Open innovation - or collaborating with others to get more innovative new products to market more quickly - is starting to do for the food industry what open source computing has done for the IT industry, says the new president of the IFT.
The Hershey Company has told this site that it plans to work with multiple organizations to meet its recent pledge to use only certified cocoa by 2020, and will communicate progress in annual reports.
Big Interview: Dave McLaughlin, World Wildlife Fund
Food manufacturers are beginning to realize that buying more GreenPalm certificates now might be the only way to stimulate enough production of sustainable palm oil to make fully traceable products economically viable in future, says the World Wildlife...
Walmart says it is confident it will reach its goal of using sustainably sourced palm oil for all of its private label products by the end of 2015, although it won’t give any details about how much progress it has made to date in North America.
There is a “unique opportunity for high purity EPA as a standalone ingredient” as the omega-3 market becomes more sophisticated, says algal omega-3 specialist Aurora Algae as it prepares to break ground on a commercial-scale production site it claims...
We’ve heard from the branding experts and the market researchers. But what do ingredients firms working with some of the biggest names in food, beverages and supplements think about how to target Millennials?
Foodservice giant Sodexo has pledged to switch the sourcing of all of the 39 million shelled eggs that it uses each year to cage-free hens by July 2014.
About 40% of all food produced in the United States goes to waste – an amount worth about $165bn, according to a new report from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
With fish consumption rates soaring and wild fishing stagnating, efforts must be pumped into the sustainable growth of aquaculture, a new report suggests.
Most Canadians try to buy locally produced food – and many are willing to pay a significant premium for it, according to the results of a new Bank of Montreal (BMO) survey.
High demand for environmentally friendly goods is providing the food industry with growing opportunities to create a new and unique supply chain system that offers advantages for everybody, according to new research.
The total market for analogs and meat free products is set to rise by 4.4%, from €2.85bn to €3.54bn, in the next five years, according to exclusive data from market analyst RTS Resource.
How many options do vegetarians and flexitarians (meat reducers) have when they go out to eat (if they are not in the mood for bean burgers and Margherita pizza)?
Back in the early ‘80s when his tempeh business was getting off the ground, the meat alternatives category was not exactly brimming with mouth-watering options, says Tofurky creator Seth Tibbott.
Fairtrade product sales rose 12% worldwide in 2011 due to ethical sourcing commitments from the food and drink industry and increased consumer awareness.
Big interview: Rod Sowders, CEO and president, Synergy Flavors
Synergy Flavors aims to move all of its product development, marketing, commercial and admin functions to a new flavor innovation and manufacturing campus less than a mile from its current facility in Wauconda, Illinois, by the end of August.
Sales of natural flavours in Western Europe are set to be overtaken by sales in the Asia-Pacific market within the next three years, according to market research firm RTS.
Kraft Foods is inviting potential partners to pitch “ingredients, formulations or technologies" that could help it create an environmentally-friendly chewing gum base that will degrade after disposal.
Big Interview: Ilene Gordon, chairman, president and CEO, Ingredion
With R&D departments at some food manufacturers pared down to the bone as bosses slash overheads to control costs, open innovation has moved from a hot topic on the conference circuit to a practical necessity, says Ingredion CEO Ilene Gordon.
A completely new source of the coveted long chain omega-3s EPA and DHA should be commercialized by the end of the decade thanks to a multi-million-dollar tie up between ingredient giants BASF and Cargill to produce the next generation of canola oils.
Interview: Samy Jandali, VP Nutrition & Health, North America, BASF
Chat to any major ingredients supplier at a trade show and you can expect to hear liberal use of buzzwords from ‘partnership’ and ‘collaboration’ to ‘open innovation’ says Samy Jandali.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reporting is increasing rapidly in the United States, and as more companies get on board, the most important food industry-specific issues are becoming better defined, according to a Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)...
Hershey plans to increase the amount of cocoa it sources from Mexico by initiating a $2.8m crop growing programme in partnership with Ecom Cocoa that it says will boost yields in Southern Mexico.
Fair Trade imports into the US grew 75% in 2011, as food manufacturers look to secure their supply chains through more direct contact with suppliers - and as they bet on growing demand from 'conscious consumers', says Fair Trade USA president...
More than 25,000 firms from small farms to PepsiCo and Kraft are now using an online platform for managing ethical supply chain data called Sedex (Supplier Ethical Data Exchange).
Do consumers care whether the ingredients in their favorite foods are produced sustainably, and whether the people that produce them are treated fairly?
Food companies’ demand for sustainably sourced ingredients is increasing rapidly – but supply of certified ingredients is not keeping up, according to ISEAL, the global association for sustainability standards.
Cacao pod husks – a major by-product of cocoa processing – could provide industry with a new, environmentally friendly source of pectin, say researchers.
Demand for cocoa is expected to climb 30% in the next 10 years creating a 25% shortage of current supply, according to North American cocoa processor and chocolate ingredients supplier Blommer Chocolate Company.
From stevia to monk fruit, oats, agave nectar and coconut palm sugar. In the second of our spring special editions, we look at what’s next for natural sweeteners.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has expanded its partnership with the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) in a bid to boost cocoa production in developing countries and improve livelihoods for cocoa farmers.
The decision by retailers to remove finely textured beef (FTB) - aka ‘pink slime’ - from ground beef products was “disappointing but understandable given the immense volume of misinformation and hyperbole” surrounding the product, according to Cargill.
Plant protein specialist Burcon has failed to reach a deal to commercialize its ‘invisible’ pea protein isolate Peazazz before the exclusivity period with a potential partner lapsed.
The food industry could promote meat and dairy substitutes ‘like digital technology’ to tackle climate change, suggests former World Bank environmental adviser Robert Goodland.
Meat consumption would need to be reduced by 50% per person in order to meet nitrous oxide reduction targets set out in an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) draft report, according to a new study.
Success in the developing markets of Latin America, Africa and Asia combined with an ‘impressive’ innovative platform has secured strong Q1 results for Givaudan’s flavour business, according to one analyst.
The chief executive of BioExx - a Canadian firm trying to bring canola protein to the mass market - says he is convinced it can be even bigger than soy, despite the frustratingly slow pace of progress on the commercialization front.
Once the preserve of sweaty men pumping iron, protein has emerged from an image overhaul as the ingredient of choice for food developers targeting consumers of all ages and both genders keen to battle the bulge and stay strong, according to one trends...
A new method to extract compounds from 'low value' mustard seed waste could provide industry with a new source for natural food preservatives, according to a team of Canadian researchers.
There's a lot of gas about using natural and sustainable ingredients in foods, but is industry throwing one free and natural ingredient out of the window without considering its potential?
For the third year running, soy ingredients company Solae has been recognized by the Ethisphere Institute as one of the World’s Most Ethical (WME) companies, but it is still the only food ingredients company on the list.
Sustainability in food supply chains is likely to become crucial to the food industry as the global population expands – and it is also central for companies’ long term financial health, according to Stefano Crea, global director of food and beverage...
Using pea or bean flour instead of rice flour in gluten free products could significantly improve their nutritional profile, according to one expert on celiac disease.
Canadian plant protein specialist Burcon NutraScience says it remains confident of finding a new partner to commercialize its canola proteins after it emerged that ADM will not now be taking the proteins to market – after eight years of talks.
