Earlier this week meal kit company Chef’d announced that it had ceased all operations and issued layoff notices to its employees, citing "unexpected circumstances with the funding for the business." While there is still speculation over what...
In a space like meat snacks, it’s hard to standout especially for a small brand like Chomps Snack Sticks. The Chicago startup’s lean and mean approach has gained it access into major retailers including 7-Eleven, Safeway, and Albertsons where it outsells...
Tate & Lyle has introduced TASTEVA M Stevia Sweetener made from Reb M, which it claims tastes “remarkably like sugar” compared to other steviol glycosides.
Gatorade Zero – PepsiCo’s sugar free version of Gatorade – is 'off to a great start', according to PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi; highlighting trademark Gatorade as a stronghold in PepsiCo’s North American Beverages Unit.
The diverse and tech saavy ways of Generation Z or the iGeneration – referring to those aged 11-22 in 2018 – will have a profound impact on food and beverage formulations over the next several years, Mintel noted during a presentation at IFT 2018.
PureCircle has reached a critical mass of its proprietary Reb M Starleaf stevia, with enough supply to to sweeten approximately 500 million cases of zero-calorie carbonated soft drinks, and in three years, the stevia supplier estimates that it will have...
A new association created by four of the nation's largest food companies wants to redirect industry’s approach to nutrition, transparency and the environmental impact of food production, in a move the CSPI says "further marginalizes" the...
Dang Foods – best known for its coconut chips and sticky rice snacks – is making its first foray into the notoriously crowded bar segment with the FATBAR – a new high fat, moderate protein, low carb, nut butter-based bar with no added sugar that taps...
Spindrift, a sparkling water brand flavored with fruit juice, has achieved some significant milestones including multiple rounds of equity funding ($10m and $20) led by VMG Partners, triple digit sales, and national distribution. But according to the...
Sometimes less is more, as in the case of caffeine, which the founders of Chicago-based beverage startup Tempo argue more effectively boosts productivity, awareness and cognitive performance when metered out in “micro-doses,” rather than the mega-amounts...
Primal Kitchen – a lifestyle brand spearheaded by former endurance athlete Mark Sisson (strapline: ‘Eat like your life depends on it’) - is on course to double sales this year as it adds new lines to its Paleo-fueled food portfolio from unsweetened ketchup...
At IFT in Chicago next week, “future-forward entrepreneurs” participating in the NEXT Start-Up Alley will showcase new solutions to some of today’s biggest problems, including food safety and sugar-reduction, as well as emerging challenges of the future,...
Ready-to-drink (RTD) coffee is experiencing massive interest with emerging brands and large beverage players looking to take a gulp of the market as consumers increasingly swap out energy drinks and carbonated soft drinks for a chilled, on-the-go coffee...
Big food manufacturers have increasingly recognized that their scale and robust supply chains aren’t enough to stay competitive and turn around years of little to no growth, and are refocusing their efforts on restoring consumer trust, says Rabobank.
While the ongoing war on sugar is taking a toll on sales of conventional chocolate in the US, it is creating an opportunity for once-niche, better-for-you options, including sugar-free – as long as the taste and experience are not compromised in the trade-off,...
Stevia-sweetened zero-cal beverage brand Zevia – which first hit the market in 2007 - notched up growth of more than 50% year on year in the latest 12 weeks in conventional channels, driven almost entirely through velocity gains as consumers demand beverages...
The plant-based milk segment was already pretty crowded by the time Jeff Richards quit the day job to launch Mooala in 2016. But the fact that buyers at the likes of Whole Foods, Safeway, H.E.B., Costco, and Wegmans, were willing to give him a shot this...
At the intersection of the crowded cold-brew coffee category and the highly competitive energy drink segment, the founders of startup Bold Brew Coffee saw an opportunity to bring something new to each space.
Magellan Life Sciences says its patent-pending fermentation process to scale up the sweet-tasting protein brazzein will make it the first company to market the natural, zero-calorie sweetener.
It’s easy to look at the Annie’s brand now – which achieved double-digit household penetration during former president and CEO John Foraker’s tenure – and think the company never took a wrong turn on its path to center-store ubiquity.
Following a strong backlash from consumers and industry on a proposal to label sugars on the label of a jar of honey or pure maple syrup as 'added sugars', the US FDA has announced it will “swiftly formulate a revised approach”.
Following on from the success of its French-style yogurt Oui, General Mills has unveiled YQ by Yoplait, a 99% lactose-free yogurt made with ultra-filtered milk (milk filtered to concentrate the protein and reduce the lactose/milk sugar) that “delivers...
Check out FoodNavigator-USA’s latest gallery of new products hitting US shelves, spanning new protein bars for kids and protein-packed snacks from upcycled chicken breast trim to the latest wave of reduced sugar beverages.
Rising consumer interest in the high-fat ketogenic diet, and the subsequent frustration many feel trying to adhere to the restrictive approach, could prompt a new wave of people to turn to the low-carb Atkins diet as a more flexible option that shares...
