Synder’s-Lance will kick-start a restructuring plan to improve margins and drive focus on its branded products following the completion of its private brands divestment to Shearer’s Foods.
Amid “disappointing” fiscal 2014 results, General Mills has kick-started a cost-cutting plan to boost efficiency and support growth – a move that can’t be faulted but isn’t necessarily a ticket to success, a consultant says.
Snacking is becoming more of a lifestyle than simply a between-meal indulgence for time-strapped US consumers, which means more opportunity to innovate in flavor, nutrition and delivery formats for snack food manufacturers like Snyder’s-Lance Inc.
Over 20 major food firms have signed up to health and wellness pledges on advertisement to children, consistent product information, open access to formulation policies and employee wellbeing as part of their commitment to Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) targets.
PepsiCo has inaugurated its first R&D facility in Mexico – a baking innovation center that will be dedicated to strengthening its better-for-you portfolio across brands like Quaker, Lay’s and Sabritas.
KP Snacks has gone pub-themed for the 2014 FIFA World Cup; recreating a local UK pub in Rio for the games and running a consumer competition fronted by celebrity pub landlord Al Murray.
“My background is in sales, so I’m used to dealing with disappointment,” observes the founder of quinoa-based snacking brand eatKeenwa. But for every door that’s been shut in Blake Niemann’s face in the past 18 months, another one has opened. And his...
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is waiting for a federal court hearing date to address its injunction calling on Kellogg to end the Memphis lockout and allow employees to return to work.
The Carolina Nut Company has rolled out a peanut butter & jelly (PBJ) peanut variety that it says bucks the trend in nut flavors and should help US expansion plans.
Eating instant oatmeal for breakfast may help to manage hunger better than the leading oat-based, cold cereal, says a new study funded by Quaker Oats with implications for weight management.
Merchandizing gaps in convenience stores need to be plugged and snack makers must collaborate to drive progress forward, says the category development head at General Mills Convenience as it launches Nature Valley c-store tailored products.
The US ready-to-eat popcorn category has been “growing in the double-digits for the past 3-4 years” and is now worth “north of $600m in annual [retail] sales”, according to Diamond Foods CEO Brain Driscoll, who says new launches under the Kettle and Pop...
Three months after a federal judge in California gave the preliminary thumbs up to a $3.4m settlement of a class action lawsuit accusing Trader Joe’s of falsely advertising products as ‘all natural’, a fellow judge has allowed most claims in a similar...
Newsweek’s list of the US’s most sustainable companies names packaging firms like Ball, beverage producers like Coca-Cola, and food manufacturers such as General Mills rank among the green giants.
Ecuador snack maker Samai will open two re-packing plants in the US and Europe by 2015 – expansion that should double global business, its marketing manager says.
Although fewer than one in 100 (0.9%) of US consumers is afflicted with a peanut or treenut allergy, the purchasing power of that group extends far beyond those with allergies, according to the recent Nut Allergy Ecosystem survey by Rich Products Corp.
Associated British Foods (ABF) has bought UK premium cereal maker Dorset Cereals in a deal rumoured to be worth £50m ($83.7m) - taking its cereal brand tally up to two.
“We believe that the sugar confectionery category and our brands within it are the 'most honest' category in store": Chewits owner
Food and drink firms are using so called ‘advergames’ and social media to get around laws governing advertising to children, a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary has claimed.
General Mills has developed a high-protein variant of its flagship cereal brand Cheerios using soy – a product it says will sit comfortably in the mainstream breakfast aisle.
A Kellogg’s restructure threatens 80 jobs at its Manchester headquarters, amid plans to relocate office functions such as supply chain, finance, human resources and IT to Bucharest, Romania.
The future of snacks will be positioning them as part of a 'meal bridge' solution that hits on convenience, value, taste and health, says the marketing head at Snyder’s-Lance.
Beanitos has launched two puffed bean snacks – a move that brings excitement into a category that has seen little innovation beyond flavor, says its chief innovation officer.
The founders of Canadian bakery products manufacturer One Degree Organic Foods think the current packaged food landscape has distanced consumers far too much from Mother Nature. They’re looking to narrow the gap between food producers and the end consumer...
The founders of Bitsy’s Brainfood, which has launched a new line of childrens’ breakfast cereals to go with its cookies, used their experience as mothers and working with kids in eductation and nonprofit organizations to drive their goals for the brand,...
General Mills and Kellogg have dismissed Oxfam’s claim that they are the ‘worst offenders’ on global greenhouse gas emissions and not doing enough to tackle climate change.
Hovis has received £80M of cash from commercial lender GE Capital to fund future growth plans following The Gores Group’s acquisition of a controlling stake in the bakery firm in January.
Flamous Brands has redesigned its packaging for better shelf appeal as it tries to push falafel chips into the mainstream snacking space, its CEO says.
Recent acquisitions in the natural space—Bolthouse Farms and Plum Organic—were among the bright spots in a disappointing quarterly earnings report for Campbell Soup Company. The development points to changing sales patterns within the United States overall.
What does it take to get to the top of a leading food and beverage company? Can you still make it from the shop-floor to the boardroom? Is an MBA essential? And do operations managers or R&D directors ever get to lead Fortune 500 companies, or do...
The $321 bn US packaged food market’s appetite for digital is growing, yet just a handful of brands are truly differentiating themselves when it comes to their digital presence, says a new study from digital business intelligence firm L2 ThinkTank.
Danone's US 'yogurt with toppers' business YoCrunch has teamed up with Kellogg's to combine the latter's most popular breakfast cereal brands with Greek and traditional yogurt.
Big interview: Craig Lieberman, founder & CEO, 34 Degrees
When Craig Lieberman flew to Sydney to study for a Master’s Degree in International Relations in the mid-1990s, his goal was to be a diplomat. But not long after he arrived, the idea for another, very different, career started to take shape.
There are significant opportunities to grow the Rudi’s Organic Bakery brand, both through increasing distribution and taking it into new categories, says its new owner, Hain Celestial.
Microwave popcorn was a childhood favorite snack of Kristy Lewis; though her nostalgia turned to disillusionment when as an adult she learned that the chemical-, hydrogenated oil-laden formula hadn’t evolved alongside her growing awareness.
Snack giant Snyder's-Lance is to buy Wisconsin-based Baptista's Bakery and sell its private brands business as its re-shapes its portfolio to focus on branded products and expand its capabilities in premium and better-for-you snacks.
Kashi has lost some distribution in the past 12-18 months, but brand owner Kellogg says it will prove to consumers that Kashi is still a pioneer in the field of ‘progressive nutrition’.
Frito-Lay’s Doritos Jacked ‘bold flavor experiment’ asking consumers to vote on mystery flavors will create buzz and drive brand engagement, the snack titan says.
Amid a spate of direct-to-consumer subscription snack launches, the founders of NatureBox say the power of their model lies in keeping all products under the NatureBox brand and the company’s use of data to create the ultimate customer service experience.
