The rise in home-delivered groceries, meals and meal kits satisfies the growing demand for mass personalization and convenience, says a new report from Rabobank. But are the business models viable, and what will determine the winners from the losers?
FoodNavigator-USA's latest pick of entrepreneurs to watch in the US food and beverage market features a clutch of firms spanning everything from animal-free milk and gelatin to cashew nut ‘cheese,’ brownies made with 40% chickpeas, paleo pancake...
Could your microbiome - a huge ecosytem of trillions of bacteria living inside your body - explain why you find it harder to regulate your blood sugar than the next person?
Boulder-based spicy chai tea brand Bhakti has recruited CPG industry veteran Sarah Bird as its new CEO as it seeks to build its footprint in the conventional channel and take the mission-driven brand in new directions.
After pitching potential investors for “two years solid,” all the hard work of the co-founders of Hip Chick Farms finally paid off – literally – to the tune of $2 million from Advantage Capital Partners and $500,000 from CNBC’s reality show Texas Investors...
Perfect Day, a new ‘animal-free’ milk scheduled to launch at the end of next year, contains all the same components as cow’s milk, including dairy proteins, but doesn’t use any animals in its production process. But will consumers embrace it as cruelty-free...
The word ‘disruptive’ is bandied around with wearying regularity in relation to food startups these days, but if anyone warrants this moniker, it's Perfect Day (formerly Muufri). Unlike the purveyors of nut- or legume-based ‘plant milks’, Ryan Pandya...
Co-founder of Try The World David Foult was surprised about how well his company’s product, a subscription box and online marketplace with goods from all around the world, is doing in the US.
While many meal-kit delivery services seem to be targeting foodies and people that love to cook but don’t always have time to prepare meals from scratch during the week, new research from CivicScience suggests that Americans who are the least enthusiastic...
While the word ‘natural’ still appears on the label of 11% of new food and beverage introductions in the US according to Mintel data, brands that are part of the so-called natural foods industry need to embrace a new form of conscious capitalism if they...
What differences in shopping habits do childless households have compared to ones with children? A lot, a new study by Packaged Facts reveals. We chat with founders of two smaller brands who market directly to children and get their take.
Making a profit and promoting health are not mutually exclusive, and healthy food brands now generate some serious profits. But no business will willingly engage in initiatives that could damage sales of its biggest – and sometimes unhealthiest - legacy...
If you want to take a journey back in time on your next trip to the grocery store, go buy some pancake mix, says the co-founder of Birch Benders, a Boulder-based start-up seeking to shake up a sleepy category with fresh ideas, recipes and packaging to...
Oats not for breakfast is a novelty that has its pros and cons, Grainful co-founders Jan Pajerski and Jeannine Sacco said. But they also said Americans seem to be catching on.
Eager to expand its footprint in the exponentially growing packaged salad space and meet consumer demand for healthy, fresh and convenient produce, Ready Pac Food launches four new Organic Chopped Salad Kits, which it claims create a new segment in the...
For all their hype, superfoods often are restricted to trend-setting consumers with higher incomes who shop the natural channel, but the makers of Shanti Protein and Energy Bars want to change that by making the ingredients easily available to the masses...
SMASHMALLOW – the latest innovation from food & beverage brand incubator Sonoma Brands – could herald the launch of a new confectionery category: gourmet snackable marshmallows, says founder Jon Sebastiani.
For most manufacturers, an inability to keep product on the shelf consistently would be considered bad for business, but for Hoboken Farms, the maker of three marinara sauces with a cult-like following, it is a point of pride – and a major selling feature.
It’s taken five years and a reported $80m (€72m) of research, but the meat-free burger that “bleeds” has finally arrived. The company behind it, Impossible Foods, believe its similarities to meat in texture, taste and smell make it a breakthrough product.
TerraVia – formerly known as Solazyme – has been telling reporters (and investors) that algae is the next big thing in food for years. But when will it really start to change the game?
Health Warrior CEO to join CEO panel at Food Vision USA 2016
Chia-fueled brand Health Warrior will be unveiling new products next year that utilize other nutrient-dense whole foods, says CEO Shane Emmett, who is predicting a 40-60% rise in revenues in 2016 “depending on where certain orders land.”
'We’ve said no to every meal kit company that’s approached us'
Powerplant Ventures - a venture fund led by Mark Rampolla (founder, ZICO), Kevin Boylan and T.K. Pillan (co-founders, Veggie Grill) and Dan Beldy (formerly head of Disney’s venture arm) –has closed a $42m fund aimed at “emerging plant-centric companies.”
The nascent meat bar category is filling up fast, but there is still plenty of room for products that target niche consumers beyond the “Whole Foods Crowd,” according to the CEO of Country Archer, which is one of the latest companies to enter the segment.
RUNA – a Brooklyn-based beverage brand utilizing the caffeine-rich Amazonian leaf guayusa – is on course to generate revenues of approximately $10m in 2016, up from around $6m in 2015.
After carving out a niche in the competitive baby- and toddler food categories with its quinoa-based products, NurturMe is ready to expand its portfolio and reach with new ingredients, products and distribution with the help of a $3.7 million investment...
