While the high-single to double-digit drop in plant-based meat sales over the past year has prompted significant handwringing among investors, retailers and other stakeholders, category front-runner Impossible Foods is neither surprised about the segment’s...
Ingredion has completed one-third of its planned $160m capital investment into expanding capacity for its clean label specialty starches to improve its operational flexibility amid ongoing supply chain disruptions.
Despite efforts to brand fruit ‘as nature’s candy,’ celebrity endorsements by the likes of Jessica Alba designed to make vegetables ‘sexy,’ and many retailers selling fresh produce at a loss to improve access and drive foot traffic – the vast majority...
Two US-based precision fermentation startups making real dairy ingredients using microbes instead of cows have announced significant developments as they gear up to launch next year in the emerging ‘animal-free dairy’ category.
Kellogg’s plant-based business “remains in good condition with excellent prospects” despite plummeting sales and ongoing supply chain struggles that represent the only “softness” in the company’s otherwise strong third-quarter earnings report released...
While consumers are tightening their purse strings and cutting down on many discretionary purchases, snacking is one area many are not, according to Mondelēz International, which continues to see consumers opt for name brands over private label and value-priced...
'Molecular farming’ startup IngredientWerks has developed corn varieties that express everything from casein proteins to meaty-tasting heme proteins, in an approach it claims is more efficient than precision fermentation for producing ingredients...
Chilled drinkable soup had a moment five to six years ago with a flurry of brands entering the niche segment attracting excited investors who backed brands positioning themselves as a fresh meal on the go that consumers could drink like a juice. But what’s...
IFF has unveiled SUPRO TEX, a shelf-stable textured protein made via low-moisture extrusion claimed to deliver “a texture to meat alternatives close to what a high moisture extruded product is able to deliver,” at a significantly lower cost.
While sales of plant-based products across the board continue to slide, consumer data from Evergi shows at least one segment is bucking the trend – frozen meals and bowls – an area into which the fast-growing vegan brand Strong Roots is eagerly expanding...
San Diego-based cell-cultured seafood company BlueNalu has set up a scientific advisory board bringing together experts in consumer research, sensory science, product development, bio-engineering, and systems biology to accelerate its commercialization...
Six days after settling their lengthy legal dispute over the early termination of a supply contact, Don Lee Farms and Beyond Meat have resolved their differences over a separate lawsuit* in which Don Lee accused Beyond Meat of over-stating the protein...
Motif FoodWorks has suffered a setback in its dispute with Impossible Foods over meaty-tasting heme proteins in meat alternatives after the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) rejected its request for an inter partes review of the patent at the center...
Suja Life's recent acquisition of cold-pressed juices shots brand Vive Organic brings together the No. 1 and No. 2 brands in the category to accelerate and scale the still-niche wellness shots segment.
Will a large percentage of flavors, colors and sweeteners be made in bioreactors by 2050 or are the costs and challenges associated with precision fermentation technology such that it only makes sense to produce a handful of high-value ingredients in...
Solein, Solar Foods’ protein grown with CO2 and electricity, has received regulatory approval from the Singapore Food Agency (SFA). Commercial launch is planned for 2024, CEO and co-founder Pasi Vainikka tells FoodNavigator.
The 45 startups selected to participate in the FoodBytes! By Rabobank food and ag innovation program in 2022 provide a neat snapshot into trending topics in food and agriculture, from personalized nutrition and upcycling to robotics and farm biologics.
Beyond Meat is rolling out its latest innovation - Beyond Steak - at Kroger and Walmart stores nationwide, as well as at select Albertsons and Ahold divisions and other retailers across the country.
SPINS data shared with FoodNavigator-USA ahead of our Futureproofing the Food System virtual summit (Nov 15-17) shows a mixed picture for US retail sales of plant-based cheese, with overall dollar sales down -2.3% to $218.94m and unit sales down -3.6%...
The long-term imperative behind reducing our reliance on animal agriculture seems fairly compelling: The planet can’t sustain it. But with less engaged consumers dipping in and then out of the meat alternatives category as budgets tighten, and a subsegment...
The Tufts University Center for Cellular Agriculture (TUCCA) has launched a new consortium of industry and nonprofit members to support research and development in the burgeoning field of cellular agriculture.
Nestlé is continuing to fine tune its portfolio through ongoing SKU rationalization paired with an increased focus on high-growth segments of coffee and its Nestlé Health Sciences division with plans to introduce additional pricing actions to keep up...
Seen as the economical and convenient option for preparing meals at home during the height of the pandemic, the affordability of frozen food has slipped with the average per unit price up 17% vs. one year ago. But consumers still believe it provides good...
