The Spanish supermarket chain’s Mixbeans Edamame & Soy from Hacendado is a better-for-you snack that blends white, green (edamame), and black soy beans that have been roasted and lightly salted. Soy beans are rich in protein, as well as vitamins A, D, E, and F, minerals potassium and phosphorus, plus fiber and amino acids. The snack, manufactured by Menken Orlando of Rotterdam (The Netherlands), is sold in bags of 100 grams at €1.50 ($1.72) a bag. 

After a “most challenging” first quarter marked by a 28 percent pandemic-caused sales decline, Coca-Cola said second quarter soda demand improved, a fact reflected in adjusted revenue of $7.18 billion, largely in line with analyst estimates. Demand for Coca-Cola drinks was battered by the closings of restaurants, theaters, and sports venues. Unit case volume trends, a key demand indicator, improved from a 25 percent drop in April to a 10 percent drop in June as lockdowns eased. For the June quarter, volume sales declined 16 percent, with flagship Coca-Cola falling seven percent and sparkling soft drinks dropping 12 percent. Unit volume of teas and coffees slid 31 percent, largely because of the temporary closure of Costa Coffee stores in Western Europe.

The New York-based Greek yogurt maker’s new line of oat-based, fermented organic drinks contain probiotic cultures and 15-25 grams of protein in four varieties. Chobani Probiotic drinks combine whole grain oats and fruit juice fermented with probiotic cultures, then blended with organic fruit and herbal extracts with “a light effervescence.” The drinks are non-dairy, certified organic and certified non-GMO. Each bottle has 80 calories with 11 grams of sugar, billions of probiotics, and no sweetener ingredients. The drinks are available in lemon ginger, pineapple turmeric, peach mint, and cherry hibiscus tea varieties at $3.79 per 14-ounce bottle.

Fried chicken skins are a popular snack in the Japan and Southeast Asia. But will consumption of edible animal skins – beyond pork rinds, that is – ever catch on in the U.S.?  Several companies are betting on just that, and on the hunch that Americans are becoming more conscious of the sources and health factors of their food. Los Angeles-based Goodfish, launched during the rise of the pandemic and dependent on DTC online sales, sells fried wild Alaskan sockeye salmon skins at $3 for a 1/2-ounce pack. Available in chili lime, spicy BBQ, and sea salt flavors, Goodfish skins contain seven grams of protein, marine collagen, omega-3 fatty acids, and zero carbs. The fried chicken skin snack Flock (Naked Market, San Francisco) markets itself as keto-friendly, high-protein, and low-carb. The keto trend has also benefited a more traditional “animal skin” snack: in 2018, pork rinds saw a 49 percent increase in dollar sales, according to IRI.

The New Zealand-based snack maker shifted its business model and marketing strategy in response to the COVID-19 crisis and is now enjoying a million-dollar revenue turnaround. Annies saw its retail fruit bar and snack sales sputter early in the pandemic as consumers stayed home. The company then struck a deal with California-based subscription food box company Imperfect Foods in February. Annies sends products to Imperfect Foods under a private label, and puts its own branding on products delivered in a weekly food box. The U.S. is Annies' fastest-growing market: the company, owned by Māori food and beverage producer Kono, expects a 420 percent growth rate in the current financial year. 

New York-based Miller, author of “Breakfast: The Cookbook,” is on a mission to take down the sexist “patriarchy” that dominates the breakfast cereal industry. That includes the slew of male cereal mascots like Tony the Tiger, the Lucky Charms leprechaun, Count Chocula, and Trix’s Silly Rabbit. Launching in two flavors (coffee & cocoa and vanilla & pandan), Dash and Zombie are represented by two “emotionally unstable cartoon characters” named Dash (a female) and Zombie. Miller says she is also reinventing the concept of cereal box toys, with “a gamified, arcade-style experience where consumers can redeem points collected from cereal purchases for unique merchandise.” 

