Flavours and colours

Why Exberry is focusing on innovation to push business growth

20-Nov-2024 By Donna Eastlake

Plant-based colour creator, Exberry, reveal why innovation is at the centre of its long-term growth strategy.

Top food tech trends for 2025 revealed

19-Nov-2024 By Augustus Bambridge-Sutton

Innovation in the food space has seen a boom in recent years. But this is just the beginning.

Saccharin daily intake threshold almost doubles post EFSA review

15-Nov-2024 By Nicholas Robinson

Safe daily intake limits for saccharin have been almost doubled by the European Food Safety Authority following a new review on the sweetener.

Nestlé’s top six 2025 food and drink innovation trends revealed

12-Nov-2024 By Nicholas Robinson

Nestlé has revealed the top food and drink trends that will drive its research, development and innovation in 2025, with speed, personalisation and fusion taking centre stage.

Customer innovation driving Tate & Lyle volume growth in strong H1 financials

07-Nov-2024 By Nicholas Robinson

Tate & Lyle has returned to volume growth in the first six months of its financial year, but revenues are down and predicted to be lower still at year end.

Ozempic, nutri-scores and junk food bans would ‘halve obesity’

04-Nov-2024 By Nicholas Robinson

Obesity could be halved by the end of the decade if there was better access to weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and junk food businesses faced tighter advertising and nutritional reporting controls.

NPD Trend Tracker: From Tate Modern beer to Lebanese delicacies

04-Nov-2024 By Augustus Bambridge-Sutton

This week, we have a range of French, Lebanese and British treats. Plus, a beer collaborates with an art gallery, and a chewing gum brand expands to France.

How F&B is reformulating to make nutrition more affordable

04-Nov-2024 By Donna Eastlake

Food and beverage is evolving to make nutrition affordable for all incomes. And it’s using reformulation to do it.

Can plant-based overcome UPF links to avoid future trust issues?

31-Oct-2024 By Donna Eastlake

Plant-based diets remain popular, but associations with UPF and low-quality ingredients has shaken consumer trust in alt meat, fish and dairy brands. So, what can the sector do to restore public opinion?

Silver economy: Ultimate growth market sparking NPD in F&B

29-Oct-2024 By Donna Eastlake

The ageing population is growing fast, leading to a flurry of NPD, as F&B brands innovate to cater to this growing consumer group.

How to identify and engage with your target market

28-Oct-2024 By Donna Eastlake

Creating and building brand awareness, with potential customers, is essential to success. Here’s how to recognise and connect with your target market.

Supplementary drink that combats effects of alcohol targets European growth

11-Oct-2024 By Nicholas Robinson

Hangover cure? Apparently so as one US start-up claims the consequences of a heavy night could be resigned to the past for Europeans, should the brand debut on this side of the pond.

Future Food-Tech 2024

Three hot start-ups designing and creating sector-challenging proteins

04-Oct-2024 By Augustus Bambridge-Sutton

There are myriad ways to design and create proteins. We spoke to some of the key players in this varied space.

CSM Ingredients and Italcandati join forces to create Vitalfood

02-Oct-2024 By Augustus Bambridge-Sutton

The two ingredients companies have joined forces to develop bakery and dairy solutions.

Behind the boom: Trends driving Europe’s future ingredients market

27-Sep-2024 By Nicholas Robinson

A booming food ingredients market is feeding sector growth, with segments like carotenoids and botanicals ready for the biggest sales upticks. So, what is the current and future state of Europe’s food ingredients market?

How to find ingredient and packaging suppliers

25-Sep-2024 By Donna Eastlake

Ingredients and packaging materials will form the very foundation of your brand, so getting them right is essential. Here’s how to find the right suppliers and build successful relationships.

Is cultivated meat cost reduction possible? The industry speaks

24-Sep-2024 By Augustus Bambridge-Sutton

A recent study suggested that radical cost reduction in cultivated meat production is possible. Ivy Farm, Aleph Farms and Vital Meat speak on the potential of this.

