If you look at the ingredients lists of most plant-based burgers, they’re not wildly different – a combination of extruded plant proteins, hard and liquid fats, natural flavors, yeast, methylcellulose, starch, seasonings and perhaps added vitamins and...
Agtech company AppHarvest has secured a $91m financing arrangement with sustainably-focused investment firm Equilibrium Capital to fuel the future construction of 12 high-tech indoor farms by 2025.
While the alternative protein category is far from saturated and there is plenty of runway for innovation, investors predict a shaking out of players is on the horizon, and they say the companies that remain in the game will be those that move beyond...
The pandemic prompted the first positive growth in US retail volumes of fluid dairy milk for years (+2.1% in 2020). However, a corresponding drop in away-from-home consumption meant overall volumes were flat (-0.1%) in 2020 and are predicted to drop -4.5%...
While a recent probe into Oatly’s accounting practices and a flood of tech money going into food has raised questions about valuations in the space, zero-sugar soda brand Zevia has a solid track record of growth, a clear consumer proposition (great taste,...
Shares in stevia-sweetened zero-calorie beverage brand Zevia – which first hit the market in 2007 – started trading on the New York Stock Exchange this morning (ticker symbol ZVIA).
Plant-based brand Crafty Counter, best-known for its frozen lentil- and bean-based bites – has developed what it claims is an industry first: ready-to-eat plant-based boiled eggs, which it hopes to launch late this year or early next year.
Sensient Technologies has acquired the assets of New Jersey-based Flavor Solutions, a custom product and flavor development company serving the food, beverage, and nutraceutical industries. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The Good Crisp Company is eyeing up the growing market opportunity for snacks with immune support benefits with the recent launch of its better-for-you cheese balls featuring Kerry's Wellmune ingredient.
Ultra-processed foods, such as packaged baked goods, sugary cereals and ready-to-eat meals with food additives and high levels of added sugar, fat and salt, but low levels of vitamins and fiber, are in the spotlight again after research published this...
Suja Juice, which helped mainstream the cold-pressed juice category, has been acquired by private equity firm Paine Schwartz Partners for an undisclosed sum, following a year of "unprecedented revenue and profit."
Wicked Kitchen – a plant-based brand developed by chefs and mushroom enthusiasts Derek and Chad Sarno that has been a hit in the UK – is hoping to make a bigger splash this side of the Atlantic after securing $14m in a Series A round co-led by Unovis...
Childhood nutrition giant Gerber is teaming with the Rodale Institute and Michigan State University to test whether more sustainably grown food is not only better for the earth, but also for children, as part of an ambitious, multi-prong commitment to...
Oregon-based Honey Mama's and its truffle-like chilled cocoa bars made from five organic whole food ingredients is entering Whole Foods stores nationwide, where the brand is aiming to bridge the gap between the chocolate and wellness bar categories....
Despite overall declines of the snack and nutrition bar category over the past year, NuSkool Snacks (formerly MCTco) saw demand for its brand – and other low-sugar bar products like it increase – reports founder and CEO Joe Christensen.
As the #1 selling brand in Australia, New Zealand, and the UK, and the fourth largest kombucha company globally, producing more than 90 million cans per year, Remedy Drinks is seeking to replicate its success in the US market where it says consumers are...
The School Nutrition Association (SNA) wants Congress to once again delay stricter sodium targets and roll back whole grain requirements for school meals out of fear that students will reject the changes and drop out of feeding programs, many of which...
Chobani has filed a confidential draft registration statement for a proposed initial public offering (IPO) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The number of shares of common stock to be sold and the price range for the proposed offering...
Online personalized shopping platform, Sifter, is hoping to make label reading a thing of the past with a tool that instantly tells consumers which products fit their dietary needs and lifestyle.
Accounting for 20% of US consumers with an estimated direct buying power of $143bn, Gen Z is not a generation to be glossed over by brand marketers, says IRI, characterizing this young cohort as technologically savvy with an underlying practical streak...
After a ‘hectic’ year in which sales outpaced expectations, the premium coffee brand Nespresso is shifting its business strategy and operational focus to better highlight and accelerate its fundamental belief that carefully crafted, high-quality coffee...
“Inflation has been dramatic in the locust bean gum market and we do believe the situation is now at a tipping point for customers,” says CP Kelco, a leading supplier of hydrocolloids and other texturizing ingredients.
Stevia-sweetened zero-calorie beverage brand Zevia – which first hit the market in 2007 – enjoyed a stellar year in 2020, increasing net sales by 29% YoY to $110m, while increasing gross margins from 43% to 45%, according to a prospectus released ahead...
The price of locust bean gum – a clean-label thickener and stabilizer from carob seeds used in everything from Philadelphia cream cheese to Planet Oat oatmilk – has more than doubled over the past year, as demand continues to exceed supply, prompting...
