While some of the initial challenges that food and beverage startups experienced when the pandemic began have subsided, like restrictions on sampling and freezes on category resets, others remain and new ones have emerged – complicating the path to market...
Shaka Tea has been acquired by Irresistible Foods Group, the parent company of King's Hawaiian (known for its packaged sweet bread rolls), to accelerate the distribution and brand awareness of the Hawaii-based beverage company.
Zero-sugar energy drink brand ZOA Energy has secured a $10m line of credit from Gerber Finance to continue its exponential growth in the energy drink category since launching in March 2021.
Hain Celestial is singing the same tune as many other CPG companies reporting quarterly earnings in the past month, and that is the back half of the year will be better than the first thanks to pricing increases to alleviate higher costs, increased inventory...
With 95% of consumers reporting to eat during the morning an average of six times a week, the breakfast occasion is a big business with several consumer trends shaping the future of the category, reports IRI.
Chobani continues to expand beyond its yogurt stronghold with today’s dual launch of ultra-filtered milks, which takes it into an increasingly competitive and sub-segmented category, and half & half, which reinforces its burgeoning position in the...
Hong Kong-based Yóu Yóu is introducing many US home cooks to organic tea seed oil, a versatile, neutral-tasting cooking oil that performs best in high-heat cooking and is packed with essential nutrients, claims co-founder Anthony Chen.
With the upcoming soft launch of a plant-based tuna that mimics the taste and texture of raw bluefin used in sushi and poke, the startup Impact Food is joining the race to bring to market whole-cut, plant-based fish, which many consider the holy grail...
After shaking up the smoothie set with its blender-free, instant fruit and vegetable powder blends and making gum drops it claims aren’t just better-for-you but actually good for you, plant-based nutrition company Kencko is heating things up with the...
Functional soda brand Olipop's $30m Series B funding round led by a long roster of celebrities, beverage industry veterans, and entrepreneurs, will help make the brand mainstream, according to co-founder David Lester.
For cheesemaker Bel Brands USA, the fast-growing plant-based movement is not a threat to the “natural dairy goodness … at the heart of our cheeses,” but an opportunity to better live its motto – “for all for good” – by dramatically expanding its non-dairy...
Fast-growing cheese snacks brand Whisps appoints John Ghingo, former president at Applegate, as its new CEO to lead the brand's next chapter of growth and tap into consumers' growing appetite for cheese snacks.
Purely Elizabeth, best known for its better-for-you granola products, closes a $50m Series B financing round to support new product innovation with a new category launch for the brand slated for later this year.
As waves of COVID-19 and its variants ebb and flow they are creating an unpredictable tug-of-war between restaurants and grocery retailers that one industry insider predicts will continue to complicate inventory management long after the current supply...
Oreo-maker Mondelez warns the start of 2022 will be marred by lingering low inventory levels due to a now-resolved strike late last summer and ongoing labor challenges at third-party manufacturers as well as persistent supply chain challenges hindering...
Mamma Chia, the maker of organic chia-based snacks and beverages, is updating its image to embrace inclusivity and stand out in an increasingly competitive natural foods segment.
While new product introductions decreased across the CPG landscape in 2020 during the height of the pandemic, new launches from national CPG brands decreased at a higher rate when compared to private label products, Catalina found.
While flavor and spice giant McCormick & Company plans to raise prices again in the coming quarters to offset inflation and broad-based supply chain issues, executives warn their benefit to the company’s bottom line will be delayed – temporarily squeezing...
Many consumers are maintaining the habits they formed at the onset of the global pandemic nearly two years ago, including a sustained preference for at-home dining and e-commerce, notes market research intelligence firm Acosta, which says retailers and...
Indoor vertical farming company Square Roots and national food distributor Gordon Food Service have opened a new climate-controlled, indoor farm in Kenosha, Wisc., making locally-grown, fresh leafy greens and herbs available to more Midwest consumers...
A tentative deal has been struck between Kroger and the union representing the more than 8,000 employees in Colorado who walked off their job in early January to protects an offer that Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders called “insulting” and “unacceptable”...
Indoor farming technology company Plenty Unlimited has closed a $400m Series E financing round to accelerate the growth of its vertical, scalable indoor farming model.
Bobbie, a direct-to-consumer organic infant formula brand that has taken off like a rocket ship in its first year on the market, is raising the bar for the category after receiving the Clean Label Purity Award as well as certification as a Pesticide-Free...
Chocolate is one of the first places consumers turn to when they're looking to indulge, says global chocolate ingredient supplier Barry Callebaut, adding that future growth opportunities in the category will be centered around health, transparency,...