With the help of £1.7 million ($2.2 million) in new investment, Scottish seaweed food firm Shore (Alness) is expanding its range of plant-based snacks. Shore uses sustainably harvested seaweed to produce its range of snacks, introduced in late 2018. Seaweed has a long history in Scotland: at one time the industry was worth about £7.5 million ($9.2 million) a year to the Hebrides alone. The funding package combines a business development grant from Highlands and Island Enterprise (HIE), equity investment from the Scottish Investment Bank (SIB), and contributions from several private investors.

Human Food (Tenby Pembrokeshire, U.K.) has introduced meal replacement bars that contain all the essential nutrients and minerals you'd expect from a normal meal. Human Food bars are described as the “world's first organic daily nutrition Bars” and can be used in smoothies, crumbled into granola, or just eaten on their own. The bars contain 20 organic whole foods and whole food extracts, but no added sugar, sweeteners, preservatives, flavorings, synthetic nutrients, soy, grains, wheat, dairy, or GMOs. Each bar contains 11 grams of protein, 100 percent of the daily vitamin B12, 50 percent of daily iron, calcium, magnesium, and vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6 and D. Three variants are available: a red bar (goji berries), yellow bar (turmeric), and green bar (organic spirulina). They are priced at £33 ($40.50) for a box of ten.

Finnish fiber-based products company Ahlstrom-Munksjö (Helsinki) has introduced its first brand of CelluSnack snack packaging papers, designed to reduce the impact on the environment by making compostability, biodegradation, and recycling easier. The new snack packaging papers are the result of the company’s “from Plastic to Purpose” initiative that encourages food and industrial packaging producers to consider fiber and paper-based packaging solutions. CelluSnack papers also offer heat sealing and various barrier coatings.

Wisconsin-based Kohler Original Recipe Chocolates’ new protein bars combine 21 grams of protein with plant–based ingredients, including peanuts, quinoa, chia seeds and hemp hearts. The bars are low in sugar and sodium and free from egg, soy, and gluten. They retail for $2.49 for a 2.1–oz. bar and $24.99 for a 12–pack. Available flavors include berries, coffee, and peanut butter. The company also introduced new flavors and packing for its handcrafted chocolate bars. With two bars to a pack, they contain natural ingredients such as Colectivo coffee and the brand’s own 70 percent Andoa Dark Chocolate. The bars retail $3.49 per two–pack and $19.99 for six two–packs. The new lines are available at the Craverie Chocolatier Café and Woodlake Market in Kohler, Wis., or online at kohlerchocolates.com.

Calif.-based plant-based snack start-up AKA Snacks has launched its flagship sprouted almonds product. Palmonds are soy–free, gluten–free, dairy–free, paleo, and vegan, made from sprouted – not roasted – almonds that are dehydrated and flavored with organic spices, coconut sugar, and coconut aminos, a condiment typically used as a savory alternative to soy sauce. Palmonds, which deliver 10 grams of plant–based protein per serving, are available in salty sweet, cinnamon sugar, sweet barbecue, and spicy nacho flavors, each containing between 250 and 280 calories. AKA Snacks is named for founder and CEO Ashley Kathleen Allyn, who created the brand after being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease.

New York City-based Three Wishes cereals, founded in October 2019 by a husband-and-wife entrepreneurial team, has launched a new flavor, cocoa, which joins cinnamon, honey, and unsweetened flavors. Three Wishes cereals are high protein (eight grams per serving) and low sugar (three grams from monkfruit and cane sugar). The grain-free breakfast cereals are made with chickpeas, pea protein, and tapioca, are gluten–free, and free from wheat, dairy, soy, oats, corn, rice and peanuts. The cereals are available on the company website and on Amazon, and in select retailers across the country. 