£9m secured by small ingredients supplier for ‘US expansion’

11-Sep-2024 By Nicholas Robinson

A family-owned natural colours, flavours and extracts business supplying global food and drink manufacture has secured a £9m investment to grow into the States.

Big Interview

Mondelēz Snackfutures’ head on staying attractive to investors

10-Sep-2024 By Nicholas Robinson

He may well be one of snacking’s most influential men. So, an audience with Mondelēz International’s Snackfutures Ventures boss, Richie Gray, could indeed be the making or breaking of a business.

Mondelēz hints cocoa cost positivity as it hikes product prices

06-Sep-2024 By Nicholas Robinson

Mondelēz International bosses have cautiously signalled further cocoa pricing stability while at the same time the sweets and snacks giant prepares to push higher prices across its products.

How AI can help design proteins for the food industry

30-Aug-2024 By Augustus Bambridge-Sutton

Using a combination of artificial intelligence and synthetic biology, one start-up is enhancing proteins into a wide array of functions across the food industry.

Why is innovation in food and beverage declining?

28-Aug-2024 By Donna Eastlake

The lack of innovation in food and beverage is raising concerns that the industry is in trouble. So what’s going on?

Sweeteners and their function in food and drink manufacture

26-Aug-2024 By Nicholas Robinson

The use of sweeteners to reduce calorie content in food and drink is sometimes controversial, but vital to F&B manufacture. What sweeteners are used and what do they do?

Top four trends driving soft drinks innovation

19-Aug-2024 By Nicholas Robinson

Function leads the charge in the top four non-alcoholic European consumer drinks trends in a market that's riper than ever for innovation.

Do film tie-ins boost sales?

16-Aug-2024 By Augustus Bambridge-Sutton

Many film studios use tie-ins with food and beverage brands to market their motion pictures. But does this drive sales for the food and beverage products themselves?

How the Swiss make chocolate, but in bioreactors

10-Jul-2024 By Flora Southey

Switzerland is one of the world’s biggest consumers of chocolate and coffee, and now it’s home to a company making both – in bioreactors.

Sugar reduction: Three learnings from growth markets

09-Jul-2024 By Flora Southey

How do approaches to sugar reduction in growth markets differ from those in the rest of the world?

Consumers don't want cheap plant-based meat and dairy

02-Jul-2024 By Flora Southey

Conventional wisdom would suggest if a product is priced lower, consumers would be more willing to purchase it. But when it comes to plant-based, Europeans are bucking the trend.

Monk fruit ingredient no longer a novel food in UK, what about EU?

28-Jun-2024 By Flora Southey

In sweet news for food manufacturers, monk fruit decoctions are no longer classified a novel food in the eyes of the UK Food Standards Agency. What does this news mean for the EU?

Old school favourites are making a comeback

24-Jun-2024 By Donna Eastlake

Why nostalgia is winning the hearts and wallets of consumers in this reflective food trend.

Scientists develop better-for-you chocolate, and it’s better for the planet

14-Jun-2024 By Flora Southey

Healthier and more sustainable chocolate? While it sounds almost too good to be true, that’s exactly what scientists have created in Switzerland.

Milk made from black-eyed peas? New alt dairy overshadows competitors on protein

10-Jun-2024 By Flora Southey

A new base for alternative dairy has been developed with protein content front-of-mind.

How is Ferrero balancing M&A growth with packaging sustainability?

06-Jun-2024 By Flora Southey

A strong acquisition strategy is fuelling growth at Ferrero. But inevitably, with that growth comes more packaging. How is the confectionery major working to decouple the two?

Can cultivated cocoa solve the chocolate crisis? ‘It’s like cultivating meat, but simpler’

04-Jun-2024 By Flora Southey

With climate change threatening the future supply of cocoa, could cellular agriculture offer a solution? Israeli start-up Kokomodo thinks it can, and is emerging from stealth mode to prove it.

