While consumers often look to the sweet bakery category for sugary fixes and chocolatey crunches, CPG companies might have an opportunity to innovate a new — healthier — path forward for the space, according to a recent survey and analysis from food ingredient...
Alongside falling sales, volume and units, plant-based meat has slid into the trough of despair, also known as valley of disillusionment or sorrow, and while it is unclear if the category has hit bottom yet, many stakeholders already are looking for a...
CEO of Jambar Jennifer Maxwell knows a thing or two about launching energy bar brands, having been one of the co-founders of PowerBar, which started the category almost 40 years ago. As she looks to expand category newcomer Jambar’s footprint in 2023,...
FDA’s long-awaited guidance for limiting lead concentrations in packaged food for babies and toddlers published yesterday estimates a reduced exposure risk upwards of 27%, but according to some stakeholders this isn’t high enough.
By Soup-To-Nuts Podcast: Emerging demand for positive nutrition must balance functional benefits, taste, sustainability and convenience
Born out of the pandemic when product availability was unpredictable or limited and when a premium was placed on immunity-boosting, consumers in 2023 increasingly are seeking positive nutrition – both for themselves but also for the planet and workers...
Monster Beverage Corporation executives predict that sales growth across its energy drink portfolio will pick up and continue to outpace overall category growth in the coming months following a long-delayed and category-leading price increase that went...
Taste may be considered king by most food and beverage makers, but at Unilever it no longer reigns supreme after the CPG giant adopted a new ‘holistically superior’ product testing framework and ‘boldly healthier’ food commitments for 2025 – a move that...
Working from a foundational belief that the era of ‘disruption’ is dead, an industry veteran wants to usher in a new age in which start-ups focus on “adding to everything” with the launch of The Ryl Company and a line of ready-to-drink tea that offers...
Massachusetts-based startup Superfrau is targeting the emerging functional soda category with a vitamin and mineral packed sparkling beverage made from one core ingredient: upcycled liquid whey from Greek yogurt production.
While several firms are growing fungi in fermentation tanks to make meat analogs, Israeli startup Kinoko is ditching the stainless steel vessels, adding fungi strains to legumes and grains in stacked trays, and letting them work their magic in a solid...
Soup season is in full swing as temperatures across the country drop and cold and flu cases rise. But staying warm and reinforcing their reserves when sick aren’t the only reasons sales of soup are up significantly this year over last, according to new...
In part three of our gallery of highlights from FoodNavigator-USA's recent trip to Israel, we profile startups exploring everything from high-tech indoor vanilla cultivation to the manufacture of no-sugar-added snack bars using compression and ultrasonic...
The “three-headed monster” of rising inflation, product shortages and labor challenges continues to wreak havoc across the food industry with little sign of relief on the horizon – prompting many consumers to shift their shopping habits and forcing manufacturers...
Sales of non-dairy yogurt – like those of most plant-based products – have sharply declined in the past year, but a few bright spots revealed by consumer research and recent innovations by players in the space suggest the category could turn around with...
Moving on from the comfort and nostalgic flavors that grounded consumers during the pandemic, consumer interest in more diverse and unexpected flavors within dessert categories is on the rise, according to consumer research from T. Hasegawa.
Torr FoodTech - an Israeli startup deploying an intriguing new approach to creating snack bars by deploying pressure and ultrasonic energy instead of sugary binders to ‘weld’ natural ingredients together - has raised $12m in a series A round as it expands...
Tate & Lyle has expanded its sweeteners toolbox with ERYTESSE erythritol, which provides 70% of the sweetness of sucrose, a similar temporal profile, and zero calories.
While most adults are aware of the importance of fruits and vegetables in their diets, many individuals overestimate the quality of their daily diets, new research from the American Heart Association has found.
Instead of coffee beans, Minus Coffee is taking ingredients such as chicory root, dates, and lentils, which undergo a fermentation process that its founder claims precisely replicates the taste and aroma of cold brew coffee, but in a much more sustainable...
Researchers have uncovered a way to create a fat-free version of whipped cream using lactic acid instead of milk fat while maintaining a firm whipped consistency and texture.
Plant-based foods and beverages co-manufacturer SunOpta continues to see strong growth across its plant-based milks portfolio especially in oatmilk, which is growing at more than twice the rate of the broader oatmilk segment.
Square Roots is expanding its indoor farming footprint of teched-out converted shipping containers by co-locating one of its new farms at grocery wholesaler UNFI's distribution center near the Twin Cities where frigid winters reduce access to fresh,...
