Competition is heating up in the ‘smart food’ category with brands claiming their meal-on-the-go offerings are convenient, rich in nutrients, and provide sustaining protein from plant-based sources.
By Stu Strumwasser, managing director, Green Circle Capital Advisors
These days, as I travel through the offices of natural products CEOs and investors, and grocery aisles, and trade show booths at Expos North, South, East and West, I find myself constantly informed of the protein content in food and beverage products....
While some animal protein producers might see the rise in plant-based eating as a threat, Applegate sees it as an opportunity to push forward its mission of changing the meat we eat with several new products, including a blended burger that combines meat...
Not long ago, high protein content call-outs were reserved for ready-to-drink milkshakes and protein bars. Today, everything from snacks to pasta to frozen food boast high protein content on their packaging. What’s sustaining the protein fortification...
'What we're wrestling with is whether CBD is an ingredient play, or something huge brands can be built around'
The fact that CBD is not a legal ingredient in foods and supplements - at least not yet - did not deter scores of exhibitors at Expo West, who added it to everything from soda to protein bars (absent any claims), with some opting for isolates, but most...
Like many emerging brands that began with a more narrowly functional look and feel to their packaging, protein-fueled Protes has refreshed its packaging, replacing the clinical white background of its popcorn and the black backdrop of its chips with bright...
MyPlate – the government’s visual aide for healthy eating – features fruits, vegetables, grains, and a fourth segment simply called ‘protein.' Today, this might come from plants or animals, but tomorrow, it could come from a suite of microscopic...
Global demand for food will double by 2050, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), spurring a need for new protein sources.
Iconic plant-based brand Yves Veggie Cuisine’s new packaging featuring “mouthwatering” photos of its veggie-forward products aims to show consumers that “cheating on meat” doesn’t have to be a sacrifice.
Latest data from Kantar Media reveals the most visible brands in the meal replacement shake space, and how brands can get a leg up in a tight competitive atmosphere.
Fearful that the current approach to diet and food production globally could have ‘dire’ consequences for public health and the environment in the future as the population rapidly increases, a group of leading scientists from around the world recommend...
PECKISH, a brand created by California-based Sonoma Brands, has entered an exclusive distribution agreement with specialty natural foods retailer, Erewhon, hitting shelves at its four store locations in the Los Angeles area.
Cargill has unveiled its new 188,000-square-foot North American protein headquarters in Wichita, Kansas, designed to foster employee collaboration and drive innovation in the protein category.
Is the protein craze fizzling out? Not if you look at new product launch data, or the fact that producers of both plant and dairy proteins are continuing to add capacity, and consumers are continuing to experiment with new sources, from marine collagen...
While plant-based and so-called ‘alternative’ proteins – from algae to cricket powder – continue to gain traction in the food industry, dairy proteins are still growing, fast, says AMCO Proteins, which has been working with customers on a range of novel...
There is no doubt that healthy snacking is trending, with emphasis on clean label, protein and vegan launches. According to Innova Market Insights, as snacks become healthier, more wholesome and satisfying, they are increasingly fulfilling the role of...
Perfect Day, a high-profile Silicon Valley start-up producing casein and whey via microbial fermentation (minus the cows) has teamed up with global ingredients giant ADM to develop and commercialize its animal-free dairy proteins.
With a smile-inducing new name and brightly colored updated packaging, Enlightened’s Bada Bean Bada Boom crunchy broad bean snacks are ready to come out from the shadows – literally and figuratively.
Amano Enzyme has developed a new enzyme that improves the solubility of proteins at lower pH levels, helping manufacturers develop fruity protein shakes and other beverages without some of the technical issues that can occur once the pH drops below a...
Protein cookie brand Lenny & Larry’s has agreed to settle a lawsuit alleging it overstated the protein content of its cookies, in order to avoid the cost and hassle of prolonged litigation, but says it stands by its claims and won’t be changing its...
Food and beverage products touting protein claims has become a big business driven by strong consumer interest, however two Nielsen surveys highlight knowledge gaps consumer still have about the nutrient.
Protein water brand Protein2o is on an “amazing growth trajectory,” said its president Andy Horrow. It’s poised for more growth after securing a distribution deal in 900 Publix stores.
After nearly four years of development, Zea10 is targeting food developers with its barley and rice plant protein isolate positioning itself as yet another alternative in the booming plant protein space at the IFT show next week.
The co-founders of Pin Up Girl protein were tired of the dichotomous narrative they observed in the protein powder category. On one end, you have the hyper-masculine branding focusing on bulking and powering up, and on the other end, powders targeting...
