School closures – and tentative re-openings – have compounded stress levels for families, while COVID-19-induced economic anxiety is also straining household budgets. So how can food and beverage brands come up with enticing – but affordable – recipes,...
Per-capita liquid refreshment beverage (LRB) calories have declined 5.6% over a five-year period (from 203 calories per person per day in 2014 to 191.8 calories in 2019), according to the American Beverage Association’s latest Beverage Calories Initiative...
A new slate of better-for-you, non-alcoholic beverage brands developed by Molson Coors and beverage incubator L.A. Libations launching over the next several months -- including a plant-based barley milk and a nootropic performance beverage -- will position...
An analysis of 21,096 food products from 9,083 brands across 44 categories found an association between Facts Up Front labeling – in which nutrition facts appear on the front of the package in addition to mandated nutritional information on the back of...
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Once a niche market confined to the ‘vegetarian’ section of the freezer aisle, plant-based meat has now moved firmly into the mainstream (and the meat case). But what will distinguish the winners from the losers in this market, how is the toolbox expanding,...
Mars Inc. has hired Dr. Maria Velissariou as its new vice president of global corporate research & development and chief science officer to lead the company's quality and food safety, scientific & regulatory affairs and R&D strategy.
Retailers interested in attracting more Black shoppers, who Nielsen reports wield an annual buying power of $1.5 trillion and make more grocery trips per year than all other racial groups, need to stock and prominently highlight more products by Black-owned...
Dietary supplement manufacturer Pharmavite has filed a RICO lawsuit against the Clean Label Project, alleging that the organization’s testing and product grading activities amount to a protection racket.
New opportunities are opening for functional foods and beverages as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic pushes consumers to seek products that will boost their “resiliency,” support their health and wellness and personally empower them while simultaneously...
Boulder-based Sovos Brands is building out its portfolio of what it calls 'one-of-a-kind brands' with a signed agreement to acquire Birch Benders, the #1 'just-add-water' pancake and waffle mix in the natural channel.
A recent study which found widespread consumer misunderstanding of whole grain products and labeling is painting an unrealistic and misleading picture of whole grain products actually available to consumers on the market today, says Kelly Toups, director...
Despite sugar reduction being a major consumer health trend impacting nearly every corner of the CPG industry, many food and beverage products in Canada have seen limited changes in sugar content, a recent study by the University of Toronto suggests.
By Aga Jarzabek, Research Analyst, Euromonitor International
Reduced sugar categories have seen high growth in the past, but their sales have dipped as consumers became hesitant about artificial sweeteners. However, in the past year, sales have seen a guarded rebound across many categories due to new launches and...
Upstart candy brand Behave has entered the buzzing low-sugar gummy candy category with its line of original and sour gummy bears which tout 3g of sugar, 6g of net carbs, and 90 calories per serving.
Roughly half of respondents in a recent study overstated the whole grain content of cereal, bread, and cracker products, said lead researchers at the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University and the...
With more than 20,000 stores in its retail footprint, new packaging and products, and increased trend spend, a2 Milk Company is moving closer to reaching meaningful scale in the US since its launch in select California retailers five years ago, said CEO...
Keurig Dr. Pepper (KDP) has taken a minority investment with a defined path to ownership in emerging brand ‘Don’t Quit’ to become the next heavyweight in the segment, said KDP president Robert Gamgort during the firm's Q2 2020 earnings call.
Nestlé Waters North America’s (NWNA) recent launch of Fruity Water – a flavored, zero-sugar and unsweetened water collection for kids – provides parents with a convenient hydration alternative to plain water addressing the reality that many kids aren’t...
Agricultural biotechnology firm Arcadia Biosciences has experienced “overwhelming demand” for its GoodWheat and GoodHemp products (both introduced late last year), but has struggled to keep up with the explosive market interest, said president and CEO...
Likely fighting an uphill battle, some nutrition experts, health care providers and professional athletes want the 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans to demote dairy from its long-held position as a standalone and recommended food group to a discretionary...
Adults who swapped out animal protein for plant-based protein saw lower levels of LDL cholesterol, moderate weight loss, and similar sodium intake and blood pressure levels (compared to animal protein consumption) after eight weeks, revealed a two-phase...
Plenty Unlimited Inc. will be entering 430 Albertsons stores across California with four SKUs of its leafy greens, further demonstrating the scalability of its indoor hydroponic vertical-farming operations, which use 99% less land and up to 95% less water...
Three quarters of families with school-aged children now report being able to spend more time together eating at the breakfast table, promoting an uptick in cereal consumption, according to a new survey commissioned by General Mills Big G cereals.
Executives from Post Holdings and its recently spun-off active nutrition business BellRing Brands may be confident that the new food company will meet its full-year targets, but analysts on the company’s third quarter call late last week sounded dubious.
Despite parents’ best efforts to introduce their children to a variety of foods, many children between the ages one and three are falling short of key nutrients including vitamin D, vitamin E, calcium, fiber, and iron, reveals a study examining National...
