Nutrition Capital Network partner Grant Ferrier said the mentoring program his company provides has boosted the success of innovation partnership programs such as the one sponsored by DSM.
Consumer interest in plant-based alternatives for animal products is driving innovation across categories from dairy and eggs to meat and desserts as showcased by manufacturers at Natural Products Expo West.
US packaging company CSP Technologies plans to expand in the food industry through a deal to take over the Atlanta-based business Maxwell Chase Technologies.
Start-ups are changing the food industry from trailblazing new ideas to providing new growth models, and both big businesses and small start-ups need to collaborate to innovate. The benefits are mutual, says Jeremy Basset, founder of Unilever’s incubator...
Hershey has launched a contest calling for companies to help it develop a lightweight, affordable shipping system that will keep chocolate cool even in the warmest months.
Collaborative innovation between retailers and manufacturers can jumpstart product development, generate substantial cost-savings and improve the success of a launch more effectively than either partner likely could achieve on its own, a senior director...
Two well-known players in food financing – former Silverwood Partners MDs Michael Burgmaier and Nick McCoy - have started a new boutique investment bank focused on the consumer products industry called Whipstitch Capital.
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.
Roughly 85% of innovations fail, but those that succeed often have one thing in common: They resolve a poorly performed job in consumers’ lives, according to a new report from Nielsen.
Swiss fermentation specialist Evolva Holding SA has reached a third milestone in its collaboration with Roquette Frères SA, triggering a payment of “several hundreds of thousands of Swiss Francs” to Evolva, the company has said.
While ‘legacy’ food and beverage brands are laser focused on price, promotion and placement, no amount of financial clout or merchandising wizardry can mask the fact that smaller, sexier, more disruptive, brands are outpacing them. But are CPG’s biggest...
Gluten-free microwaveable muffins plug a market gap where major food firms are slow to innovate, claims a start-up looking to upscale its muffin pot concept.
Many people developing new products at CPG companies feel frustrated and demotivated according to a new survey, which probably comes as no surprise given the high failure rate in the trade. But looking at what firms that produce more winners have in common...
Industry needs to ‘dramatically innovate’ if it is to come up with sustainable solutions to feed the world, says James Bauly of DSM, as he summarises his take away messages from the event.
On day two of the 8th American Food Technology & Innovation Summit in Chicago, delegates learned about plant-based egg replacers, the innovation process at Diageo and how MOM Brands embraces conflict...
The use of mobile technologies and social media to connect with real consumers can help manufacturers gain better innovation insights for today and tomorrow, says Chris Cornyn.
FoodNavigator-USA correspondent Maggie Hennessy headed to the great food city of Portland, OR, last week for the Research Chefs Association's 2014 Conference & Culinology Expo. Here's a snapshot of who she saw, what she learned and what...
New product development doesn’t have to be a random hit and miss exercise, but can be helped by 60 lines of thinking, says the CEO of Inventours and author of the new book Catalyzing Innovation.
The sales slowdown in the US cereal category has nothing to do with consumers and everything to do with manufacturers, says the chairman and CEO of General Mills.
While proteins, whole grains and omega-3s might have got more air time lately, fiber should be top of mind for formulators given that nearly all consumers are still getting significantly less than they need, and you can now add fiber to almost anything...
Innovation. It’s a word you hear on many executives’ lips. Sure, it’s reassuring rhetoric for investors, as it means a company is not resting on its laurels. But what does it mean, exactly? The answer, for all too many companies, even some large corporations,...
Europeans tend to be quite conservative when it comes to flavour, but there are ways to create innovative tastes even around well-established popular flavours, says Euromonitor ingredients analyst Lauren Bandy.
Open innovation used to be just for the likes of P&G and Unilever, but today, it's being embraced by a lot of mid-sized companies in the $100m-$1bn revenue range as well, according to Andy Zynga, CEO of open innovation expert and corporate matchmaking...
From Nike’s Bill Bowerman being inspired by a waffle iron, to studying the behavior of herding cows for the redevelopment of Times Square, cross-pollination of ideas from different fields can generate big rewards.
More than 70 Hershey suppliers assembled in Baltimore on Wednesday (May 8) to attend an open innovation forum designed to help the firm improve and accelerate the innovation process via collaboration with external partners.
A new foundation has come together to help transfer technology from federal scientists into new food products and strategies that could help combat obesity and find sustainable ways to feed the world’s growing population.
From food ingredients that reduce the blood glucose response to food intake, to natural high-potency sweeteners, digestive health and weight management ingredients, and plant-based ingredients that can mask bitter flavors…
Unilever has added new ‘challenges and wants’ to its open innovation platform, this time seeking help with a stable natural red colour for fruit and dairy, and technologies to reduce sugar in ready to drink teas.
ConAgra Foods is pumping $100m into expanding its facility in Russellville, Arkansas, to make Bertolli and P.F. Chang's frozen meals in a move that will create 80 new jobs.
In March 2013 senior business leaders from global food, drink and nutrition businesses will come together for Food Vision, a world-first industry summit established by the publishers of FoodNavigator.com and NutraIngredients.com. Food Vision will provide...
Hershey’s CEO has said that pacing is important in innovation and while efforts have been “far more disciplined” than in the past, it is still committed to new product development (NPD).
Special edition: The new product development process
Global food companies face big NPD challenges in appealing to widely varied local tastes, but as the world becomes increasingly interconnected, manufacturers are learning lessons from product launches half a world away.
A raft of new products from whole-grain pizza crusts under the Pillsbury brand to a Cascadian Farm granola packed with ancient grains, will hit stores this summer as General Mills ramps up its new product development activities.
Market expansion group DKSH has announced plans to open its second innovation centre in Mumbai, India to help companies introduce confectionery and bakery products tailored to the Indian market.
Kraft Foods delivered a “higher rate of revenue from new products last year than at any time in recent memory” revealed bosses as they reassured stakeholders that both businesses will have “world-class innovation organizations on day one” after it breaks...
Dannon has opened a new $9m research and development center at its White Plains, NY headquarters, in order to improve collaboration between departments and bring new products to market more quickly.
A $14.7m innovation center claimed by owner Cargill be ”one of the world’s most advanced food R&D facilities” will open next Friday (July 15) in Wichita, Kansas.
General Mills is throwing more and more resources behind an ‘intellectual outsourcing’ project that has significantly reduced its product fail rate. But gaining the trust of start-ups has not been easy, says Kamel Chida, associate director of its Worldwide...
When it comes to innovation, the idea of “partner or perish” has to become the new mantra for the food industry, according to a review published by Nestlé scientists.
Chocolate products are smashing through the recessionary gloom in the US with sales expected to top $19bn within four years, according to the latest report from research group Packaged Facts.
Food and beverage product launches increased by 15 percent in the last half of 2009 in the United States, indicating a move toward more product innovation, according to the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT).
Dietary fiber ingredients firm Z Trim Holdings has entered an agreement with the Aveka Group for new product development, manufacturing, and to protect and expand its intellectual property.
