term, two key European players in the segment - Innovafeed and Ÿnsect, who are both planning large-scale, highly-automated production facilities in...
While plant-based beef patties and grounds, pork sausages and chicken nuggets abound, seafood alternatives are still relatively scare – representing a significant, and fast-growing, opportunity that innovators and investors alike are moving quickly to...
Despite promising test results in small-scale trials last year, the pea-protein-fueled McPlant burger – developed with Beyond Meat – is not setting the world on fire in tests at a broader selection of McDonald’s locations, according to Peter Saleh, managing...
Unilever is piloting new blockchain technology, GreenToken by SAP, in a bid to increase traceability and transparency in the consumer good giant’s palm oil supply chain.
While General Mills is aggressively – and to an extent successfully – tackling supply chain challenges causing shortages of some of its beloved convenience brands, including Pillsbury dough and Totino’s pizza rolls, it likely won’t be able to fully meet...
Boston-based Motif FoodWorks says it is “very confident” it will prevail in its legal spat with Impossible Foods over a new generation of ‘meaty’ flavors produced by precision fermentation.
The EVERY Company has teamed up with upmarket west-coast patisserie brand Chantal Guillon to road test EVERY EggWhite - billed as “the world’s first animal-free egg white” - in a product heavily reliant on the unique functional properties of egg whites:...
US retail sales of frozen meat alternatives dipped -1.7% to $722.8m in the year to February 27, while sales of refrigerated meat alternatives fell -3.9% to $475m over the same period, according to IRI data crunched by 210 Analytics. Cumulatively, the...
A team of scientists have developed a method to effectively produce and extract plant-based oil from a common microalgae that, they claim, could be a ‘healthier and greener’ alternative to palm oil.
Tattooed Chef, a rapidly-growing plant-based frozen foods brand, is entering new categories beyond the frozen foods aisle and into refrigerated snack bars and snacking chips.
Shiru - a startup producing proteins via microbial fermentation - has teamed up with texturizing ingredients specialist CP Kelco to explore label-friendly replacements for methylcellulose and other highly functional ingredients.
After two years of lockdowns and uncertainty during the pandemic, consumers simultaneously are desperate to let loose and enjoy life and to reinstate a sense of self-control – creating a complicated marketing landscape that intelligence experts at Mintel...
While growth in US retail sales of refrigerated plant-based meat has slowed, investors are still pouring large amounts of cash into startups creating alternatives to meat, eggs, and dairy products with plant-based and fermentation-based approaches, and...
Chobani has re-hired Kevin Burns – who served as its president and COO between 2014 and 2016 – as president and COO following the departure of Peter McGuinness.
EPG – a plant-based oil restructured in such a way that virtually none of it is absorbed by the body – has demonstrated intriguing properties in plant-based meat applications, where formulators have struggled to find vegan options that behave like animal...
At a time when plastic packaging is emerging as a top concern among environmentally-conscious consumers, plant-based meat company No Evil Foods' decision to switch from fully compostable packaging to paper cartons with plastic inserts may appear...
If the alt-meat space is getting pretty crowded, there is still only a handful of players in the plant-based egg vertical, which is growing strongly, says Just Egg maker Eat Just, which has seen a significant increase in distribution, with its mung-bean-fueled...
Nature’s Fynd - a startup growing protein-packed food from microbes with a fraction of the environmental footprint of meat or dairy – is launching refrigerated breakfast patties featuring its ‘Fy’ nutritional fungi protein in selected Whole Foods stores...
Louis Dreyfus Company – a leading global agricultural commodity trader with interests in grains and oilseeds, coffee, cotton, juice, rice, sugar, and freight - plans to enter the plant-based protein market later this year.
CPG companies with more diverse leadership and which intentionally engage a consumer base that more accurately reflects the racial composition of the US population are attracting shoppers and growing faster than brands that over-index among white shoppers,...
Third-party meal delivery service DoorDash is debuting its DoorDash Accelerator for Local Goods, a program designed to support local packaged food brands owned by women, BIPOC, immigrant, and transgender entrepreneurs.
DSM is gearing up to launch commercial quantities of upcycled canola protein isolate extracted from Non GMO rapeseed at a new facility in Dieppe, France, later this year, and says it is seeing interest from firms spanning plant-based meat and dairy, to...
By now, we are all familiar with the recent topline 'problem' in retail plant-based meat. The slow-down is visible in Beyond Meat's latest earnings call itself. Foodservice and international sales are driving all of the brand's growth....
Better-for-you frozen foods brand The Real Good Food Company is on course to hit between $140m and $150m in net sales by the end of the year with a long-term goal of becoming a $500m brand, owing to a new production facility coming online this month and...
Relocating current croplands to ‘optimal locations’ - while allowing ecosystems in then-abandoned areas to regenerate - could turn back the clock on carbon emissions, according to a team of international researchers.
Western food companies are responding to the invasion of Ukraine by ramping up support for those facing Russian aggression. But what is their moral obligation when it comes to operations in Russia?
Two more high-profile players in the alt meat space are clashing over IP, with Impossible Foods accusing Motif FoodWorks of infringing a patent it secured in 2020 covering the use of its flagship ‘heme’ ingredient in meat substitutes.
While many consumers may be aware of the drawbacks of a high sodium diet, fewer are actively reducing their sodium intake and believe it is the responsibility of food manufacturers to provide products that are both flavorful and low in sodium, presenting...
Emeryville, CA-based Finless Foods has closed a $34m series B round* to fund pilot-scale production of cell-cultured bluefin tuna, and support the national foodservice launch of its first product: plant-based tuna.
Fat is mission-critical to the appearance, smell, taste, mouthfeel, and texture of meat. And if you want to formulate meat alternatives that look, cook, smell, and taste like the real thing, plant-based fats will only get you so far, claims San Francisco-based...
Kroger has teamed up with Impossible Foods and Denver-based Custom Made Meals, which manufactures entrees and appetizers for Kroger’s Home Chef brand, to develop plant-based protein products, although it has not provided details about the scope of the...
While scientists are still unlocking the secrets of the gut microbiome, consumers increasingly understand that what we feed the armies of microbes that line our digestive tracts may be intimately connected to our physical – and mental - wellbeing. So...
![Kathryn Cook: 'We’re increasing protein [from 20%] to 35% by dry weight, and we think we can drive that even higher in future generations...' Image credit: NuCicer](/var/wrbm_gb_food_pharma/storage/images/_aliases/news_teaser_medium/publications/food-beverage-nutrition/foodnavigator-usa.com/article/2022/04/06/new-varieties-with-75-more-protein-could-catapult-chickpea-from-niche-to-mainstream-player-in-plant-protein-arena-says-nucicer/15306706-1-eng-GB/New-varieties-with-75-more-protein-could-catapult-chickpea-from-niche-to-mainstream-player-in-plant-protein-arena-says-NuCicer.jpg)
![Yulin Lu: 'Fat is such a clear pain point [for meat and dairy alternatives...]' Image credit: Yali Bio](/var/wrbm_gb_food_pharma/storage/images/_aliases/news_teaser_medium/publications/food-beverage-nutrition/foodnavigator-usa.com/article/2022/03/08/it-s-such-a-clear-pain-point-for-formulators-yali-bio-joins-race-to-create-more-animal-like-fats-in-meat-dairy-alternatives/13301626-2-eng-GB/It-s-such-a-clear-pain-point-for-formulators-Yali-Bio-joins-race-to-create-more-animal-like-fats-in-meat-dairy-alternatives.jpg)
