While consumers may be searching for ways to reduce their sugar intake, products that provide a sense of sweetness are still in high-demand, positioning certain natural sweeteners for continued success, says SPINS.
Despite skyrocketing inflation that reached a 40-plus year high of 8.5% for all goods year-over-year in March, and ongoing supply chain challenges that are driving up production costs and out-of-stocks, US consumers continue to spend what it takes to...
“Maligning plant-based meats and milks because of the processing they undergo is nutritionally unjustified and counterproductive to achieving the health and environmental goals of the World Health Organization,” claims one academic who has been studying...
As many consumers take note of their sugar consumption and weigh different sweetener options from zero-calorie stevia and monk fruit to low-glycemic alternatives such as agave and coconut sugar, where does centuries-old honey land on the spectrum of consideration?...
Direct-to-consumer online grocer Misfits Market has launched its own private label offering of 'Odds & Ends' pantry staples specifically designed to address certain supply chain inefficiencies around sourcing, food waste, and elevated pricing,...
ADM has made a $300m investment to expand existing production capabilities of its soy protein concentrate and open a new protein innovation center in Decatur, Illinois.
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.
Popchips has unveiled a new look and two new flavors - Fiery Buffalo and Fully Loaded – that it says will help the ‘popped, never fried’ brand showcase its strong taste and ‘crave-worthy’ credentials. It has also ditched some brand extensions to focus...
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.
The high-profile pricing dispute between the pair has been resolved, but has prompted the need for a code of conduct that would implement new rules of engagement for suppliers and grocers.
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...
Mars Wrigley is investing $175m into expanding its Topeka, Kansas, facility where the company produces its M&M's Peanut, Twix, Snickers, Milky Way and 3 Musketeers product lines.
When it comes to eating seaweed, most Americans likely think about snacking on toasted sheets of nori, the wrapper around their sushi, or maybe a bright and briny salad at a restaurant, but a handful of startups cultivating fresh seaweed and kelp at scale...
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...
New research from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health has found that not all fiber is created equal when it comes to lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and inflammation.
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,...
Snacking behaviors evolved in a few key ways over the past few years as consumers balanced familiarity with health and wellness and are now looking to expand and diversify their snacking routines, says Brigette Wolf, VP, global head of SnackFutures at...
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...
Recently strengthened self-regulatory efforts to curb marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages to children still do not go far enough to “meaningfully protect” children, argue public health advocates after new analysis reveals “loopholes” in the Children’s...
Adoption of grocery e-commerce and delivery continues to increase even as the pandemic has lapped its two-year mark and foot traffic at grocery stores has picked back up, noted 1010 data which tracked the growth of Instacart over the past two years (2019-2021).
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,...
Colorado-based MycoTechnology – which is building a functional ingredients platform utilizing mycelium, the filament-like roots of mushrooms - has raised $85m in a series E* round (taking its total funding to $200m) that will help it expand its portfolio...
“We don’t talk too much about product benefits in our marketing... that comes later,” observes Jake Karls, co-founder at Montreal-based ‘functional chocolate’ startup Mid-Day Squares. “What we think about, is how do we interrupt your day on your phone?”
By replacing the shrink wrap around multipacks of canned tuna with paperboard cartons, The Bumble Bee Seafood Company not only achieved an ambitious sustainability goal ahead of schedule, but it also unlocked unexpected marketing, retail and consumer...
Doolies – the latest innovation to emerge from General Mills’ G-Works corporate venture studio – is a fruit- and fiber-packed snack for young kids designed to “help your kid go #2 with ease.”
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...
From reishi to lion’s mane, ‘medicinal’ mushrooms are gaining traction in foods and beverages, buoyed by growing interest in adaptogens and immunity, says Four Sigmatic CEO Tero Isokauppila, who caught up with FoodNavigator-USA at the Natural Products...
Above Food has been quietly building a plant-based foods portfolio which spans plant-based seafood to plant-based cheese, and its market presence is about to explode with the unveiling of a disruptive, more sustainable, oat processing technology that...
With fresh leadership and a portfolio intended to address a consumer's every need state, Laird Superfood is on a strong path towards significant long-term growth and profitability, said the company's new president and CEO Jason Vieth at the...
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.
As the line between functional and fun blurs, foods and beverages no longer need to fit neatly into the “healthy” or “treat” categories – they can simultaneously offer the lifestyle and health benefits consumers want and serve as the rewards they crave,...
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...
Worth an estimated $1.94b globally in 2020 and slated to grow at a compound annual rate of 17.7%, according to Research & Markets data*, the plant-based yogurt category is hitting its stride, even as manufacturers struggle to balance nutrition, mouthfeel...
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:...
The first product to emerge from the El Segundo-based ‘PLANeT Partnership’ joint venture between Beyond Meat and PepsiCo is a plant-based jerky, rolling out to stores nationwide across multiple channels this month.
Health and wellness positioned products may account for only a small portion of the food and beverage industry’s overall dollar share, but they are disproportionately driving dollar growth alongside organic, which often outpaced its conventional counterparts...
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.
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...
Despite efforts in recent years to disrupt the roughly $5b fruit snack market with better-for-you options made with more, whole or only fruit, the category remains dominated by legacy products high in added sugars and fillers and low in nutritional value...
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.
With consumers placing more weight on the type and amount of fat in packaged food when selecting purchases, a group of five better-for-you brands are teaming up to ensure shoppers understand key nutritional differences between oils and how they are processed....
Ten years after its debut, upcycling pioneer Barnana continues to push the boundaries of would-be wasted bananas and disprove naysayers with a trio of diverse, savory snacks launched in as many years while simultaneously navigating the uncertainty of...
From a flurry of keto snacks and functional-but-fun beverages, to firms making more proactive claims about their impact (or lack thereof) on the environment, check out our first trendspotting gallery from the Natural Products Expo West show in Anaheim,...
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,...