Want a dictionary definition of 'high-achiever'? Meet Ryan Black, a former NFL player and surfer who went on holiday to Brazil in his early 20s in search of waves and came back with the germ of a business idea that is now worth more than $100m...
Unit volumes of energy drinks were up a whopping 18.7% in 2012 - a staggering achievement given that unit sales of consumer packaged goods across all outlets slumped 0.3% over the same period - according to Symphony IRI*.
A new player in the stevia supply market promising purity levels “unmatched in the market place” says it will be in a position to start supplying commercial quantities of extracts by Q1, 2013 from a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Thailand.
Sweet Green Fields (SGF) plans to significantly expand its stevia crop in Georgia and North Carolina in 2013 in a bid to bolster supplies of American-grown stevia extracts.
With a class action lawsuit filed almost weekly against firms making 'all-natural' claims, growing concerns over energy drinks, the specter of GMO labeling and new developments in the high profile legal spat over the labeling of high fructose...
First it was scheduled for late 2011, then we were told it would be early 2012, and now it's going to be 2013. But at some point in the near future, the FDA will publish a proposed rule to reform the Nutrition Facts Panel.
Food manufacturers looking to extend shelf life with natural antioxidants have started using blended ingredients in an effort to deal with spiralling raw material costs, according to Frost & Sullivan.
A lawsuit alleging that Hansen’s Diet Sodas with ‘all natural flavors’ are misbranded because they contain artificial sweeteners, highlights the lengths to which opportunistic plaintiffs’ attorneys are now going to try and cash in on the legal ambiguity...
In the latest twist in their bitter legal dispute, corn refiners have accused sugar refiners of “seeking to evade liability for the false and misleading statements of their trade association [The Sugar Association]” about high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).
While coconut water is best known for its hydrating properties, manufacturers are increasingly using it to cut calories and liven up 100% juice beverages, says one formulation expert.
A California judge has partially certified a class action lawsuit over ‘natural' claims made on AriZona Iced Teas - which contain high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and citric acid - but suggested the plaintiffs appear to be motivated primarily by the...
Muscle and protein will be hot trends across every age group in 2013 as more US shoppers look to maintain lean muscle mass and stay healthy and active as they age, predict trend spotters.
Engineered using a patent-pending process that re-crystallizes standard table salt to create microscopic free-flowing hollow ‘microspheres’, Soda-Lo can help firms slash sodium and retain their clean labels because it is still listed as ‘salt’ on pack,...
Consumers, market researchers tell us, want foods that are ‘wholesome’, ‘authentic’, and above all ‘natural’, although few of them can articulate what this means. And they are not alone. Regulators have not had much of a stab at defining ‘natural’ either,...
As America went to the polls, FoodNavigator-USA and NutraIngredients-USA headed to Las Vegas for a week of partying, gambling (and a spot of networking) at Supply Side West.
Hain Celestial’s Greek yogurt brand Greek Gods has been shielded from the price wars raging in the Greek yogurt category and continues to go from strength to strength, with sales surging by 35% in the latest quarter, say bosses.
Both sides have accused the other of hypocrisy as the increasingly bitter legal dispute between corn and sugar refiners moved into a new phase this week.
Bosses at Amy’s Kitchen, Whole Foods Market, UNFI, Nature’s Path and Jimbo’s… Naturally have joined forces to tackle myths they claim are being perpetuated by opponents of Californian GMO labeling initiative Prop 37.
The first wave of products containing a new natural sweetener from oats called OatSweet have hit shelves in the US, and the firm behind it is now in talks with leading food and beverage manufacturers about incorporating it into everything from ice cream...
If Californians approve controversial GMO labeling initiative Proposition 37 next month, could food industry opponents challenge it on First Amendment grounds?
Renowned attorney Justin Prochnow talks to Ben Bouckley in Las Vegas about the threat class actions pose to beverage brands, from 'all natural' cases to a new wave of flavor characterization claims, and firewall strategies firms can use to scupper...
While the latest blends of steviol glycosides do not have the same bitter, licorice and lingering off-notes associated with some earlier stevia extracts on the market, some still contain “noticeable off-tastes compared to sugar”, says flavors giant Givaudan.
The entrepreneur behind Cweet - a natural high-intensity sweetener from a protein called brazzein- says he expects to secure regulatory approval to sell it in the US in one to two years.
Sentiment analysis tools that trawl though posts on blogs, facebook, Twitter and other online forums to help companies find out what consumers think about hot-button issues should be applied with more caution, according to one social media specialist.
