Already a breakfast staple added to coffee, cereal and used in baked goods, oat milk is now finding its way to the dinner table “for the first time” as the star ingredient in Pacific Foods first-to-market Creamy Oat-Milk Soup.
Meal kit company Blue Apron has lost some of its steam in customer retention, losing 21,000 customers in Q2 2021 compared to the same period last year, but says other key performance metrics including average order value and average revenue per customer...
As Danone continues to expand its high-growth plant-based beverage business, the company intends to broaden the fixture’s appeal to the majority of consumers ‘not in the category’ through the development of new technologies that deliver ‘dairy-like’ drinks.
From San Diego-based Debut Biotech, which is developing a range of high-value ingredients via a novel ‘cell-free’ biomanufacturing platform, to Virginia-based Bonumose, which has patented technology it claims could enable the “mass market adoption” of...
Planterra Foods, the plant-based division of meat giant JBS - which debuted in the refrigerated aisle last summer under the OZO brand – has moved into the frozen aisle, expanded its relationship with Boulder-based fungi tech co MycoTechnology, and is...
Santiago, Chile and Paris-based AI-driven startup Protera is one step closer to commercializing a portfolio of clean-label proteins that can replace chemical preservatives to extend food shelf-life, safely turn unsaturated fats into saturated fats, enhance...
A vast majority (95%) of consumers surveyed report that their whole grains consumption has either increased or held steady compared to five years ago despite increasing popularity of low- and no-carb diets, finds the Oldways Whole Grains Council.
It has become “increasingly common in virtually all industries for short seller firms to target a company with accusations that drive down its stock price, which is then followed by a shareholder plaintiff firm pouncing on the stock drop with a class...
Redefine Meat, which makes plant-based meat alternatives using 3D printing and is preparing to launch in Europe after announcing a $29m fundraise at the start of the year, says the ‘huge strides’ achieved in its technology have allowed it to launch five...
Fresh off of closing its $18m Series D funding round, California-based Urban Remedy will use the funds to ramp up marketing, innovation, technology, and new team hires to reach more consumers with its ultra-fresh, nutrient-dense meals, bars, and juices....
Meal kit company HelloFresh is one step closer to becoming a one-stop-shop with the launch of its online store, HelloFresh Market, offering consumers everyday food essentials from snacks to spice blends.
A brand described as “only slightly more appealing than an IV bag” by one uncharitable observer when it first gained a cult following among Silicon Valley programmers as a powdered meal replacement, Soylent has steadily evolved its format, product line...
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...
Santiago-based food tech company NotCo has raised $235m in a Series D round led by Tiger Global and supported by DFJ Growth Fund, ZOMA Lab, athletes Lewis Hamilton and Roger Federer, and musician and DJ Questlove, taking its cumulative funding to $350m...
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%...
Kentucky-based, tech-powered indoor farming company, AppHarvest, is bringing in tech industry veteran Mark Keller as SVP of its software applications platform.
Entering into the second half of 2021, Unilever said it will accelerate pricing across its product portfolio to offset the rising costs of transportation and commodities such as soybean oil.
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.
Target Corp. has selected 11 food and beverage brands to take part in Target Takeoff, the retailer's product-focused accelerator program, now in its fifth year.
With an infusion of $10m in series A funds announced today the biotech and data science company Aromyx soon will be able to help more food and beverage brands quickly measure consumer perceptions more accurately than traditional taste test panels, which...
Nature’s Fynd - a Chicago-based startup growing protein-packed food from microbes with a fraction of the environmental footprint of meat or dairy – has raised $350m in a Series C round (taking its total financing to >$500m) as it gears up to launch...
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.
Israeli firm NextFerm Technologies – one of a flurry of players developing new protein sources from microbes - is gearing up for the 2022 commercial launch of ProteVin, a vegan, non-GMO, yeast-based protein, following successful testing at pilot scale...
Swedish keto-friendly brand Nick’s – which entered the US in late 2019 with low carb light ice cream pints – is on course to triple its US sales in 2021 (vs 2020) with continued growth in bricks & mortar retail, sharp growth in its fledgling direct...
