There’s a reason why soda is generally sweet and comes in three flavors (cola, lemon & lime and root beer), because that’s what sells, right? Wrong, says DRY Soda founder and CEO Sharelle Klaus, whose best-selling flavors include lavender, rhubarb...
The creators of a semisweet cola believe that their healthier approach to indulgence is just the type of disruptive jolt the soda industry needs to get out of its so-called funk.
Big interview: Ethan Brown and Brent Taylor, co-founders, Beyond Meat
“We’re a meat company that make products from plants”, say the entrepreneurs behind Beyond Meat, which makes "near-perfect replicas of meat" from plants. And they’re thinking big. After all, why settle for a slice of the $600m US meat-alternatives...
For the latest edition of FoodNavigator-USA’s What do you do? series, we caught up with Bunge Oils North America's head of innovation for a (slightly over) 60-second interview on what he’s learned from 23 years in lipid research and innovation, the...
A former commodities trader with a passion for snacks, Robert Ehrlich turned Pirate’s Booty into a multimillion dollar brand. But can he strike gold again with his latest product, SexyPop? FoodNavigator-USA caught up with the ‘shaman of snacks’ to find...
The energy drinks market has become more segmented in recent years, but relentlessly negative PR, a flurry of lawsuits and an FDA-probe have not dampened consumers’ enthusiasm for the original caffeine-fuelled formulas, says one beverage industry veteran.
When Winder Farms CEO Mike Dutton first started tapping private equity firms for cash to support his online grocery shopping business, memories of Webvan (which went bankrupt in 2001) were still fresh, and more than a few doors were slammed in his face...
Rates of type two diabetes have rocketed in recent years, with poor diet and a lack of exercise largely to blame. But as dietary guidelines for people with diabetes are the same as for the general population, and the FDA doesn't think diabetics need...
The recent Let’s Move! nutrition related announcements by the White House mark ongoing efforts by this Administration to make good on a number of nutrition commitments from the first term. Following on the heels of the effective ban on transfats by the...
As part of FoodNavigator-USA’s ongoing series of 60-second interviews with the movers and shakers of the US food and beverage industry, we caught up with David Sheluga, a veteran of F&B market research and consumer insights on the challenges of predicting...
In 2012, Late July’s revenues were a modest $18.6m. In 2014, founder and CEO Nicole Dawes says the brand is "currently at a $60M run rate", primarily due to explosive growth in sales of organic snack chips. Not bad going considering she’s vying...
Check out who’s moving onwards and upwards as we head into spring with the latest FoodNavigator-USA round-up of movers and shakers in the food industry.
Launching a new brand in the ultra-competitive US carbonated soft drinks market - which is facing well-documented problems right now - is notoriously tough, but the Dutch entrepreneur behind new market entrant Veri Soda is convinced he has found the sweet...
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.
While most start-ups struggle to raise the funds to turn their dreams into reality, Hampton Creek Foods CEO Josh Tetrick has convinced some of the world’s wealthiest people that his plant-based egg replacers are worth a serious punt.
Food Vision launches big debate on big three issues
An advisor on edible insects to the United Nations predicts that insects on your plate is inevitable, as forward thinking restaurants like D.O.M in Sao Paulo and Noma in Copenhagen are already experimenting with the critters as food.
In the first of a series of 60-second interviews with movers and shakers in the US food and beverage market, FoodNavigator-USA caught up with Karl Kramer, a 30-year food and beverage industry veteran, on how he got into the business of commercializing...
Food product marketers have less than three seconds to grab consumer attention, and need think back to the old days of products in supermarket circulars to connect with consumers in the mobile era, says a leading marketing guru.
Could coffee fruit be the next pomegranate? One firm on a mission to turn the one part of the coffee plant most growers aren’t interested in into the next big thing in beverages, has just struck a series of deals it hopes will turn it into a household...
In the early days, energy drinks offered a sugary, cough-syrup-tasting ‘punch in the mouth’ caffeine hit. Pretty soon, many other options emerged, but the category is still growing and evolving, creating new opportunities for brands that can find its...
'Marketing can and should be science-driven and scientists are great marketers': VIRUN CEO
BeverageDaily.com Personality of the Year 2013, VIRUN CEO Philip Bromley, reveals his lust for life and how soft drinks can combine ‘want with need’ to kick start the category, in the first part of an exclusive interview.
