As cultivated meat gets closer to market, more attention is being paid to enabling technologies, from bioreactors to growth media to edible scaffolding. FoodNavigator-USA caught up with two players trying to replicate the extracellular matrix of meat:...
When Ginkgo Bioworks’ head of codebase Dr Patrick Boyle was working on his doctoral research between 2006-12, he was “basically ordering DNA one gene at a time,” he recalls. “I think I ordered less than six total genes for my entire PhD.” Today, the Boston-based...
Batting many of the same macro headwinds as the rest of the industry including continued inflation, supply chain disruptions, and ingredient and packaging shortages, Hain Celestial maintains a positive outlook on its North American business where consumer...
As a 100+-year-old company of some of the most well-known CPG brands, Mars Inc. sees innovation as the driving force behind the company's next chapter of growth and the key to maintaining consumer relevancy.
Vienna’s Fermify claims its digitised production platform delivers casein proteins with the same superior functional properties and nutritional profile of real cheese and allows producers to produce cow-free cheese at scale.
There is no silver bullet that will singularly transform the economics of cell-cultured/cultivated meat, but technology developed by Israeli startup ProFuse Technology that dramatically speeds up the muscle fiber production process and enhances production...
Oatly's US revenues surged 40.3% to $47m in Q1, 2022, said the Swedish oatmilk maker, which claims Oatly is now the “fastest turning national brand in the entire US milk category [dairy and plant-based] with significant distribution upside,"...
Halifax-based Smallfood is targeting the alternative seafood market with a novel marine-based whole food ingredient high in protein “with an amino acid profile similar to beef” and meaningful levels of the coveted long-chain omega-3 fatty acids EPA and...
Tate & Lyle – a global ingredients company best known for sweeteners, fibers, and texturizing ingredients – has moved into the burgeoning plant-based protein arena with a deal to acquire Virginia-based chickpea protein and flour co Nutriati, six months...
IFF has launched SEAFLOUR, a hydrocolloid from red seaweed with particular potential in higher-protein plant-based milks made with pea or soy, enabling formulators to offer cleaner labels and shorten their ingredients lists.
The ingredients supplier is investing €50m in the new facility to make protein concentrate, starch rich flour and hulls from faba beans – a crops that comes with ‘convincing sustainable credentials’, Beneo’s Christoph Boettger tells FoodNavigator.
Moolec Science – which has developed a ‘molecular farming’ platform to produce plants that express animal proteins – is developing genetically engineered peas and beans containing bovine and porcine proteins that it claims can improve the taste, texture,...
As Earth Day month draws to a close, food and beverage manufacturers are celebrating efforts to reduce food waste, in their factories and in consumers’ homes, through increasingly creative and data-backed initiatives, including Hellmann’s ‘fridge night’...
Cultivated meat co UPSIDE Foods has closed a $400m series C round that brings its cumulative funding to $608m (giving it a valuation of >$1bn before it has launched a single product on the market), money that will help support a commercial-scale facility...
With an ever-expanding portfolio, Kerry Taste & Nutrition is looking to expand its ingredients into new formats, with its new liquid BC30 probiotic giving opportunities in plant-based milks and liquid milk.
Brave Robot, the animal-free dairy ice cream brand launched by The Urgent Company, has released research findings it said show a substantial reduction in consumption of natural resources when compared with ice cream made through conventional dairy production.
Motif FoodWorks has upped the ante in a high-stakes legal dispute with plant-based meat co Impossible Foods over meaty-tasting ‘heme’ ingredients by filing a petition with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to challenge the validity of a patent it argues...
Fast-growing keto snacks company Catalina Snacks is proving that 'keto' is no longer reserved for the low-carb, moderate protein diet's devotees but has a broader consumer scope and appeal.
Upfield has released a report detailing the methane emissions in its supply chain. It is the first time a major food company has provided this information, it claimed.
While consumers may be searching for ways to reduce their sugar intake, products that provide a sense of sweetness are still in high-demand, positioning certain natural sweeteners for continued success, says SPINS.
While shoppers care about animal welfare and sustainability, these things are not, yet at least, primary purchase drivers for most Americans, despite what they tell you in surveys, says the co-founder of plant-based chicken startup Nowadays. “What’s the...
“Maligning plant-based meats and milks because of the processing they undergo is nutritionally unjustified and counterproductive to achieving the health and environmental goals of the World Health Organization,” claims one academic who has been studying...
