News & Analysis on the Bakery and Snacks Industries
Calbee’s decision to strip colour from its packaging amid naphtha shortages is an early warning that the Iran conflict is beginning to fracture the petrochemical supply chains underpinning the global food industry
Food companies are becoming some of the clearest observers of the economic fallout from the Iran conflict as fuel volatility, inflation fears and changing spending habits begin reshaping behaviour across the supermarket aisle
Following its first foray into hospitality in Madrid, PepsiCo is doubling down in Shanghai to test just how far a snack brand can stretch
New potato varieties are being designed to meet the snacks industry’s exacting demands on yield, storage and fry performance
Hot honey, smoky barbecue, dips, chips and fermentation are turning the spring picnic into a more flavour-led, shareable occasion
From New Coke to Crystal Pepsi, even the biggest brands can fail fast
Mexico is drawing billions from the world’s biggest F&B companies, but behind the investment wave sits a more complex mix of cost pressure, regulation and an increasingly competitive domestic landscape.
From $7 chips to $8 cereal, food pricing is starting to defy logic – and the consequences aren’t falling neatly on one side
Costs are rising again just as consumers start to hesitate and that’s a far more difficult mix than inflation alone.
From SKU cuts and factory closures to functional launches and acquisitions, PepsiCo is moving fast to streamline and prove its snack empire still matters
From buffalo pastry pockets and protein scone bites to sprouted nuts, snack mixes and football-fuelled crisps, brands are pushing harder on flavour, format and occasion
From halted breakups to billion-dollar buyouts, the world’s biggest food groups aren’t just tweaking products, they’re rethinking how growth works
The soda and snacks giant can now add another feather to its cap: it’s becoming a restaurateur
PepsiCo’s Lay’s restaurant in Madrid highlights a growing strategy among snack giants to extend blockbuster brands beyond the supermarket shelf and into cafés, retail attractions and immersive consumer experiences
From Oreo’s $4bn global machine to Uncrustables’ rapid ascent, the snack aisle’s biggest names are banking billions and still investing like challengers
Plant closures across PepsiCo, Smucker and Campbell’s reveal a structurally slower snack market adjusting to selective consumers and GLP-1 disruption
Protein has become expected – and delivering it at scale without breaking flavour, cost or compliance is testing manufacturers like never before
Financially stretched but digitally fluent, the world’s youngest adult consumers are forcing food and drink brands to explain themselves
As consumer appetite changes and nutrient scrutiny intensifies, protein is moving from differentiator to design standard
From PepsiCo to Nestlé, global giants are racing to cash in on the booming functional food craze, but with trends shifting fast, the stakes have never been higher
CEO calls the move a ‘surgical investment’ as the company integrates Siete Foods, Poppi and its expanded Celsius partnership while preparing relaunches of Gatorade and Quaker Oats
In a marketing culture obsessed with speed and efficiency, Southern Connecticut State University associate professor Amit Singh argues the Super Bowl exposes an uncomfortable truth about how real brand power is actually built
From Peyton Manning to a polar bear, there’s plenty in store for Super Bowl LX
In a near-$700bn global market, a handful of companies now decide what scales, what sticks and what survives, and in 2026, the power gap is only widening
From cereal brands breaking decades-long silence to snack giants doubling down on celebrity and spectacle, Super Bowl 2026 is becoming a referendum on where brand marketing goes next
From street food-inspired rice cups to Mexican corn chips, big food makers are betting that spicy flavors and convenient formats will resonate with shoppers
PepsiCo AI start-up winner, cell-cultured cocoa and more feature in this edition of Science Shorts
The market reaction to Donald Trump’s dietary overhaul isn’t about kale versus cookies – it’s about whether Washington has finally decided the packaged food sector needs firmer rules, not friendlier guidance
PepsiCo’s deal with Elliott Investment Management has triggered sweeping cuts to its snack portfolio and a shift toward sharper pricing
City officials say some of America’s biggest brands helped shape eating habits that are now coming back to haunt public health budgets
PepsiCo’s latest pep+ update centers on water and the message should make the whole snacks sector pay attention
From gingerbread nostalgia to chocolate trolleys and limited edition winter snacks, here’s what’s new this festive season
From colorless chips to collectible crisps and gooey skillet cookies, this season’s launches show how playful storytelling is reshaping what shoppers expect from a simple snack
PepsiCo’s Quaker brand is using science, local know-how and a bit of stubborn optimism to tackle one of the toughest global challenges
From bread lines to snack plants, manufacturers are turning to artificial intelligence to predict breakdowns and keep production running at full speed
Opinion
Turns out, more than half of us didn’t know chips are made from potatoes – and now food brands are scrambling to remind us what we’re actually eating
Ahead of FoodNavigator-USA’s free webinar ‘Fueling Fun: Connecting with Esports Enthusiasts and Everyday Gamers FTW’ (October 15), we look at how brands from Doritos to Heinz are stepping inside the $200bn gaming economy
A new lawsuit claims the citric acid in Frito-Lay’s Poppables isn’t natural but brewed from black mold and that PepsiCo misled consumers with its ‘no artificial flavors’ promise
Opinion
ESG’s under political fire in Washington, but the snack giants keep flexing. From Oreos to Doritos, their reports show that in today’s food industry, trust’s as valuable as profit.
Gluten-free cookies, sugar-free chocolate and GLP-1 diets are colliding. The world’s biggest food makers are scrambling to stay relevant
A wave of global flavors is storming the snack aisle. Yet research shows that for many consumers, the crunch on the outside matters just as much as the crunch inside the bag
PepsiCo and Unilever have decided it’s time to get serious about soil: their new STEP up for Agriculture program throws money and muscle behind regenerative farming
Heartland Craft Grains’ pact with Grown Climate Smart proves regenerative certification is becoming a supply-chain movement
Sustainable September
Shoppers swear they care about sustainability, but in the snack aisle it’s still price, taste and convenience that decide what goes in the basket. So are ‘climate-smart’ breads and biscuits set to stay niche or can they crack the mainstream?
A US judge tossed the first big UPF lawsuit, but with mounting science and regulators circling, bakery, snack and cereal brands shouldn’t breathe easy just yet
Beckham-backed honey snacks, Pringles-topped cookies and even a suitcase built for sliced bread — the latest wave of NPD pushes boundaries of fun, flavor and fandom
Opinion
Climate change isn’t just disrupting harvests - it’s coming for snack time
GROWTH ASIA SUMMIT 2025
Research shows that oats can lower age-related inflammation (iAge) in adults at risk for cardiovascular disease
PepsiCo leans into zero sugar, functional hydration and clean-label snacks as it refreshes marketing, innovation and execution to drive growth amid economic headwinds
The Lay’s and Sabra brand owner is leaning into functional innovation to revive slowing US snack sales