Could children's pester power (the influence kids have over their family’s eating behaviors) be a force for promoting positive and healthy eating behaviors at home?
The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s recent recommendations that children under 2 years avoid all added sugar to ensure they consume the nutrients they need without excessive caloric intake may not go far enough to drive a significant change in...
The buzz around plant-based meat alternatives is strong, but what is the full consumer perception of plant-based protein products in terms of nutrition and healthfulness compared to animal meat, and what motivates consumers to buy plant alternatives?...
O’dang Foods has entered the niche category of plant-based mayonnaise offering consumers an egg-free alternative made with 20% chickpea protein and broth (a.k.a. aquafaba), creating a better-for-you alternative to traditional mayonnaise.
Israeli startup Better Juice has signed agreements with US-based global beverage manufacturers to commercialize its patent-pending enzymatic technology, which can achieve up to 80% sugar reduction of naturally-occurring sugars (e.g. sucrose, glucose,...
Americans need to more than halve their consumption of added sugars, reducing average consumption from 13% of daily energy intake to just 6%, the equivalent of 30g for someone on a 2,000 calorie-a-day diet, according to the expert committee advising the...
MCTco is competing in the highly-competitive snack bar category, addressing major consumer demands around protein and sugar content as well as emerging ‘beauty-from-within’ and immunity trends with its line of products containing collagen protein and...
While the coronavirus has hit hard the food and beverage industry over the past four months, players across the supply chain have worked closely with federal agencies and the government to improve manufacturing processes and temporarily ease what the...
Baze, a personalized nutrition startup which provides customers with tailored supplements based on its at-home blood diagnostic test, has broadened its service to include food and meal recommendations addressing the “root cause” of nutrient deficiencies,...
Instead of hitting pause on its R&D work to focus on more basic ‘mission critical’ business functions (e.g. supply chain challenges) during the ongoing pandemic, better-for-you pancake and waffle mix brand Birch Benders has reinvigorated its approach...
After helping to build a category for biltong – jerky’s less-processed, softer and often healthier cousin – the founders of Kalahari Snacks believe the “next evolution” in the meat snack segment is a trio of crunchy beef crisps that it launched online...
A majority (81%) of consumers say transparency is ‘important’ or ‘extremely important’ to them when shopping online and in-store, according to a new report by The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) and Chicago-based Label Insight.
Beverage companies spent $1.04bn to advertise sugary drinks and energy drinks in 2018 in the US, a 26% increase compared to 2013, according to Sugary Drinks FACTS 2020, a new report from the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity at the University...
US consumers managing food allergies spend more than $19bn annually on specialty food products free of the top nine food allergens, according to results of a two-year consumer study released by FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education), the largest...
The US dairy industry is calling for the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) to include “all relevant scientific studies” related to the fat content of dairy products before it delivers its recommendations to USDA and HHS for the 2020-25 Dietary...
Despite online grocery taking off in recent months, CPG brands may be leaving millions of dollars of missed revenue on the table by not highlighting key product attributes when they present their brands online, according to a report by Label Insight.
EPG (brand name: Epogee) – a new plant-based oil that has been restructured in such a way that virtually none of it is absorbed by the body – is attracting interest from formulators across the food industry, as firms see an opportunity to make significant...
A citizen petition filed by The Sugar Association to the FDA is calling for “complete and accurate labeling of low- and no-calorie sweeteners on food packages,” which would require food manufacturers to add the term ‘sweetener' in parenthesis after...
The IRI New Product Pacesetters List of the top 100 CPG brand launches of 2019 saw a resurgence of $100m brands which accounted for 33% of Pacesetter dollar sales in 2019.
Icelandic brand Good Good, which makes no-sugar-added jams, syrups, and a chocolate hazelnut spread sweetened with stevia and erthyritol, has closed a $3m Series A round of investment led by Icepharma, AtonJL and Svanhildur Nanna Vigfusdottir along with...
The FDA, USDA and EPA have launched ‘Feed Your Mind’, a new Agricultural Biotechnology Education and Outreach Initiative that aims to increase consumer awareness and understanding of genetically engineered foods (GMOs).
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused brands to look at their direct-to-consumer (DTC) businesses with fresh eyes, including emerging brand PeaTos, which launched its own DTC site, BetterSnacks.com, to fulfill Americans' at-home snacking needs and desire...
Creating a healthy food environment that allows children to choose what and how they eat encourages positive, long-term eating habits and maintenance of a healthy body weight, according to a scientific statement from the American Heart Association.
The original founder of the orange and grapefruit juice brand Uncle Matt’s Organic once again is at the helm after buying back the company with help from a “dream team of investors and advisory board” from Dean Foods, which purchased the business three...
With the typical consumer managing an average of 3.3 individual dietary preferences and 64% of the world’s population following some sort of exclusion diet (Nielsen), grocery retailers will need to adapt their online and physical stores to provide a hyper-personalized...