As many consumers take note of their sugar consumption and weigh different sweetener options from zero-calorie stevia and monk fruit to low-glycemic alternatives such as agave and coconut sugar, where does centuries-old honey land on the spectrum of consideration?...
Direct-to-consumer online grocer Misfits Market has launched its own private label offering of 'Odds & Ends' pantry staples specifically designed to address certain supply chain inefficiencies around sourcing, food waste, and elevated pricing,...
ADM has made a $300m investment to expand existing production capabilities of its soy protein concentrate and open a new protein innovation center in Decatur, Illinois.
With 33 years operating in the natural foods industry, national food broker PRESENCE has seen many trends come and go and others grow into long-term growth drivers for the industry.
When it comes to eating seaweed, most Americans likely think about snacking on toasted sheets of nori, the wrapper around their sushi, or maybe a bright and briny salad at a restaurant, but a handful of startups cultivating fresh seaweed and kelp at scale...
Beyond Meat has agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by common stockholders alleging that top executives breached their fiduciary duties in their dealings with former co-packer Don Lee Farms. Company executives named in the complaint do not admit any wrongdoing,...
After experiencing unprecedented double-digit growth in 2020 fueled by pandemic shopping behaviors, private label brands grew by a more modest 1% for the full-year 2021, but have gathered steam again in the Q1 2022 registering 6.5% sales growth compared...
Hemp, barley, chickpeas, and Pongamia (a.k.a. ‘vertical soy’) are four plant-based proteins to watch in the next decade, according to panelists at FoodNavigator-USA's recent ‘Plant-based protein in focus’ webinar, who predicted advances in crop breeding...
Beyond Meat is rolling out its Beyond Burger and Beyond Meatballs products at approximately 2,000 Rite Aid stores nationwide as the company aims to expand its presence across all retail channels including drugstores.
New chickpea varieties with 75% more protein could transform the legume from a niche to a mainstream player in the plant-based protein arena, says San Francisco-based startup NuCicer, which is also developing varieties with specific functional attributes...
Snacking behaviors evolved in a few key ways over the past few years as consumers balanced familiarity with health and wellness and are now looking to expand and diversify their snacking routines, says Brigette Wolf, VP, global head of SnackFutures at...
In a highly competitive industry in which 80-85% of new products fail in the first two years, natural grocery distributor KeHE consistently picks winners and fosters growth among emerging brands thanks to several key initiatives, including its TrendFinder...
Emerging indoor farming company Square Roots has opened a new modular farm in Springfield, Ohio, where the company will be able to reach local customers in Cincinnati, Columbus, and Dayton metropolitan areas with its fresh, locally-grown salad mixes and...
The key ingredient in Eat Just’s plant-based egg alternative, mung bean protein, has received approval from the European Commission. The decision ‘opens the door’ to distribution across the bloc, according to Eat Just CEO Josh Tetrick.
Investing in cell-cultured meat is a calculated risk for investors, but “not a wild gamble,” says the co-founder and CEO of Dutch startup Meatable, who says he is confident that Meatable can put a “cost competitive product on the market by 2025.”
In FoodNavigator-USA's latest roundup of new product launches, we include an eclectic mix of new products, from shelf-stable 100% cheese sticks, to chocolate bars featuring 'animal-free' whey protein, to keto crackers made with almond flour,...
Colorado-based MycoTechnology – which is building a functional ingredients platform utilizing mycelium, the filament-like roots of mushrooms - has raised $85m in a series E* round (taking its total funding to $200m) that will help it expand its portfolio...
Led by a PepsiCo alum turned beverage entrepreneur, OCA is carving out a spot for itself in the growing 'clean' energy drink category with a simple ingredient deck which includes 120mg of caffeine from green coffee extract.
A district court in Louisiana has determined that a state law restricting the use of 'meaty' terms on food labels to products derived from slaughtered animals is unconstitutional, in a ruling hailed by Tofurky as "a victory for the entire...
In its largest expansion to date, Gotham Greens is doubling the size of its greenhouse capacity from 600,000 to over 1.2 million square feet this year unlocking new regions, national distribution at key retailers, and getting one large step closer to...
Koidra, an intelligent automation (IA) startup based out of Seattle, has raised $4.5m in a seed funding round to bring its data intelligence technology to precision and controlled environmental agriculture sectors.
While animal feed and pet food present bigger commercial opportunities for edible insects in the short term, two key European players in the segment - Innovafeed and Ÿnsect, who are both planning large-scale, highly-automated production facilities in...