Food manufacturers are increasingly seeing stevia as a way to “reinvent the regular” by helping them deliver incremental calorie reductions in everyday foods, rather than simply serving as a replacement for artificial sweeteners in ‘diet’ products, says...
Californian plaintiff Katie Kane has filed her second amended complaint against Greek yogurt giant Chobani accusing it of violating federal law by claiming its yogurts have “no sugar added” despite the fact they contain evaporated cane juice (dried sugar...
Unilever has added new ‘challenges and wants’ to its open innovation platform, this time seeking help with a stable natural red colour for fruit and dairy, and technologies to reduce sugar in ready to drink teas.
The official voter information guide on California’s Proposition 37 GMO labeling initiative inaccurately states that the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics “has concluded that biotech foods are safe”.
Prop 37 is likely to surpass Prop 65 as a source of consumer litigation in California if the controversial GMO labeling initiative gets the green light next month, predicts one San Francisco-based lawyer.
Civil litigation against Greek yogurt giant Chobani over its use of the term ‘evaporated cane juice’ to describe sugar (dried cane syrup) is about to move into a new phase with a second amended complaint in the Kane v Chobani case due today.
San-Diego-based flavor innovator Senomyx is screening a series of novel plant-based high-potency natural sweetening compounds in a bid to find the next stevia, monk-fruit or monatin.
Heart-health spreads maker Smart Balance has unveiled plans to split into two business segments, move its HQ to Boulder, CO, and change its name to Boulder Brands as it moves “from a single‐brand, single‐category model to a comprehensive, natural brands‐based,...
The serial entrepreneurs behind Terra Chips and Stonyfield Farms look set to achieve similar success with gourmet world cuisine brand Saffron Road - another niche brand that is rapidly moving into the mainstream, this time in the frozen food aisle.
PepsiCo has been targeted by the latest in a string of class action lawsuits alleging big brands are misleading consumers by labelling products as ‘all-natural’ when they contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
With the debate over Prop 37 heating up, a new class action lawsuit over ‘all-natural’ claims on products containing GMOs filed every week, and Monsanto in the firing line following a damaging study on GM maize, more and more manufacturers are exploring...
Rosemary extracts can deliver a significant reduction in the formation of hexanal - a marker for oxidation in foods - without the bitter off-flavors associated with other natural antioxidants, tests by natural extract specialist Kalsec have revealed.
Further evidence that steviol glycoside Reb A is no longer the only game in town when it comes to delivering high intensity natural sweetness has emerged in PureCircle’s full-year results, which show rebaudioside A accounted for just 40% of revenues in...
Leading corn refiners have accused sugar producers of conducting a “systematic campaign” to vilify high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in a counter claim filed in California yesterday as part of the high-profile legal dispute over the sweetener.
A California judge has granted in part a motion to dismiss a class action lawsuit filed against Jamba Juice over ‘all-natural’ claims, but has given the plaintiff the right to amend his complaint.
A California court in a class action against Dreyer’s – disputing its ‘all natural’ ice cream claim – has ruled that consumers’ expectations should trump manufacturers’ expectations about what should normally be present in a product.
Canadian natural and organics group SunOpta has reported an 85% profit surge in the second quarter of 2012 driven by strong growth in packaged foods sales.
General Mills is the latest food company to face litigation over claims that its products are 100% natural, with a lawsuit alleging that maltodextrin and high maltose corn syrup used in Nature Valley products are artificial ingredients.
If current trends continue, stevia-based sweetener Truvia will be eyeball to eyeball with sucralose-based rival Splenda in the US retail tabletop sweeteners market within two years, brand owner Cargill has predicted.
With NGOs increasingly turning their attention to food production - and often doing a better job than the food industry of engaging with the media - the debate about issues from biotechnology to BPA will only become more polarized, one author has predicted.
Special edition: The New Product development process
Why is baby, toddler and kids’ food maker Plum Organics’ track record at producing sucessful new products better than average - in fact way better than average?
Sales of natural flavours in Western Europe are set to be overtaken by sales in the Asia-Pacific market within the next three years, according to market research firm RTS.
Special edition: The New Product Development Process
If you’re big in shredded cheese, chances are you know pretty much everything there is to know about the market, the manufacturing process and the competition. But who do you turn to if you want to make something else?
We've all heard the statistics - almost 36% of Americans are now obese. But 50 years ago, it was just 13%. So why did we get so fat, so quickly? And what role did sugar - and specifically high fructose corn syrup - have to play?
A raft of new products from whole-grain pizza crusts under the Pillsbury brand to a Cascadian Farm granola packed with ancient grains, will hit stores this summer as General Mills ramps up its new product development activities.