U.K. grocery chain Sainsbury’s has chosen start-up Pep & Lekker's Seed Snacks to be part of its Future Brands category showcasing tomorrow’s pioneering brands. The chain announced it would test two flavors – Fennel & Chia and Rosemary & Hemp – under the label in 70 stores beginning June 9. The baked snacks are billed as healthier living, vegan-friendly, crunchy snacks with a low-carbon footprint that represent a no-added-sugar, high-fiber, high-protein, gut-healthy alternative to standard crisps. Each 30-gram pack has a recommended sale price of £2 ($2.53). Sainsbury’s also helped Pep & Lekker shift to colorful, compostable packaging that stands out on store shelves. The grocery chain launched its Future Brands program two years ago to support small and innovative suppliers.

Royal Hawaiian Orchards (MacFarms, LLC, Dana Point, Calif.) has introduced a family-sized bag (24 ounces) of Sea Salt macadamia nuts. The company says the larger bag gives consumers “a one-stop, healthy option to help feed and nourish the entire household” while homebound during the pandemic. Royal Hawaiian says its macadamia nuts are gluten-free, keto-, paleo-, and vegan-friendly. The new 24-oz option is available online and in select retail locations.

Chicago-based research firm IRI has named Wonderful Pistachios’ (Los Angeles, Calif.) No Shells Chili Roasted and Honey Roasted flavors as “Rising Stars” in its annual New Product Pacesetters Report. The status confirms the two flavors’ first-year sales success, according to a company news release. They are the only snack nut and healthy salty snack on this year’s list, the company said, and drove 94 percent of the company’s flavored snack nut growth, and more than 30 percent growth for the No Shells line. The IRI report features the biggest consumer packaged goods launches based on sales.

Pulse flour manufacturers can expect to benefit from rising global consumption of snacks such as nutritious soups, sauces, and nutrition bars, according to new research from Fact.MR (Dublin, Ireland). The world pulse flour market is projected to accelerate at a surprising CAGR of more than 10 percent from 2020 to 2026 – double the growth rate of the global flour market. Pulse crops such as lentils, beans, peas, and chickpeas are a good source of amino acids and plant-based proteins, a reason they are being incorporated into gluten-free products. Demand for pulse flour is expected to create a $15 billion market opportunity into 2026.

Hotels.com, a website for booking hotel rooms online and by phone, announced it has introduced the “Bread & Breakfast,” a limited-time hotel room experience that opened at New York City's Refinery Hotel on January 17 – “which just so happens to be National Ditch Your Resolution Day.” After check-in, guests are treated to a “belt-bustin' carbo-load” in their rooms where they find a minibar with a bakery case stocked with an assortment of free pastries, bread, or a breakfast of cereal, bagels, and doughnuts, along with butter, jam, and cream cheese. The room service menu features “scrumptious starches,” including an array of pastas. The Hotels.com Bread & Breakfast is $225 a night, through January 31. 

California-based Pizza Plant (Pasadena), known for its large 13-topping, CBD-infused, plant-based Nacho Pizzas, recently debuted a USDA certified organic take-and-bake plant-based pizza at Whole Foods Market locations in California, Arizona, and Nevada. Available organic plant-based pies include: house-made ancho chilled spiced tofu pepperoni slices, Italian spiced wheat crumble, bell peppers, onions, kalamata olives, and cashew nut cheese and marinara; roasted baby bella mushrooms, broccoli, house-made pumpkin seed pesto, red onion, and cashew nut cheese; and house-made Italian spiced wheat crumble, cured shiitake bits, shaved fennel, and cashew nut cheese and marinara. atop an artisan crust. The 10" pies are packaged in a microwavable TreeSaver Pizza Pan. Pizza Plant is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Plant Craft Foods, Inc.