The ready-to-eat popcorn category has been pretty lively in recent years, but all the innovation has all been driven by branding and flavor, rather than functionality, claims Brooklyn-based brand Protes, which is looking to bring incremental growth to...
While the hype over edible insects has died down somewhat over the past couple of years, the demand for so-called ‘alternative’ proteins has not, and if suppliers can develop more efficient farming techniques, the potential market for protein-packed bugs...
Packed with MCT oil, kale, pumpkin seed protein and probiotics, start-up Bear Squeeze wants to be known as a “higher-end, cleaner Soylent,” said co-founder and president Max Baumann.
Increasingly savvy shoppers who are well-versed in food production and nutrition are turning the tables on the farm-to-fork marketing model that once educated them and influenced what they consumed to create a fork-to-farm model that requires producers,...
Not so long ago high-protein products and ‘snacks’ were on opposite ends of the health spectrum with one appealing to fitness enthusiasts or people trying to manage their weight or build muscles, and the other aimed at fun-seeking consumers who ate for...
Kellogg has struck a $600m deal to buy Chicago Bar Company LLC, maker of protein bar RXBAR, which it claims is the fastest growing nutrition bar brand in the country.
Plant-based meats account for less than a quarter of 1% of meat sales in the US, while plant-based milks have gobbled up almost 10% of the fluid milk market, says the Good Food Institute (GFI). But why is this? Are they simply not cutting it, or is it...
When it comes to meeting consumers’ growing demand for protein, animal-based products continue to reign supreme in the US and Canada for now – but plant-based options are gaining traction and hold significant sales potential, according to the market research...
Natural ingredients giant Naturex has struck a global distribution deal with MycoTechnology, the fungi-fueled start-up behind Pure Taste fermented shiitake vegetable protein: a high-profile new entrant to the ‘alternative’ protein market.
Boulder-based MycoTechnology has raised $35m in a series B financing round from a flurry of high profile investors* from Kellogg’s Eighteen94 Capital to Bunge Ventures and inked a strategic partnership with a leading player in the natural products industry...
Chicago-based RXBAR’s new kid’s line is now available in 3,000 stores nationwide, providing a smaller version of the fastest growing bar by dollar growth in the natural and conventional channels, per measurement by market analytics firm Nielsen.
Flavor innovation is usually seen as a key component of food product development and of less concern for supplements. But as sports nutrition brands seek competitive advantages and to bring in fringe, lifestyle-type consumers, flavors are taking center...
Nutriati’s chickpea protein is white, odorless, and neutral-tasting
Commercial quantities of highly functional, neutral-tasting chickpea protein concentrates and a high-protein chickpea ‘flour’ will be available by the end of the year, says Richmond-based Nutriati, which has just closed an $8m financing round to help...
Americans’ love affair with protein shows no signs of cooling in the coming years with a compound annual growth rate projected at a steady 5.6% for the next three years, bringing sales to a predicted $39.08 billion, according to Markets and Markets research.
Protein shows no sign of petering out in 2017 with many consumers still listing it as an “ideal attribute” for fortification across categories and an ever-growing list of sources from which manufacturers can choose, according to a product development...
Sustainability wins another vote for the “most important” trend to watch in 2017, followed closely by plant-based protein, according to a small, but well-educated group of nutrition experts, surveyed by Ketchum’s Global Food and Beverage Practice and...
The need for sustainable proteins is on the rise, but are they as healthy and nutritious as their mainstream equivalents? A public-private partnership (PPP) coordinated by Wageningen University aims to determine just that, and is on the lookout for more...
Scientists have discovered cockroach milk is four times more nutritious than cow's milk with a protein that releases energy slowly over a long period of time.
Ripple – a plant-based ‘milk’ claimed to blow both dairy milk and existing milk alternatives out of the water in the taste, nutrition and sustainability stakes – is rolling out nationwide at Whole Foods in April, and Target stores in July, with other...
New research from DuPont Nutrition & Health exploring what drives liking in ready to drink high-protein beverages – a $2.7bn category in the US – revealed that products combining dairy and soy protein performed the best on taste, while 25g of protein...
This is the season of repetitive themes: Christmas carols, holly garlands, inflatable Santas. So it comes as no surprise that DuPont protein experts sound a familiar strain, too: Plant proteins were big in 2015 and they’re going to be even bigger in...
Protein is hot in food formulation right now. But is this a sustainable trend or a passing fad? How much is enough, and do the next generation of proteins, from rice and pea to algae and insects, deliver in the same way that soy and whey do? And how should...
