Becoming non-GMO certified can help brands attract new consumers and boost sales, but it also could alienate existing shoppers if manufacturers are not careful, cautions Asian sauce maker San-J.
Solazyme is aiming to launch the latest addition to its micro-algae-based ingredients portfolio in early 2016 - an algae butter - which it says could replace hard fats such as palm oil or partially hydrogenated oils in a variety of applications spanning...
WhiteWave Foods’ efforts to expand the plant-based dairy alternative category beyond beverage and outside of the natural channel already is paying off for the company, and it holds significant promise for the larger category’s and retailers’ future, executives...
Two relatively small, but high-profile snack categories are merging with the Nov. 4 launch of Exo’s savory meal bars with alternative protein from crickets.
KonaRed – the Hawaii-based company on a mission to make coffee fruit the next big thing in functional foods and beverages – has similar challenges to those POM Wonderful faced when it first got started, but has the potential to be equally successful,...
If you didn't make it to Chicago last week for the inaugural Food Vision USA event, you missed a truly awesome ensemble of industry experts covering everything from our nutritional needs on a manned mission to Mars to the challenges facing small...
Media attention has focussed on the unsustainabilty of California's almond industry, with issues ranging from water overuse during drought and pesticide harm to bees during pollination - but this is unfair says the California Almond Board.
San Francisco-based microalgae pioneer Solazyme has expand its joint venture with oils expert Bunge to develop a “range of breakthrough oils for food and products for animal nutrition”.
With growth in fresh perimeter grocery departments outpacing that of the center of the store, Portland, OR-based The Better Bean Co. saw a void for a high-quality alternative to canned beans that could become part of people’s weekly cooking routines.
The time is here for sweet potatoes, according to industry newcomer Carolina Innovative Food Ingredients, Inc., which says ingredients from the vegetable can help manufacturers clean up labels, cut calories and sugar, tap into key consumer trends such...
Target has embarked on a multi-year collaboration with MIT’s Media Lab and design firm IDEO that will explore areas such as urban farming, food transparency and authenticity, supply chain and health.
In the hyper-competitive beverage world, it’s hard to imagine a brand pioneering a new beverage category using a mission-driven business model aimed at restoring the rainforest would still be around 20 years later, let alone growing at an average rate...
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has launched a probe into the way the American Egg Board handled the ‘threat’ of Hampton Creek – the San Francisco-based start-up behind the egg-free spread Just Mayo - amid claims it overstepped its mandate by...
Chocolate makers must pay double the market price for cocoa farmers to receive a living income, says the CEO of Fairtrade as the organization gears up to review pricing.
Chr Hansen has reported ‘very satisfactory’ overall growth of 10%, as stronger performances in cultures, enzymes, and nutrition balance out below per performance in natural colours.
The baking and snacks industry must explore innovations in grains to meet the challenges of a growing population, according to PepsiCo's global R&D head.
Blending is the way forward for plant based proteins in sports nutrition and their price stability can help manufacturers, says World Food Processing president Tyler Lorenzen.
VEGA Coffee is based on a simple – but surprisingly novel – concept, says founder Noushin Ketabi: What if the farmers who grow coffee, actually roasted and packaged it as well, and then sold their ‘farm-roasted’ product directly to US consumers via an...
Cargill conquered the technical challenges of bringing a fermented Reb D/Reb M stevia ingredient to market. Clearing the consumer acceptance hurdle was best handled by being as transparent as possible about the ingredient, a company executive said.
From savory yogurt and coffee fruit infusions, to switchel – apple cider vinegar-based concoctions that offer a modern twist on a centuries-old tradition - Sterling-Rice Group (SRG) highlights 10 culinary trends it predicts will inspire packaged foods...
Norwegian firm Arctic Nutrition AS has achieved market penetration with the formal launch in the US market of its Romega phospholipid omega-3 ingredient sourced from herring roe. The ingredient made its market splash at the Supply Side West trade show...
Impossible Foods, one of a new wave of Silicon Valley-backed companies promising to “transform the global food system”, has raised $108m in its latest round of financing, and says its first product – a plant-based burger that precisely replicates the...
'The Dietary Guidelines are not the appropriate vehicle for this important policy conversation about sustainability'
Sustainability will not factor into the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, say the US Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services, prompting praise from the meat lobby and anger from environmental and consumer/health advocacy groups.