A dietary and dining revolution is taking place in the U.S., as the American consumer moves gradually away from traditional meat and dairy. A 2018 survey by Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, for example, found that two-thirds of Americans said they were cutting back on meat. Meanwhile, from April 2017 to July 2019 plant-based food sales grew approximately 31 percent, to $4.5 billion and will probably reach $6.5 billion by 2023. But a quieter facet of the revolution is reflected in the fact that the number of courses in eateries that highlight beef, pork, lamb, and poultry is dwindling at places where a $200 tasting menu is a bargain. New values are changing what’s considered a luxury when it comes to dining. Many of the hot topics and trends in At fine dining restaurants, where meats such as imported Japanese beef and game like antelope and boar were invariably the star attractions, diners might now find well-dressed mushrooms and roots. 

A group of gardeners, growers, and baking enthusiasts from the Santa Fe, N.M., area this month is meeting up in Colorado Springs to attend the Grain School at the University of Colorado. The group has spent the past two years conducting production trials and milling and baking tests on 52 different rare varieties of wheat, barley, amaranth, and other grains. That was precisely the outcome Nanna Meyer was hoping for when she launched the Grain School five years ago after the school’s dining service dropped its contract with a big foodservice company in favor of doing all food sourcing in-house. But chefs at the school couldn’t find locally-grown specialty grains, even though the local climate is perfect for grain production. To fix that Meyer knew there had to be both education and collaboration. The intensive three-day course, which can be taken for credit or non-credit, offers a comprehensive deep-dive into the world of grain, from breeding and agronomy to end uses like milling, baking, and brewing. The Grain School has sold out in recent years and is likely to sell out again this year. 

The mission of the First Grains project at the University of Wyoming is to not only successfully cultivate ancient grains but to make a profitable, sustainable niche industry with them. Emmer, einkorn, and spelt – considered "ancient grains" or "first grains" – were some of the earliest domesticated cereal crops, grown over 10,000 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia during the first agricultural revolution. The project is growing the grains under dryland and irrigated conditions, using no-till, conventional, organic, and non-organic methods to determine which conditions result in the best yields. The biggest obstacle, though, is the additional step – de-hulling – required after harvesting the grains. A de-huller machine solved the problem, and now “the project can start building the niche industry and take the first steps toward privatization," a project leader said, including exploring potential products and markets.

DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences says plant-based nutrition is moving beyond single-source ingredients to synergistic combinations that strengthen the nutritional and sensorial profile of final products. Providing single ingredients was once the most common way to serve the plant-based diet market. But now DuPont’s application and development teams are increasingly blending plant-based ingredients that include proteins, stabilizers, antimicrobials and antioxidants, among others. The idea is to take the best of each plant ingredient to develop higher-performance formulations, bringing synergy and leverage of one ingredient to another. An example would be combining soy with almond, or soy with pea or rice and pea. The combinations are better than a single source of protein, because one can bring texture and the amino acids, while another can bring a different sensorial aspect or better hydration.

Creating new foods, or repositioning established, traditional foods, as sports nutrition products is proving to be a profitable business tactic. As sports nutrition products move into the mainstream, so-called “real foods” – devoid of artificial ingredients – are moving into the world of professional and amateur sports. Example include: Veloforte's sports twist on a traditional Italian treat packed with fruit and nuts; California-based Clif Bar, now firmly tethered to sports and activity;  Soreen, a fruit-based cake from the U.K. repositioned for recreational cyclists; low-sugar protein bar Grenade Carb Killa, marketed as a real food alternative to sports nutrition bars. The trend is powered by sports dietitians whose first principle is that whole foods are the best fuel.

Sales growth for the top 500 U.S. restaurant companies slid in 2018 to 3.3 percent compared to the average 3.8 percent for the restaurants in the last five-year period, according to Technomic research. And while the fast-casual segment outpaced all other segments, its sales growth slipped to eight percent from an average 9.8 percent gain for the past five-year period signaling a cooling-off period. Meanwhile, delivery has emerged as a major growth area for all restaurants. This has caused companies to explore packaging that allows food quality to sustain itself in transit. It is also causing chains to reconsider their store designs to include a separate entrance for delivery drivers. 

