The rise of grocerants, or in-grocery-store dining, is helping supermarkets – and by extension food-based consumer packaged goods – hold their own against restaurants, drive-thrus, food trucks and take-out joints as consumer spending on food at home loses...
A recent study linking children’s fast food consumption with lower standardized test scores in reading, math and science adds to the growing body of research suggesting nutrition significantly influences academic success.
Diet soda is in a funk, while 'real sugar' is back in vogue. Energy is hot, but caffeine is still controversial. Maple water is bang-on-trend, but will it really become the next coconut water?
GLG Life Tech Corporation has announced another milestone in its effort to breed new cultivars of the stevia plant. The company has developed a variety that expresses higher levels of Rebaudioside A, or Reb A, the most commercially important stevia fraction...
It’s time to get out our crystal balls and predict the hottest trends in the European food and drink sector for the year ahead. What’s in store for 2015?
A health claim approval can spell good business for some, while rejections disaster for firms who have invested big to collect their supporting dossier only to be told their evidence is insufficient. So it's no wonder food firms keep one eye firmly...
Consumer interest in health and wellness and on-the-go food continue to fuel growth in the nutritional drink category, but manufacturers could take sales even higher by targeting older and non-athletic consumers, according to Synergy Flavors and market...
Fruit & veg powders can make snacks and prepared foods appear more nutritious, but owing to the rigors of the production process, by the time we eat them, they have lost most of their nutritional punch, says South Carolina-based NutriFusion, which...
The absence of clean labels and fast energy from New Nutrition Business’ list of top 10 food, nutrition and health trends for 2015 is just as important as what made the cut.
There was more than one Palaeolithic diet, and none of them may have been that healthy - but barely any of the foods eaten are available anymore anyway, say researchers.
Restaurants in 2015 will act locally when it comes to sourcing ingredients, but think globally when incorporating flavors into new dishes, the National Restaurant Association’s annual What’s Hot culinary forecast reveals.
In-depth on carbonates with Euromonitor International
Carbonates will never return to the buzz of the 80s but beverage makers can inject life back into the category from side-stepping into the water aisle to bottling up retro-style or moving into new day parts, says Euromonitor International.
The significantly longer amount of time necessary to prepare whole grains compared to refined grains is a substantial hurdle that stops many people from eating more whole grains, even though they are more nutritious.
Consumer desire to effectively manage their weight and improve their health through food will continue to influence new product development and sales in 2015, according to New Nutrition Business, a food- and nutrition-focused market research firm.
Food-X - a new food business accelerator program backed by venture capital firm SOSventures that runs twice a year - is seeking the ‘best and brightest disruptors in the food space’ to join its second accelerator program starting in New York in early...
A high-profile lawsuit* filed by Unilever accusing Hampton Creek Foods of falsely advertising its flagship product ‘Just Mayo’ has not, it seems, dented Silicon Valley’s enthusiasm for the plant-based foods pioneer, which has just raised another $90m...
To make it in the crowded energy and nutrition bar category, a company needs a great tasting product, top-notch packaging, persistence, fortitude and differentiation, says Mark Brooks, founder of Mudd+Wyeth, a lifestyle company for dogs and their owners.
The market capital of a wellness industry that aims to promote and maintain good health will vastly exceed the current treatment-focused disease industry, says Dr Lee Hood, MD, PhD, President & Co-Founder, Institute for Systems Biology.
Natural & organic food brands are doing better than their ‘legacy brand’ counterparts and big food manufacturers want a slice of the action, which has stimulated some high profile mergers & acquisitions (M&A) activity in 2014. FoodNavigator-USA...
Researchers investigating the types of microbes found in foods from different dietary patterns have questioned whether the bacteria in our foods plays a role in the structure and function of our gut microbiota.
Antioxidant-rich cereals, protein-packed snack bars and bread tailored to women’s nutritional needs were just some of the product innovations identified by Datamonitor Consumer during 2014.
Trendwatching with Mintel, Euromonitor, Rabobank & Trailblazer Foods
From the 'astounding' reinvention of popcorn as "Millennial friendly, cool and healthy", to the proliferation of apps & devices enabling us to track our calories, sleep and bowel movements, what have we learned about the food culture...
Eating all your vegetables might be easier in 2015 than in recent years as they increasingly show up in unexpected places, including desserts and drinks, according to the International Food Network.
The biggest rise was in products making non-GMO or GMO-free claims
Non-GMO, Kosher, gluten-free, ethical, environmentally-friendly, lactose-free, vegan, no additives/preservatives, and on-the-go claims are all gaining more traction on US food labels; while growth in ‘all-natural’- antioxidant- and low/no/reduced sugar/sodium/fat...
