Hidden Valley Ranch draws in Gen Z home cooks with NYC pop-up
Turning real estate constraints into real brand estate
Prepared foods
From shelf to chef: McCormick’s Gourmet Collection redesign stirs purchase intent
Early retail enthusiasm and consumer testing suggest McCormick’s premium pivot could spice up category growth well into 2026
The top 100 hottest global F&B start-ups
Exclusive data analysis carried out by FutureBridge on behalf of Food Manufacture has identified the top 100 hottest food and drink start-ups worldwide.
What’s popular this Thanksgiving? Brining, baking and brand buzz
From budget-friendly feasts to playful twists, brands are blending affordability, nostalgia and creativity to win over holiday hosts
AI platform Keychain raises $10M to help retailers speed private-label product launches
The funding backs Keychain360, a new operating system designed to cut product launch time by up to 30% and streamline sourcing, compliance and vendor management for retailers
Startup Spotlight
Yough! scales gut-friendly frozen pizza with clean ingredients and specialty retail strategy
From Greek yogurt crust to store shelves, Yough! is navigating the hurdles of scaling a healthier frozen pizza
Saffron Road’s seed oil-free certification aims to ‘level up’ frozen aisle
Frozen entrée manufacturer Saffron Road expands its clean label positioning with its Seed Oil Free certification, a move that reflects both evolving consumer awareness and the brand’s long-term strategy around ingredient transparency
Non-UPF Verified debuts standard for CPG brands
The standard includes ingredient criteria and processing intensity that align with nutrition research and food system realities
Protein, please: NPD with real muscle
Protein’s still flexing hard, but it’s left the gym and hit the grocery aisle
Instacart’s 2025 health policy agenda signals new opportunities for CPG brands
Grocery delivery service Instacart’s renewed policy agenda isn’t just a roadmap for public health – it’s a signal to CPG brands that the future of grocery is increasingly digital, nutrition-driven and integrated with healthcare
California’s ultra-processed food ban could reshape school meals and national policy
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a landmark bill yesterday requiring the state to define UPF and eliminate the ‘most harmful’ ones from school meals over the next 10 years – a decisive action in sharp contrast to national efforts and political MAHA rhetoric
Video
NotCo on boosting F&B innovation in challenging times
Food and beverage is ripping up the rule book to innovate for the future
Whole Foods Market shoppers are changing – here is what it means for brands
A senior leader at Whole Foods Market shares how the retailer’s shopper demographics and psychographics are evolving – from lapsed holiday buyers to aspirational Gen Z – and what that means for product placement and marketing opportunities
Purged NIH scientist: America sees historic reduction in biomedical research support
Kevin Hall, a former senior investigator at NIH, says MAHA children’s report fails to address ultra-processed food threat
Kraft Heinz split: What happens now?
Kraft Heinz is officially splitting into two companies. What does this mean for its iconic brands, shareholders, and the future of the food industry?
Sam’s Club takes a slice of the pizza business with online sales growth
The warehouse club is growing its store count along with its prepared food offerings
Unilever: 4 key focus areas for strategy
The CPG giant is focused on performance, core brands and embracing the new
Sustainable September
Compostable packaging gains ground: What CPGs should know about PHA
Innovations in compostable packaging are moving towards a commercial reality, and CPG brands that engage early with PHA solutions will be better positioned to meet sustainability and compliance demands
Top food and beverage disruptions in 2025
From labour shortages to climate chaos, the food and beverage industry is fighting fires on all fronts
Rethinking the frozen aisle: packaging, claims and clean label trends in global cuisine
Saffron Road’s brand refresh highlights global flavor, compostable trays and a strategic approach to on-pack claims
Health, convenience and family meals are shaping US grocery shopping in 2025
Health, digital discovery and family meals are rewriting the grocery playbook for 2025
News Bites
From deregulation to reformulation: MAHA draft, consumer trends and California’s UPF ban in schools
From Washington’s deregulatory MAHA draft to consumers reshaping shopping habits and California move to curb ultra-processed foods in schools, this week brought pivotal shifts for food and beverage stakeholders
Kraft Heinz rumoured split: Lessons for Big Food
Industry insiders say troubled merger is a cautionary tale to brands chasing scale over strategy
More trips, tighter budgets: How is inflation influencing grocery shoppers?