Nourish Ingredients – one of a new breed of startups deploying synthetic biology to program microbes to produce more animal-like fats - has raised $28.6m in a series A round led by Horizons Ventures and supported by Main Sequence Ventures and Hostplus...
Beyond Meat and former co-packer Don Lee Farms have agreed to settle an ugly five-year legal dispute prompted by the early termination of a supply contract in spring 2017.
Willow Biosciences – one of a clutch of biotech firms producing cannabinoids via biosynthesis rather than extraction – has started strain optimization and process development for commercial production of astaxanthin from yeast using a downstream processing...
Kraft Heinz is making progress towards several of its environmental and sustainability goals including cutting the amount of waste sent to landfill by 15% in 2021 and converting 84% of its global packaging portfolio to fully recyclable materials.
Plant-based seafood brand unMeat is rolling out its fish-free canned tuna products to 250 Harris Teeter stores capitalizing on the consumers' search for more affordable protein options.
The baby food landscape has changed drastically in recent years with an emphasis on fresh products and a flurry of DTC brands coming to market. So which trends present the biggest growth opportunities for brands and manufacturers?
PURIS - which recently opened a facility in Dawson, Minnesota that more than doubled its production capacity, cementing its position as the leading supplier of pea protein in North America - has moved into new territory with its first consumer brand dedicated...
Supermarket giant Kroger is merging with Albertsons Companies Inc. (Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco), bolstering its position as the second largest food retailer in the US with an estimated 11.8% market share behind Walmart at 17.1%.
Loss-making plant-based meat co Beyond Meat - which is currently squaring up to former co-packer Don Lee Farms in a trial in L.A. - has unveiled plans to lay off approximately 200 employees (19% of its global workforce) in a bid to cut costs and achieve...
The nation’s leading meat companies all got in on the action on meat alternatives, with investments in plant-based and cell-cultured meat startups and their own dedicated consumer brands. But with category sales weakening in recent months amid surging...
While consumers today are exploring more money-saving strategies such as choosing lower-cost items and cooking from scratch, their personal values around health and well-being and the planet have not wavered, according to research from Innova Market Insights.
Billed as the “world’s first protein-boosted hard juice,” BUILD by Pulp Culture adds an intriguing new twist to the functional beverage space with a 4.9% ABV fermented juice laced with adaptogens, probiotics,* and a highly-soluble, ‘near invisible’ animal-free...
Nature’s Fynd - a startup growing protein-packed food from microbes with a fraction of the environmental footprint of meat or dairy – is rolling out dairy-free cream cheeses to Sprouts nationwide.
Former executive chairman Seth Goldman, CEO Ethan Brown, Mattson CEO Justin Shimek and a cluster of senior Beyond Meat executives, past and present, are listed among 64 potential witnesses in the plant-based meat co’s trial with former co-packer Don Lee...
Researchers at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) have found eight new sweetness-enhancing compounds in 11 citrus cultivars that could offer improved palatability and lower sugar content in food and beverage...
Natural Products Expo East may not be as big as its West Coast counterpart, but the 18,500 registered attendees and more than 1,200 exhibitors who convened in Philadelphia earlier this month for the annual conference were just as enthusiastic and the...
While plant-based is still one of the hottest trends in food and beverage, sales and consumer engagement with alternative proteins have slid in recent quarters – prompting some players in the space to rethink their strategy.
In a restructuring announced days after meat giant JBS revealed plans to close its Planterra Foods plant-based meat division, impacting 121 jobs, Impossible Foods is eliminating approximately 6% of roles at the company (under 50 staff) in a move it claims...
San Diego-based BlueNalu has outlined plans for a large-scale cell-cultured seafood plant it anticipates will be operational in 2027. This will deploys technology it claims can “unlock the path to significant profitability” and enable a projected 75%...
The multi-national has pledged to improve the nutritional values across its plant-based drinks portfolio as part of a range of measures that will include investing US$22m in various initiatives to promote health and wellbeing.
Massachusetts-based Conagen has announced the commercial production of its 99% pure salidroside, harnessing the adaptogenic potential of the Rhodiola rosea plant through bioconversion.
Beyond Meat has been testing its much-anticipated plant-based Beyond Steak and a new variant of Beyond Chicken – ‘Beyond Popcorn Chicken’ – in select stores ahead of a wider launch.
Meat giant JBS has pulled the plug on its US plant-based meat division Planterra Foods just over two years after debuting the ‘OZO’ brand at Kroger in summer 2020, and is closing a 189,000 square foot factory it opened in Denver in December 2021.
The western diet – and the food system that underpins it – is becoming increasingly unsustainable, for the health of humans and the planet. So how do we futureproof the food system to deliver healthier, more sustainable products that nourish our bodies...