When it comes to building a new category, the founder of the better-for-you, late-night snacking company NightFood found after years of struggling to explain his value proposition to consumers that a new playbook was in order – one that focuses more on...
With today’s acquisition of two direct store delivery distributors in New York City and Long Island, chip and snack manufacturer Utz continues the shopping spree it began after going public in mid-2020 as it pursues its ambitious mission to be available...
A massive shift in consumer shopping behavior is underway in which speed and convenience have become top priorities for shoppers and basic tablestakes for e-commerce players, says first-party consumer goods delivery platform Gopuff.
After discovering online grocery retailers fail to consistently provide key nutritional and allergen information for products on their websites, researchers are calling on FDA, USDA and FTC to close online labeling “gaps” by requiring ecommerce sites...
FDA is tightening food safety requirements and recommendations for CEA (controlled environment agriculture) firms after an outbreak of Salmonella Typhimirium was traced back to packaged salads produced to one indoor farming facility last summer, calling...
The Spare Food Co. is rescuing watery whey from the yogurt production process and infusing it into effervescent elixirs in the hopes of fixing a broken food system and reversing climate change.
As demand for plant-based products rises, large players looking for a piece of the action likely will continue to buy their way in, but one market analyst predicts that the checks they will cut and stakes they will take in innovators in the space will...
Veteran zero-calorie soda brand Zevia is pouring a significant amount of resources into becoming a fully-fledged platform brand with a growing portfolio of products that spans energy drinks, teas, mixers, and kids drinks, said CEO Paddy Spence.
Total US online grocery sales for 2021 reached $97.7bn as more than 70% of US households (93 million households) shopped online at least once during the year, heavily preferring pickup services to delivery and ship-to-home, reported Brick Meets Click.
Nearly a third of Americans plan to drop or reduce animal-based products in their diet this month in favor of vegan options as part of Veganuary – a well-established global movement that may still be relatively new in the US, but which still is shining...
Many consumers are reporting to take part in Dry January by either abstaining completely or significantly cutting down ('Damp January') on their alcohol consumption for the month, presenting year-long opportunities for the non-alcoholic beverage...
Innovation within the nascent upcycled food and beverage industry is exploding as manufacturers and ingredient suppliers large and small are drawn to the promise of potentially higher profits, a viable path to ambitious sustainability goals and a consumer-friendly...
As frozen food sales stabilize from record-high numbers experienced during the height of the pandemic, older millennials have now become the category's largest consumer -- seeking a more diverse culinary selection of products made with fewer and...
Out of stealth mode, Israeli startup Plantish has unveiled a whole-cut, fully-structured, boneless plant-based salmon prototype that it says rivals the taste, nutrition, and complex texture of conventional salmon.
Yesterday’s decision by Kroger employees in Colorado to strike rather than accept the retailer’s “last, best and final offer” recalls high-profile negotiations by others across the food industry in recent months and suggests the new wave of labor activism...
Counter to claims (or hopes) by The White House and others that rising US prices are “transitory,” inflation continues to rise – cresting 7% for all items in December year-over-year, marking the fastest increase since 1982 and the third straight month...
Graza, a new single-origin olive oil brand, is carving out a niche spot in a crowded category with premium extra-virgin olive oil products available at an affordable price point in easy-to-use squeeze bottles, a packaging first for the category, said...
Oats continue to experience year-over-year gains in the non-dairy revolution, but expect other nuts and grains to push for space in the dairy aisle this year.
For Albertsons, the ongoing pandemic is a double-edge sword that simultaneously helped drive strong sales and better-than-expected earnings in the retailer’s third quarter announced yesterday and triggered a sudden and unexpected drop in stock the same...
New York startup Atlast Food Co. is one step closer to bringing its groundbreaking ‘whole cut’ meatless bacon made from the fibrous roots of mushrooms to the masses thanks to a new partnership with Whitecrest Mushrooms Ltd that will allow it to rapidly...
Vertical Roots' retail partnership with Food Lion brings its hydroponic vertically-grown lettuce to 303 new stores across 13 states in the Southeast region, and highlights rising demand for regional produce across a broadening consumer set.
Foxtrot, a chain of modernized neighborhood convenience stores stocking a curated selection of local goods and growing assortment of its own private label products, has raised $100m in Series C funding to support new stores, digital shopping enhancements...
With the acquisitions late last month of snack brands ParmCrisps and Thinsters, the Hain Celestial Group is just getting started on a shopping spree that CEO Mark Schiller says will transform the company from a “holding company” with a far-reaching and...
