Food Industry News, Insights, and Education for the CPG Community

This week, we’re hitting the proverbial pavement at Natural Products Expo West, waking up to a seriously savory breakfast, and getting our asses handed to us by a protein-fueled cow called David. Hey, what more could you ask for?

Chocolate bar maker Vine to Bar has repositioned its original products to better promote its gut health-friendly claims, including updated packaging and resulting in a major retail rollout.

B.T.R. Nation and Lil Bucks took to Natural Products Expo West to showcase better-for-you takes on the classic Rice Krispies Treats.

Globally-inspired frozen food and snack platform Saffron Road is showing off its mastery of taste profiles even further with the launch of Cross Roads.

Tart, tangy and unapologetically sour flavors abounded at Natural Products Expo West, where exhibiting companies leaned into puckery profiles and fermented twists across a number of categories.

South African plant-based nutrition brand Smul is adding four RTD functional drink lines and heat-and-eat meals to its portfolio.

The growing backlash against processed seed oils has fueled a resurgence in traditional cooking fats. Fatworks, a family-owned operation in Colorado and longtime defender of rendered fat, has been waiting for this for well over a decade.

Single-serve, fully-cooked seasoned chicken breast purveyor Korkio has rebranded as Juicybite, a name intended to better appeal to mainstream consumers and communicate the brand’s positioning.

Lorissa’s Organic Snacks, the producer of the first top nine allergen-free meat snack and a subsidiary of Jack Link’s parent company Link Snacks, has expanded beyond that fast-growing, crowded category for the first time.

Banza has expanded beyond the gluten-free space for the first time in the company’s 12-year history, introducing a new line of Protein Pasta made with wheat flour, semolina flour and its hero chickpea.

Attendees at Natural Products Expo West spotted white box trucks encircling the Anaheim Convention Center on Tuesday featuring the protein bar purveyor’s branding and a cartoonishly muscular cow alongside an image of an ice cream pint and its nutritional highlights: 30 grams of protein, 260 calories and 2 grams of sugar. (Unclear if that’s for the pint or one serving.)

Ultraprocessed foods – and how to avoid them – may be the talk of Anaheim during this year’s Natural Products Expo West.

Canadian high-protein pasta brand Chickapea is deepening its presence in the U.S. with an exclusive limited-time offering at Costco stores across the Los Angeles region and Hawaii.

Xochitl is transitioning its full portfolio of thin and crispy tortilla chips to be made with avocado oil amid rising demand for seed oil-free foods. The brand, owned by private equity firm Forward Consumer Partners, is marking the reformulation with redesigned packaging that features new color blocking to better stand out on shelf.