Circana sales data from July reveals US consumers are buying groceries more often, but where they shop and what they buy is shifting – with winners and losers emerging across bakery, protein and frozen
Startup Spotlight
Salad Sprinkles takes aim at ‘big crouton,’ expands from DTC to retail
Salad Sprinkles’ gluten-free, rice-flour topping has gone from TikTok virality to retail shelves, backed by a lean startup strategy and plans for retail expansion
Back-to-school lunch trends: Balancing nutrition and budgets
With grocery prices up 23% from five years ago, many caregivers are wondering what to feed their kids for lunch - and how to pay for it - as they return to school
Top proteins trends in 2025: From cell cultivated to plant-based
A deep dive into the consumer shifts, ingredient innovations and market opportunities redefining the global protein landscape
Kroger pilots with food waste reduction app to tackle shrink and affordability
Flashfood’s partnership with Kroger tests how the model performs in a real-world mix of store formats and shopper needs
Summer Fancy Food Show
Azabu Foods puts umami front and center with debut condiment
The startup is taking a measured approach with its globally inspired Umami Everything sauce, soft launching in select markets to ensure production keeps pace with growing demand
IFT FIRST 2025
Fermentation x flavor: Ajinomoto Health & Nutrition’s new tomato flavor tackles cost, supply and clean label challenges
Ajinomoto Health & Nutrition is betting that fermentation – and a more transparent, science-forward narrative around natural flavor technologies – will help close the gap between consumer perception, cost feasibility and functional performance
Summer Fancy Food Show
5 macro trends shaping specialty food retail
National distributor Kehe spotlighted five emerging macro trends that reflect how consumers are redefining health, flavor and value in the specialty food space
Gen Z ‘fakeaways’ and other demographic responses to reduced grocery budget
For grocers, Gen Z’s tightened purse strings may mean offering more convenient and helpful solutions for their at-home cooking
Kraft Heinz split rumours intensify
Bond markets and Buffet fuel spin-off story validity
Summer Fancy Food Show
Noodles and pasta get an upgrade in the frozen, fresh and packaged aisles
From frozen ramen and regional Italian specialties to cheese-laced Korean noodles, brands are finding new ways to stand out in the category across retail
Kraft Heinz reportedly preparing to split
Kraft Heinz eyes $20bn split as demerger trend spreads across food and beverage
Tariffs topple another CPG giant: Conagra bows under soaring inflation and falling consumer sentiment
Tariffs, combined with intensifying inflation, plummeting consumer sentiment and renewed supply chain snarls wiped out gains meticulously rebuilt by Conagra Brands in the first half of the year, causing the maker of iconic brands like Pam, Reddi-wip and...
Summer Fancy Food Show
How condiment makers are scaling flavor and rethinking the sauce aisle
Specialty sauce brands are no longer simply pushing Scoville levels – they are telling sourcing stories, building in-house capacity and tuning into regional palates to shake up sleepier aspects of the category
5 game-changing retail trends brands and retailers can’t ignore
Retailers must embrace omnichannel strategies to thrive in an evolving landscape
Startup Spotlight
When life gives you peppers: WIPS turns a family recipe into a scalable brand
The startup brings generations-old family recipes of West Indies hot sauce to shelves with support from the entrepreneurial community
Tariffs reshape food & drink M&A: Key trends in 2025
Food and beverage M&A activity is being reshaped by global tariff changes and shifting buyer strategies
Mealogic’s white labeled meal programs offer ‘convenient compliance’ for healthcare and wellness brands
The food delivery program aims to expand its personalized and diet-compliant meals using local chefs across the US
Little Spoon and Sauz collaboration showcases value-led innovation in kids’ meals
By bringing a trusted adult brand into a kid-focused format, the partnership highlights how emerging food brands can collaborate creatively to expand audience reach, reinforce values and create lasting impressions with new consumers
FDA moves shaping US food so far in 2025
From AI-powered inspections to bold regulatory shifts on dyes and sugar, FDA has made waves in 2025. Here are the most impactful stories shaping the future of food regulation
Eat Happy Kitchen taps owned channels to accelerate retail growth
The company leveraged Founder Anna Vocino’s podcast and cookbook audience, clean-label products and Startup CPG momentum to expand into 479 more Kroger banner stores
Pressure points: How policy, pricing and preference are reshaping food
Food and beverage continues to face complex challenges driven by economic, policy and consumer shifts
Crossing into other categories? Co-branding may be an answer
Co-branded products expand both brands’ audiences, tap into new categories and promote aligned values
Could processing actually make plant-based foods healthier?
Scientists discover potential health benefits to processing in plant-based products
Brand Alchemy
Walmart Unlimited’s gamified shopping brings products to consumer IRL
The partnership between Walmart and gaming platform Spatial meets gamers in the digital world while shortening the distance between concept and commerce
Future Food-Tech San Francisco
Nutritious and convenient: The protein-fortified noodle brand with a domestic supply chain
Borealis Foods’ protein and fiber-enriched ramen noodles tap into Gen Z preferences for flavorful and affordable instant meals fueled by a US-based vertically integrated supply chain.
Kraft Heinz hit by tariff volatility as sales slide and forecasts cut
The Heinz Tomato Ketchup maker is facing a turbulent market, with sales and volumes plunging