The plant-based chicken category is heating up with Impossible Foods unveiling plans to enter the market in the fall with soy-based nuggets, going head to head with rival Beyond Meat, which has just launched pea-, and faba bean-based tenders.
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."
Canadian startup Noblegen has opened a CAD$500m Series C capital raise as it seeks to commercialize a suite of products from the ‘ancient microorganism’ euglena gracilis, which can produce everything from proteins that behave like animal proteins, to...
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...
Shares in Swedish oatmilk maker Oatly – which went public in May – dropped sharply on Wednesday following a report from New York based activist investor and short seller Spruce Point Capital Management arguing that “the walls are collapsing on Oatly’s...
As grocery buying settles into a new, less-frenzied norm, many major food companies including Conagra Brands are dealing with the rising costs of doing business in an inflationary environment by raising the prices of their finished products.
Austin, Texas-based Springdale Ventures, a venture capital firm which has invested in a number of high-growth CPG brands, is on the cusp of its next chapter of growth with the appointment of a third general partner and is embarking on plans to raise its...
From Air Protein - a startup manufacturing protein out of thin air*; to Meati Foods and Atlast Foods - fungi-fueled firms making whole cut ‘meats’ from mycelium; to a flurry of cell-cultured meat players including BlueNalu, GOOD Meat, and Wildtype; 28...
The world’s largest food company has confirmed it is eyeing the cultured meat sector after a leaked report revealed a tie-up with Israeli cell-based start-up Future Meat Technologies.
In FoodNavigator-USA's latest roundup of new product launches, we include Clif Bar's first foray into boxed cereals, PeaTos' fiber- and protein-fueled take on Doritos, RXBARS's new plant-based bars, and a wave of products focusing...
Instacart has appointed one of its current board members and former Facebook exec, Fidji Simo, as CEO of the online grocery shopping platform, effective August 2, replacing current CEO and founder Apoorva Mehta who will be transitioning to the role of...
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 foodservice industry rebounds and consumers return to restaurant dining, mobile ordering app GrubHub took a look back at the past six months of ordering trends made by the approximately 33 million users of its mobile app.
With Aleph Farm’s 2022 initial market launch just on the horizon, the trailblazing food-tech company responsible for series of firsts in the nascent cell-cultured meat category, has secured $105m in series B funding to scale-up manufacturing and expand...
Meati Foods – which is carving out new territory in the meat-alternative space with a fungi-based platform capable of producing ‘steaks’ and other whole cuts – has raised $50m in a Series B round co-led by new investor BOND and long-time Meati investor...
Algae is potentially a hugely exciting food source. But with a couple of notable exceptions, it has yet to set the food industry on fire, says Provectus Algae, a startup developing an automated growing platform it claims can unlock algae’s potential as...
Oatmilk or oat drink? Plant-based cheese or cultured nut product? A report from the House Committee on Appropriations “encourages the FDA to provide clarity around the labeling of plant-based foods that use traditional meat, dairy, and egg terminology,”...
The meat alternatives company has given its latest innovation challenge award to a French start-up with new technology that differs from conventional extrusion.
Harmless Harvest and majority stakeholder Danone Manifesto Ventures (DMV) are exploring opportunities to take the organic coconut water into international markets, says CEO Ben Mand, who says the San Francisco-based brand also has the potential to stretch...
Brazilian plant-based meat brand Future Farm (Fazenda Futuro) is gearing up to enter the burgeoning plant-based meat category in the US after a successful debut in Brazil and several other markets including Chile, Mexico, the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands.
The FDA is aiming to release long-awaited voluntary sodium reduction goals and draft guidance on the labeling of plant-based milk alternatives in the next 12 months.
A global consumer study* funded by ‘animal-free’ dairy startup Formo (previously LegenDairy) suggests consumers are surprisingly open to trying and buying cheese featuring dairy proteins made via microbes instead of cows after reading a detailed description...