New flavors created for a wider variety of protein sources, made possible by advancements in masking research, is expanding the consumer base for and driving sales of high protein products, such as sports nutrition drinks, according to Synergy Flavors...
Vancouver-based GLG Life Tech has developed a new variety of stevia containing “remarkably high” levels of Reb C glycosides, which it claims could “revolutionize the global food and beverage industry’s ability to utilize naturally-sourced Reb C”.
While premium juice brands hit the market every week hoping to become the next Suja, and the coconut water category is getting crowded, the company behind WTRMLN WTR (watermelon flesh, watermelon rind, lemon) reckons it has a product sufficiently distinctive...
From ready-to drink soup and nootropics to mocktails for Millennials, the beverages aisle is not short of innovation. But what distinguishes the winners from the losers, how easy is it to build distribution, and how difficult is it to finance your beverage...
Nottingham University scientists claim to have shone new light on the intra-gastric behaviour of ‘aerated’ drinks with enhanced satiating properties that they say could be used to fight obesity.
Almost half of the schools eligible for federal financial assistance to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students do not currently offer the service, despite research showing it improves academic performance and students’ physical health, according...
Consuming Bacillus coagulans GBI-30, 6086 (GanedenBC30) in combination with protein may blunt muscle damage after intense exercise and boost recovery, according to findings from a pilot study.
SPECIAL EDITION 2014, BEVERAGE SWEETENER INNOVATION
Mintel says the presence of nutritionally beneficial compounds could see stevia-based sweeteners of the future that combine functional benefits as well as calorie-free sweetness.
SPECIAL EDITION 2014, BEVERAGE SWEETENER INNOVATION
PureCircle has launched a new stevia blend called Sigma-D to target non-fermented, sweetened dairy drinks and other dairy products in what it says is a breakthrough category specific launch.
SPECIAL EDITION 2014, BEVERAGE SWEETENER INNOVATION
David Thorrold, CEO of the world’s largest monk fruit extract supplier BioVittoria insists the sweetener can complement rival stevia to achieve a better-tasting product – as the experience of successful zero-calorie US soft drinks brand Zevia shows.
Shopping for coffee and chocolate is becoming almost as interesting - and at times as intimidating - as buying wine. So why not inject some of that excitement into the tea category, says Toronto-based start-up Tea of the People, which has just launched...
An organization supporting “family-scale” farming accuses the makers of Dannon, Yoplait and other yogurt manufacturers of misleading parents to believe their yogurts are healthy, even though some products include sugar and “myriad questionably safe artificial...
Students who bring their lunch from home and their parents apparently missed the memo from Congress mandating the mid-day meal meet the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Enjoying a special occasion, opportunistic eating and social pressures are just some of the drivers behind unhealthy snacking – factors that could be used to drive change, researchers claim.
Breakfast remains the most important meal of the day and serving it to students for free offers significant benefits even though a recent study found it did not improve academic performance as hypothesized, health and education advocates argue.
While it used to take years for a food & beverage start-up to build a national presence, the explosive growth of brands such as Suja Juice and Way Better Snacks show that with the right product, the old rules no longer apply, says one corporate finance...
Professor: 'Congratulations to the FDA for putting public health first'
Some food manufacturers still worry that using potassium chloride to replace salt in their recipes might compromise their clean label credentials. But the FDA’s recent proposal to include potassium as one of the nutrients that must be listed on the Nutrition...
If you don’t like taking risks, don’t go into the beverage industry, says the founder of ChaiElixir, an Oklahoma City based start-up selling sparkling tea. “A significant portion of new products do not make it past year one or two, but that’s the nature...
The nutrition bar category is becoming saturated, but there are still untapped pockets of opportunity, says Ohio-based Good Greens, which claims to blow rivals out of the water when it comes to packing a nutritional punch.
Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage reported strong revenue growth for the fourth quarter of its 2014 fiscal year. Net sales grew by 17.8% over the same period in 2014 and were up by 20.9% for the fiscal year. The company notched $520.7 million in net...
Coffee leaf tea has got the 'body and full flavor of black tea without the bitterness'
By unlocking the potential of the coffee fruit, enterprising companies from Bai Brands and KonaRed (beverages) to CF Global (coffee flour) and VDF Futureceuticals (nutraceuticals) have already proved that the coffee bean is not the only thing the coffee...
Protein is hot - and big brands are piling more of it into everything from breakfast cereal to ice cream. Yet the Dietary Guidelines for Americans say “inadequate protein intake in the US is rare”. So does this trend make sense from a nutritional perspective?