Convincing children to eat their vegetables doesn’t have to be a struggle, according to the founders of Tiny Organics, who, with an infusion of $11 million in Series A funding, are helping kids break the sugar addiction with which they are born by replacing...
What is on the inside is what matters to most consumers when it comes to food and beverages, according to research from the International Food Information Council released yesterday that found Americans are paying more attention to ingredient lists than...
Viewed as the antidote to a tough day, chocolate was the indulgence of choice for one-third of US grocery shoppers during the pandemic, according to a survey from Cargill's North American Cocoa & Chocolate team, which uncovered the primary purchase...
After disrupting the sleepy dried fruit category with its skin-on, nutrient-dense, zero food-waste approach, emerging superfruit snack brand RIND is expanding into the salty snack aisle with the launch of thin-cut, crispy fruit chips with help from Valor...
Lightlife Foods’ recent campaign pitting its ‘real food’ credentials vs the 'hyper-processed' wares of Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat was dismissed by some as a PR stunt. However, it started a conversation, says president Dan Curtin, who predicts...
With an infusion of $7m in series A funds, baby food challenger Serenity Kids hopes to prove its high-fat, meat- and vegetable-based purees, grain-free puffs and bone broths “are not just for the elite, crunchy consumer,” by expanding distribution and...
While the pandemic shined a light on the role of diet and nutrition in health and wellness, it also revealed that most consumers don’t have a firm – or even loose – idea of what constitutes healthy – underscoring a need for more research and better education...
First came chickpea pasta, now with a new foodservice partnership with Oath Pizza in the New England area and expanding retail distribution in the frozen pizza aisle, Banza is unlocking demand for chickpea-crust pizza.
Craft sparkling water brand Aura Bora has raised $2m in a seed round to support the company's latest chapter of growth, which includes expansion into 7-Eleven, Sprouts, Whole Foods Pacific Northwest, and Fresh Thyme, as well as its new online subscription...
After nearly two decades of research an international team claims to have found a naturally derived cyan blue colour extracted from red cabbage that could replace synthetic blue dye often used in the food industry.
After 16 years of blood, sweat and tears building a consumer brand, Hint Inc founder Kara Goldin has been through some ups and downs, and 2020 offered up both in equal measure. But while many beverage brands struggled to adapt in a rollercoaster year,...
Despite significant unmet demand for convenient keto products across categories, consumers who follow the diet are becoming more selective and less willing to settle for options that use low-quality or unhealthy ingredients to meet the diet’s strict macro...
As consumers adopt a more flexible and holistic approach to ‘dieting,’ brands have more room to innovate at the ingredient-level through “mindful omissions and swaps” to create products that appeal to shoppers’ lifestyles, according to new research from...
As just one part of consumers' larger definition of health and wellness, weight management has become less about the number on the scale and part of a broader holistic definition of what it means to be healthy, says Shelley Balanko, Ph.D., senior...
Bowery Farming has secured $300m in a Series C equity round, bringing its total funding to $472m, the largest private fundraise for an indoor farming company to date.
Cognitive decline over time may be inevitable, but according to the husband and wife team behind the recently launched whole food functional beverage blend Memore, feeding the mind the right nutrition early and often not only could delay onset and slow...
Amid the steady stream of plant-based meat and dairy launches, new innovations hitting shelves this quarter include zero sugar dairy milk from Maple Hill Creamery, yerba mate from Honest Tea, and rice cooked in bone broth, ready-to-eat in 60-seconds,...
Recognizing that the most common reason Americans want to reduce their animal protein consumption is to improve their health, Sweet Earth is diversifying its selection of plant-based meat alternatives – and the ingredients that go into them – to better...
Eat Beyond Global Holdings, which has acquired a slew of alternative protein food brands in the past year, has made an investment in Daydream Drinks, a hemp and adaptogen-infused sparkling water brand based in Canada.
The unprecedented shift to ecommerce during the pandemic and predictions that many consumers will continue to buy groceries online even after it is safe to return to retail stores has elevated the importance of an omnichannel strategy – but according...
Target has expanded its private label offering with the launch of Good & Gather Plant Based, responding to soaring demand for plant-based products from customers, said the retailer.
Benson Hill, a crop improvement company which has developed an ultra-high protein soybean variety, will become a publicly traded company through a SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) transaction with Star Peak Corp II.
While the pandemic has helped fuel a business boom for much of packaged food and beverage industry, not everyone in the sector has benefited – with women and female-run small businesses in particular taking a hard hit that could have devastating long-term...
BrightFarms has opened its latest indoor farm in Hendersonville, North Carolina, capable of producing 2 million pounds of lettuce per year in the Southeast US region which currently has limited options for indoor-grown leafy greens on store shelves, says...
PepsiCo has launched Soulboost, a new functional sparkling water brand infused with ingredients L-theanine and panax ginseng, targeting wellness-focused consumers and the $11.3bn global enhanced water category.