The French patisserie business Rosalie Guillem founded with her daughter Audrey in Sarasota, Fla., is approaching its tenth anniversary and is flush with entrepreneurial success. The company owns a few corporate stores, but also some 50 franchise locations, in Florida, California, New Hampshire, Arizona, and seven other states. Another 30 franchises are in development, all based on the original flagship delicacy, an airy but decadent macaron – not to be confused with an American macaroon. The company did $11 million in sales in 2018, made the Inc. 5,000 list of the nation’s fastest-growing companies in 2016, and posted 259 percent growth over three years. Guillem’s Le Macaron stores now offer gelato, eclairs, napoleons, pies, cakes, croissants, and fine chocolates – all made with French ingredients. A catering unit handles parties, weddings and other events – all of it a testament to the dogged pursuit of the American dream, French-style.

Self-professed “bread nerd” Seamus Blackley, one of the developers of the Xbox, has created a stir in baking circles by experimenting with yeast extracted from a 4,000-year-old Egyptian loaf and from ancient artefacts. The artefacts, including Egyptian ceramics once used to make or store beer and bread, were found at museums in Boston with the help of an interested archaeologist. Blackley, who also collects wild yeast from medieval forests, created a loaf of sourdough bread with a “light and airy” crumb and an “incredible” flavor and aroma. He shared his results on Twitter, sparking interest among thousands of people. Useable thousand-year-old yeast? Yes, experts say: once yeast spores run out of food they go dormant, rather than simply dying, and stay quietly viable for thousands of years until they are extracted.

Jamaica native Chantal Thomas is a career baker and pastry chef who also blogs about her country’s national fruit, the avocado-like ackee, which she employs in numerous recipes, including one for a vegan ackee-stuffed patty. In addition to ackee patties, Thomas sells ones filled with eggplant, chickpea and zucchini, and lentil. For the crust, Thomas uses coconut instead of shortening. She formed her company, Amazing Ackee LLC, in 2017 and began baking out of a rented kitchen. She landed a spot at one farmers market last year and expanded to four markets this year. Thomas sells between 20 and 40 dozen patties a week at the farmers markets, the volume matching demand for vegan products.

U.S. hotel chain DoubleTree by Hilton has partnered with space flight appliance company Zero G Kitchen and NanoRacks, which provides commercial access to space travel, to launch a batch of its DoubleTree Cookie dough and a prototype oven to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of a microgravity experiment. With the launch, Hilton becomes the first hospitality company to participate in research aboard the space station. The husband and wife team at Zero G Kitchen responsible for the space oven concept said the DoubleTree Cookie was their first thought when they began creating an oven to make space travel more comfortable.

The Arnold, Brownberry and Oroweat bread brands of Bimbo Bakeries USA have single-person household in minds with their new Simply Small 10-slice bags. The idea is to provide just the right ammoungt of bread needed by smaller households while avoiding food waste. The single-person household is no small demographic: twenty-eight percent of U.S. households fit the category. And they often skip buying bread because they just don’t eat a regular loaf. Simply Small is available in Honey Oat and White with Whole Milk varieties under all three labels. They have no artificial preservatives, colors or flavors, no high fructose corn syrup, and no trans fat. Simply Small breads are available at major retailers on the East and West Coasts at about $2.49 a package.

A recent survey of 9,000 customers commissioned by mobile pizza-ordering and delivery service Slice found that 53 percent preferred cold pizza for breakfast than cereal or eggs. Though it’s a finding that many nutritionists and cereal makers may find indigestible – some consider pizza at any time of the day a no-no – others argue that pizza has more nutrients than cereal or doughnuts. For example, a New York-based nutritionist says a slice of pizza contains more fat and much less sugar than most cold cereals, “so you will not experience a quick sugar crash.” Pizza also has more protein than a bowl of cereal. If the idea of pizza-for-breakfast catches on, “some pizza purveyors may want to think about opening earlier in the day to take advantage of the demand for pizza in the morning.”