Orange juice outlook ‘challenging’ amid squeezed margins and soft drink competition

31-May-2024 By Flora Southey

The coming months won’t be easy for orange juice manufacturers forced to keep product prices high.

Is high inflation squeezing new ingredient opportunities into sugar and confectionery?

30-May-2024 By Natasha Spencer-Jolliffe

As the UK’s latest inflation levels show sugar and confectionery prices remain high—a fate mirrored in Europe—F&B makers are turning to other ingredients to remain competitive at the checkouts.

Multiple milk proteins grown in a single plant? NewMoo makes liquid casein for animal-free cheese

28-May-2024 By Flora Southey

Another newcomer is joining the molecular farming ranks, but this one is producing multiple dairy proteins – in the form of liquid casein – from a single plant.

Eco-friendly food colouring: How one company is cutting carbon

28-May-2024 By Donna Eastlake

The food industry is coming under increasing pressure to reduce its carbon footprint and find more sustainable ways to operate. Food colouring manufacturer Exberry tells us how it's cutting carbon intensity, and improving water efficiency, for greener...

Six start-ups rethinking cocoa for alt choc innovation

22-May-2024 By Flora Southey

Amid soaring prices and deforestation regulations, chocolate manufacturers may well be tempted to turn their back on cocoa. What alternatives are on offer?

From peas to pintos: The new ingredients being tested in plant-based dairy

21-May-2024 By Flora Southey

Researchers are looking beyond soy and oat for plant-based dairy innovation. Which ingredients are being put under the microscope?

How 'buttery' cultivated bluefin tuna is made, and served raw

20-May-2024 By Flora Southey

Wanda Fish has succeeded where most have failed; the start-up has grown ‘very challenging’ bluefin tuna cell lines for cultivated fish production.

Trust in food industry declining

20-May-2024 By Donna Eastlake

As consumers become increasingly engaged in understanding the contents of the foods they’re consuming, it appears that trust in the food industry is plummeting. But can that trust be restored?

Mondelēz is hungry for snacks innovation: What’s its VC arm looking for?

06-May-2024 By Flora Southey

When Mondelēz International searches externally for savoury snack and confectionery innovation, what kinds of start-ups is it looking for?

How is saccharin regulated in Europe?

29-Apr-2024 By Augustus Bambridge-Sutton

After a tragic death in India, the sweetener saccharin made the headlines. While it has widespread use in Europe, including the UK and EU, the sweetener is tightly regulated.

Feeling Smug? Behind Kerry’s launch into hybrid dairy

25-Apr-2024 By Flora Southey

Kerry Dairy Consumer Foods is bringing ‘real innovation’ to dairy with a range of hybrid products – and tongue-in-cheek branding.

Are children better at NPD for other children than adults are?

24-Apr-2024 By Augustus Bambridge-Sutton

During product development, it has been speculated, children can be better judges of what their fellow children will like than adults. A new study puts this to the test.

What are consumer attitudes to faba beans?

23-Apr-2024 By Augustus Bambridge-Sutton

Faba beans are a useful ingredient across a range of foods, although sensory challenges can harm their uptake. A new study explores consumers’ attitudes to faba beans in different forms.

Should vanilla production be stopped?

17-Apr-2024 By Donna Eastlake

Vanilla is one of the most common flavours for sweet treats around the world. But is the farming of this much-loved spice sustainable? And, if not, should we be consuming it at all?

GUEST ARTICLE

Expert vs consumer sensory panels: Best of both worlds?

17-Apr-2024 By René Floris, NIZO Food Research Division Manager

If consumers don't like a product, they won't buy it. Testing with sensory panels can help determine consumer liking, so what kind of sensory panel should manufacturers go for?

Heatless technique does the same job as pasteurisation, but keeps key protein intact

16-Apr-2024 By Augustus Bambridge-Sutton

Pasteurisation has always used significant amounts of heat. A new technology, however, can fulfil the same function without this heat, thus keeping a key protein intact.