What’s the next Just Mayo, KRAVE, or Sparkling ICE? If you’re looking for some entrepreneurs to watch over the next couple of years, check out CircleUp’s 2016 list of the 25 most innovative consumer brands of 2016, 15 of which are in food/beverage.
It’s a bold move given how highly-charged – and extremely polarized - the debate has become, but Los Angeles-based start-up Soylent has weighed into the conversation over genetically engineered food crops with a blog post entitled: 'Soylent: Proudly...
A ring-tailed lemur will be the new ringleader for Madécasse chocolate and vanilla, which will undergo a brand refresh this fall with new packaging designed to make the difficult-to-pronounce company’s products more accessible and memorable.
'This isn’t a novelty, it’s serving a fundamental need.'
Meal kits – which enable consumers to cook restaurant-quality meals at home without having to do any of the legwork – could easily be a $60bn dollar market as consumers build them into their weekly routines, predicts the CEO of San Francisco based Sun...
The time consuming process and mess of brewing tea from loose leaves or bags deters many Americans from fully embracing it as a healthy alternative to sugary sodas and juices, but market newcomer Pique Tea, Inc. wants to make the healthy choice the easy...
Suja Juice is tapping into the trend for all things fermented with the launch of organic probiotic-infused drinking vinegars targeting Millennials, says the San Diego-based firm, which has seen retail sales surge 80% year-on-year in the latest 52 weeks...
Premium confections and snacks could find new distribution opportunities in unconventional places as more fashion and design retailers start stocking select on-the-go food and beverages that will help fuel and refresh consumers so they can continue shopping.
In keeping with its mission-based foundation of “making better food for more people,” Chobani is now accepting applications for its new Food Incubator Program to help entrepreneurs and small food companies grow their businesses.
Meal kit delivery service Chef’d sets itself apart from increasingly stiff competition and advances its mission to “cultivate and curate experiences of love through food” by teaming with the American Diabetes Association to offer easy-to-make dishes designed...
Mocktails Beverages now offers its all-natural, ready-to-drink, non-alcoholic cocktails in individual sized bottles to better serve millennials who the company’s president, Bill Gamelli, says are changing their approach to alcohol.
By bucking the emerging trend toward smaller, thinner, portion-controlled snacking chocolate and embracing a distinctively large square format, Durci – a new artisanal line of chocolate from the makers of Crio Bru – quickly secured shelf space in high-end...
SuperMeat is working on cultured chicken liver meat, minced meat and chicken breast meat
Cultured meat may be a novelty today, but it could be a food staple in the future, predicts Israeli start-up SuperMeat, which claims to have developed a process enabling cells to grow more rapidly with fewer inputs than rivals, without using animal serum.
Consumers’ increasing demand for healthier options is reshaping the competitive landscape across categories – including indulgent ones such as chocolate, where they increasingly want darker chocolate, nutritious inclusions, and new formats that help them...
Athletes and health conscious consumers who for years have endured the strong taste and off-putting texture of wheatgrass and the mess that comes with juicing it as a tradeoff for its nutrient density no longer have to make these sacrifices thanks to...
Produce manufacturers are taking a page from CPG companies’ playbook by using increasingly sophisticated packaging to create brand awareness in a category where previously little was done to distinguish specific products offered by different companies.
Consumers walking down the dairy aisle at a typical grocery store see a wide variety of cheese formats – from blocks to bricks to strings to shakers – but now there is a new format that could revolutionize the way consumers use cheese.
While big ‘legacy’ food and beverage brands are laser focused on price, promotion and placement, no amount of financial or merchandising wizardry can mask the fact that smaller, sexier, more disruptive, brands are outpacing them. But should CPG’s biggest...
With thousands of startups, innovators and established brands packed into one convention center, the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City is a hotbed for spotting emerging and maturing trends in the food and beverage space.
America’s long love-affair with whiskey and bourbon in classic cocktails made popular again by Mad Men and the craft-movement is now spilling over into food, with products across categories featuring the spirit as a primary ingredient at the Summer Fancy...
As the primal or paleo trend continues to mature, subscribers are no longer restricted to fitness enthusiasts and CrossFitters who served as ground-zero for the diet, according to Jason Burke, co-owner and founder of meat snack company The New Primal.
Many protein-packed shakes have a loyal following, but they can also pack a hefty caloric punch if you’re sipping them at your desk rather than after a grueling workout, observes Casey Hoban, who says growing numbers of consumers are seeking beverages...
Matcha and turmeric continue to rise in popularity as consumers and manufacturers embrace the ancient ingredients for their health benefits, unique flavor profiles and brilliant colors.
Manufacturers have long-embraced quinoa for its many nutritional benefits, but at the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City in late June it became apparent that increasingly they also are incorporating the ingredient into their products for other reasons,...
The explosive success of sriracha - a fiery sauce used in Asian cooking that became a cult hit in the US thanks to Huy Fong Foods – proved that some Americans like it hot. The more recent surge of interest in harissa – a staple in North African and Middle...
A walk across the Summer Fancy Food Show floor in late July in New York City reveals that America’s love affair with pumpkin spice is continuing but also evolving to include pumpkin seeds and pumpkin flesh in sweet and savory products across categories.