FDA proposals that the sugars in a jar of honey or pure maple syrup should be listed as 'added sugars' on food labels (albeit with an explanatory note) is “absolutely ridiculous,” according to the vast majority of stakeholders commenting on...
Dr Lustig: 'Despite the food industry's propaganda, people now understand that 'a calorie is not a calorie...'
Dr Robert Lustig’s mantra – that not all calories were created equal - appears to be resonating with more US consumers, with one third (33%) of Americans believing that sugars are the ‘source of calories most likely to cause weight gain’ compared with...
Not technically an herbal tea and not a soda, Petal identifies itself as sparkling botanical blend carving out a new space for itself in the world of better-for-you beverages.
Finding nutrient-dense snacks becomes more of a challenge for moms once they exit the baby aisle and right around the time 'picky-eater syndrome' sets in. To fill this gap, Messy Monkeys is positioning itself as an affordable and healthy snack...
Americans’ obsession with dieting is nothing new, but which diets are in and which ones are out is constantly shifting – creating a marketing nightmare for food and beverage brands that want to link their products to consumers’ desired outcomes.
Kumana, a Los Angeles-based, Venezuelan-inspired company, making a line of avocado sauces is targeting national distribution through Safeway to inject some exotic innovation into the condiments space.
Sun Basket has continued its individualized nutrition approach with the launch of a diabetes-friendly, “carbohydrate-conscious” meal plan developed in collaboration with the American Diabetes Association (ADA).
High Brew Coffee of Austin, Texas, closed a $20m funding round led by investment firm Charles Street Partners, marking its third and largest investment since launching in 2014.
Bright Foods has brought added innovation to the emerging refrigerated bar space with the recent launch of Bright Bars – chilled whole food bars made via high pressure processing (HPP) – available in select Whole Foods stores in Southern California.
As a food or beverage startup, it’s natural to want to expand very quickly, but brands should take a moment to revel in their small-scale existence and take advantage of their ability to be nimble, says Poppilu founder Melanie Kahn.
For years ready-to-eat cereal has suffered sleepy sales and battled nightmarish consumer perceptions around poor nutrition and lack of convenience, but several natural and organic manufacturers are hoping the reawaken the category with better-for-you...
After establishing a following in the athletic channel including with NFL and MLB teams, 100% cherry juice brand CHERRiSH is making its way into hundreds of convenience stores to compete alongside the likes of POM Wonderful and other premium juices.
McDonald’s aggressive goals to improve the nutrition and limit the calories of its Happy Meals “has tremendous potential to improve child nutrition” and raises the bar for kid’s meals at by fast casual restaurants and CPG manufacturers, according to a...
To win the battle of the bulge and “fix the food system,” advocates for health and nutrition need to work with “disparate allies” that have a stake in the fight against obesity but are not currently on the front lines, according to Dariush Mozaffarian,...
Portion control may be the best chance – and biggest challenge – at turning around the current obesity epidemic, according to industry experts at the Partnership for a Healthier America Summit in Washington, DC, this month.
What's in your lunchbox? Healthy meals, snacks and drinks for children
Almost one in three American children is overweight or obese, and one in every 13 has a food allergy.* So how can retailers, packaged food brands and the foodservice industry address these concerns, and develop nutritious and delicious meals, snacks,...
Childhood obesity: 'Are we making progress or has progress stalled?'
New data suggesting childhood obesity in the US is on the rise again may not tell the full story, but nevertheless serves as a call for manufacturers and public health advocates to redouble their efforts to improve the diet and health of young Americans,...
As public enemy No. 1, sugar often is portrayed online as “toxic” or as “poisoning our bodies,” but this characterization is “a complete … web myth,” that oversimplifies the cause of diet related chronic diseases and doesn’t take into account the benefits...
Functional beverages have come a long way since consumers first got a taste of drinks that delivered more than taste and refreshment, LA Libations founder and CEO Danny Stepper said at The Beverage Forum in Chicago this week.
While common when sitting at home on the couch, eating nut butters straight from the jar before hopping on a plane (if TSA didn’t confiscate) or during a rigorous workout can be a clumsy, messy experience, but FBOMB’s redesigned, single-serve pouches...
Once considered simply a children’s snack that parents would sneak when no one was looking, puffs suddenly are everywhere – and for everyone – thanks to their better-for-you profile, new sophisticated flavors, increasingly diverse bases and playful shapes...
Novozymes, a global producer of enzymes that controls roughly 48% of the market, is seeing its focus on food and beverage solutions and innovation pay off in 2018.
Fed up that “sugar-packed foods, such as toaster pastries and pudding cups” can claim to be ‘healthy,’ but eggs cannot, despite their high levels of protein and beneficial nutrients, Pete & Gerry’s Organic Eggs is petitioning FDA to modify its labeling...
With one in five Americans suffering from an auto immune disease and looking for ways to manage their conditions through diet, the market potential for foods and beverage that comply with the auto immune protocol is “huge,” and yet relatively untapped,...
Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey acknowledges the UK sugar tax is likely to have ‘some impact’ on the company in the UK – particularly for classic Coca-Cola – but is optimistic that the industry is well prepared to minimize the impact of the levy.