We know that almost a third of the population has a genetic predisposition to celiac disease, in that they have particular versions (DQ2 or DQ8) of a cellular receptor called the human leukocyte antigen (HLA). But why do only a fraction of those with...
“This isn't meat,” said Phil Lapp’s nine-year-old daughter Morgan after wolfing down some home-made meat-free tacos one evening in 2011. “This is neat”.
'HONORED AND AMAZED' VIRUN CEO SCOOPS 42% OF INDUSTRY VOTE
The hustings are over, the votes have been counted and we have a runaway winner – Philip Bromley from VIRUN is the first ever BeverageDaily.com Personality of the Year!
From savory yogurt and seaweed chips to healthy vending and protein-packed frozen yogurt, here's FoodNavigator-USA's pick of 10 entrepreneurs and CEOs to watch in food and beverage in 2014.
With every man and his dog bringing out a Greek yogurt to cash in on the sector’s meteoric growth, Blue Hill president David Barber wanted to do something a bit different, and three months after launching his savory yogurts on an unsuspecting market,...
THE FOODNAVIGATOR-USA BUSINESS LEADERS ROUND TABLE DEBATE
The food and nutrition industries should be focusing on bioavailablity and bioefficacy of nutrients, and not just on big numbers on product labels, says a leading social entrepreneur who has spent over a decade boosting the nutritional status of the severely...
As Coke and Pepsi watch their diet soda sales stagnate, the arrows on the sales growth chart on Zevia CEO Paddy Spence’s wall are going in the opposite direction, with growth of his zero-calorie sodas up in the triple digits.
The entrepreneur who proved that vending machines can dispense more than candy and soda and still make a decent return has taken the H.U.M.A.N. Healthy Vending concept to the next level with the launch of a new breed of self-service ‘micro markets’.
Check out who’s moving onwards and upwards in the festive season with the latest FoodNavigator-USA round-up of movers and shakers in the food industry.
Corn - and more specifically high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) - has a “very serious image problem”, says Corn Refiners Association (CRA) president and CEO John Bode, and he’s on a mission to do something about it.
What are food manufacturers looking for? Plentiful supplies of water, great transport links, a skilled workforce, low-taxes, easy access to raw materials?
Fed up with the day job? Looking to kickstart your career as you enter 2014? In the spirit of Christmas, we've rounded up the hottest new roles in food and beverage on FoodNavigatorJobs, the first global job portal dedicated to the food and beverage...
While private label penetration rates in the US “pale in comparison” to those in Europe, the way US retailers regard their store brands has changed dramatically in recent years, according to the CEO of one leading manufacturer.
Why is your business using social media? To sell more products? Raise your profile? Change your image? Find out what key ‘influencers’ really think about your brands? Identify and target a new customer base? Or because everyone else is on Twitter and...
“The slowdown of soft drinks is not going to be catastrophic for the beverage industry,” said Greg Steltenphol, CEO of beverage manufacturer Califia Farms and founder of Odwalla, discussing the recent slump in carbonated soft drink sales—particularly...
60-second interview: Matt Fifer, co-founder, 8th & Walton Group
Want to get on the shelf at Walmart? Prepare to put in some serious work, says Matt Fifer, who spent nearly 13 years in senior roles in store & club operations, people development, marketing, and international marketing at Wal-Mart before co-founding...
Looking for a healthy snack that is low in fat and calories, high in protein and a bit more tantalizing for the taste buds than your average nutrition bar? Try jerky, says the entrepreneur behind one of the most successful recent entrants to the US food...
Milk is a great source of calcium, protein, vitamin D and potassium. But kids’ consumption levels have been falling steadily for three decades. So how can food marketers make milk fun again?
A new science developing around phytonutrients is opening the doors of an entirely new domain, but understanding how to use the information and combining this with ethical cultivation will have to go hand in hand for successful commercialization, says...
Check out who’s moving onwards and upwards as we head into the holiday season with the latest FoodNavigator-USA round-up of movers and shakers in the food industry.
UPDATED - Kellogg has announced a new cost-cutting program called Project K that will see it eliminate 7% of its workforce by 2017, with some cuts beginning immediately.
Looking for a new challenge in your career? Check out food and drink’s most powerful global recruitment network from the publisher of FoodNavigator-USA and FoodNavigator.