Can a bunch of food-tech start-ups really ‘fix the broken food system’, feed 9bn people by 2050 and ‘disrupt’ the food industry with a killer app? Maybe, but they might be better off focusing on more tangible goals, according to investment experts gathered...
The tortoise - rather than the hare – is often the winner in the retail food and beverage industry, says Hartman Group’s SVP James Richardson, PhD, who says we can all learn lessons from six disruptive brands in health & wellness, from Hint Water...
While cynics observe that biodynamic cane sugar is still sugar, and gourmet Himalayan pink salt is still good old sodium chloride, it’s a fact that trends which might seem to have niche appeal are increasingly heading to the mainstream, and that a small,...
Microalgae specialist Solazyme has moved into the consumer packaged goods (CPG) arena with the launch of Thrive, a culinary oil from algae that will make its debut at upmarket grocer Gelson's Markets in southern California this week.
Cargill: 'This opens up a new space and helps us address a market we can’t get to today from the leaf'
Cargill and Evolva will introduce their hotly-anticipated ‘next-generation’ Reb D and Reb M sweetener – produced via fermentation rather than from the stevia leaf – at the Supply Side West show next week under the EverSweet brand as they prepare for a...
One key to a successful Kickstarter campaign is to create “stretch goals” that incentivize existing backers to find more investors to help unlock additional rewards, advises Michael Salguero, founder of the grass fed meat delivery service Butcher Box.
The yogurt category continues to evolve and expand with more refined varieties, including yogurt from sheep, goats and grass fed animals, as well as lactose free options. The kefir category also is expanding in tandem, as demonstrated by the array of...
Seaweed snacks are riding a rising tide in the U.S. with sales swelling between $250 million and $500 million in 2014, according to an industry trends expert.
Whole Foods Market has challenged allegations by animal rights group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), that the standards to which it holds its meat and poultry suppliers “barely exceed common industry practices”.
Hemp and sacha inchi – two ‘ancient yet modern’ sources of protein from seeds – are gaining traction in the burgeoning plant-based protein set, although their premium price tag means they are unlikely to become as big as rice or pea protein – at least...
Jackfruit, a previously hard-to-find but popular meat substitute among vegans, is going mainstream in the US with two manufacturers launching ready-to-eat product lines featuring the fibrous plant as a main ingredient.
Sales of organic are skyrocketing in the U.S. with demand often outstripping supply, but the Organic Trade Association has a plan to bring into balance by 2030 the market growth, acreage growth and farming profitability of organic.
Demand for GMO certification services has been growing faster than supply, and NSF has responded to that demand with its new True North certification program, said the scheme’s director.
Scientists have identified a genetic defect in oil palms, called bad karma, which reduces yields – a finding that could save industry both time and money, they say.
Sometimes the most disruptive food products are less about blue-sky innovation than taking something familiar, adding a new twist, and creating a completely new category, says Ripple Brand Collective founder and CEO Scott Semel, who has seen his latest...
While the meteoric growth of plant-based beverages such as almondmilk is well-documented, WhiteWave Foods has identified $2.7bn worth of business in other plant-based categories in the US retail market, including yogurt, creamers, and frozen desserts,...
Campbell Soup Company continues to be impacted by restructuring costs and falling sales. But an uptick in organic sales buoyed the company as it embarks on a previously announced plan to restructure its portfolio as it released its fourth quarter 2015...
Two new, versatile production platforms created by ingredient supplier C-fu FOODS could crack open the nascent insect protein commodity market in North America by “abstracting the product from its source,” a company co-founder says.
Antioxidant- and fiber-rich baobab is on the verge of stealing the crown from acai, goji berries and pomegranate as the “queen of superfruits,” thanks to awareness raised by recent and upcoming product launches featuring the ingredient, according to a...
An event in late September will bring natural and organic food brands and thought leaders together with hundreds of bloggers. It’s the first such event of its kind, organizers said.
Kellogg and General Mills’ pledges to remove artificial ingredients from their cereals in the coming years will not be enough to help cereal rebound but could spark an R&D trend, says a Euromonitor analyst.
Sales of nondairy milk in the U.S. have almost doubled from 2009 to 2014 and now account for 20% of the $24 billion dairy case market, according to recent research from Mintel.
Multifunctional fibers made from fruit and vegetable peals and pulps that would otherwise be thrown away can help manufacturers meet consumers’ growing demand for clean ingredient labels while also reducing food waste.