Having outgrown its three facilities in Colorado, Bobo's is moving into its two-years-in-the-making 'super bakery' which will give it enough capacity to triple its output of bars and put it on track to eclipse $100m in revenue next year.
Ingredion has completed one-third of its planned $160m capital investment into expanding capacity for its clean label specialty starches to improve its operational flexibility amid ongoing supply chain disruptions.
Despite efforts to brand fruit ‘as nature’s candy,’ celebrity endorsements by the likes of Jessica Alba designed to make vegetables ‘sexy,’ and many retailers selling fresh produce at a loss to improve access and drive foot traffic – the vast majority...
Food tech startup Better Juice has opened its first full-scale manufacturing plant to enable commercial production of its patented sugar reduction technology, which can reduce sugar content in juice products by 30-80%.
Contrary to the growing chorus of critics pigeonholing ultra-processed packaged food as innately unhealthy for people and the planet, a group of food system and nutrition experts gathered by Clif Bar & Co. argue some could play a “crucial” role in...
Chilled drinkable soup had a moment five to six years ago with a flurry of brands entering the niche segment attracting excited investors who backed brands positioning themselves as a fresh meal on the go that consumers could drink like a juice. But what’s...
While sales of plant-based products across the board continue to slide, consumer data from Evergi shows at least one segment is bucking the trend – frozen meals and bowls – an area into which the fast-growing vegan brand Strong Roots is eagerly expanding...
San Diego-based cell-cultured seafood company BlueNalu has set up a scientific advisory board bringing together experts in consumer research, sensory science, product development, bio-engineering, and systems biology to accelerate its commercialization...
Suja Life's recent acquisition of cold-pressed juices shots brand Vive Organic brings together the No. 1 and No. 2 brands in the category to accelerate and scale the still-niche wellness shots segment.
Mondelēz International is investing an additional $600m by 2030 in its cocoa sustainability program, Cocoa Life, for a total investment of $1bn since the start of the program 10 years ago.
Monk fruit, a high-intensity sweetener, is gaining popularity across premium applications as a clean-label alternative that blends well with others. While it costs more than stevia, tech innovations may bring prices down.
Indoor farming company Local Bounti has secured a $23.3m private investment in public equity (PIPE) investment to scale up its proprietary Stack & Flow Technology, which the company argues leads to improved superior unit economics.
SPINS data shared with FoodNavigator-USA ahead of our Futureproofing the Food System virtual summit (Nov 15-17) shows a mixed picture for US retail sales of plant-based cheese, with overall dollar sales down -2.3% to $218.94m and unit sales down -3.6%...
Researchers are calling on clinicians and the healthcare system to screen for food insecurity and better promote food access programs after discovering that Americans with limited or uncertain access to adequate food is on the rise and they are more likely...
The Tufts University Center for Cellular Agriculture (TUCCA) has launched a new consortium of industry and nonprofit members to support research and development in the burgeoning field of cellular agriculture.
Seen as the economical and convenient option for preparing meals at home during the height of the pandemic, the affordability of frozen food has slipped with the average per unit price up 17% vs. one year ago. But consumers still believe it provides good...
Kraft Heinz is making progress towards several of its environmental and sustainability goals including cutting the amount of waste sent to landfill by 15% in 2021 and converting 84% of its global packaging portfolio to fully recyclable materials.
The baby food landscape has changed drastically in recent years with an emphasis on fresh products and a flurry of DTC brands coming to market. So which trends present the biggest growth opportunities for brands and manufacturers?
Organic sales continue to reach unprecedented highs as consumers gravitate to options they perceive as healthier for them and the planet, but the segment faces significant headwinds that are slowing growth and will demand ongoing flexibility, innovation...
While consumers today are exploring more money-saving strategies such as choosing lower-cost items and cooking from scratch, their personal values around health and well-being and the planet have not wavered, according to research from Innova Market Insights.
Indoor farming company Revol Greens is doubling its romaine lettuce production footprint by 2023, supported by its recent expansion at its Texas growing facility, making it the largest greenhouse lettuce grower in North America.
Researchers at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) have found eight new sweetness-enhancing compounds in 11 citrus cultivars that could offer improved palatability and lower sugar content in food and beverage...
Natural Products Expo East may not be as big as its West Coast counterpart, but the 18,500 registered attendees and more than 1,200 exhibitors who convened in Philadelphia earlier this month for the annual conference were just as enthusiastic and the...
