Confectionery group Mars, which makes M&M’s candy and Wrigley’s gum, has published its policies on conducting and funding scientific studies for the first time, as it plans to break ties with an industry-backed organisation, ILSI, the International Life Sciences Institute.
2017 was the year South Africans embraced the convenience of Uber Eats to get food delivered for all occasions, in any location. With the new year well underway, Uber Eats has just revealed the ingredients set to shape the food zeitgeist of 2018.
Two of the world’s most iconic food and beverage brands have launched ambitious initiatives aimed at significantly reducing waste and increasing the recycled and biobased content of their packaging. Together, they mark the acceleration of a years' long war on waste.
Entomophagy - eating insects - has been much in the food science news in recent years. A headline generator in the Western World, it is an aeons' long tradition in Africa. Here's some interesting new research uncovering the role of termites in the diet among rural people in SA's Limpopo Province, published in the SA Journal of Science.
A Japanese agricultural research company has developed a rare and expensive banana with an edible peel. This is a fascinating story....
The annual International Sweets and Biscuit Fair (ISM) has been on the go in Cologne this week. It is the largest and most important global expo for confectionery and snacks - and here are details of 2018's top three innovations...
The Heinz factory in Wigan, England, is the largest baked bean factory in the world. Here's video of this awesome automated plant...
The DLG (German Agricultural Society) has announced the winners of the 2018 International FoodTec Award. This year, the prestigious prizes will be awarded to 17 innovations from the international food manufacturing and supply industry.
When you google “weight loss” the challenge to sort fact from fiction begins. These five supplements claim to speed up weight loss, but let’s see what the evidence says.
Food security, climate change, and energy deployment are among the many issues we face today. These challenges demand innovative solutions and a transdisciplinary approach to collaborative problem-solving. IFT, the Institute of Food Technologists, presents the first in a series of podcasts on this fascinating topic...
Cape Town's Delite Foods, well-known for a variety of sugar-free products, has recently launched a range of sophisticated liquid flavour essences, designed for the catering, restaurant and small food manufacturing businesses. And FOODStuff SA is giving away TEN gift packs of these great new flavour concepts...
Meatmaking is a process that’s so inefficient it’s ripe for disruption. That's a key driver behind the extensive drive by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and their venture capitalist backers to create the post-animal economy. This fascinating article, a long read, details all these players and their various methodologies.
Each year US food consultancy, Mattson, identifies a number of macro trends. It's goal is to think beyond “the next kale”. It aims to identify lifestyle trends that have the power to influence F&B purchases, behaviour, beliefs and, of course, innovation — the business it's in. The reason to track trends is, ultimately, to translate them into viable business opportunities. Here are its fascinating 2018 picks, American in focus.
While the clean label trend has brought the perception that less is more to the forefront of Western world F&B product development, consumers are still interested in products with added ingredients that provide a functional benefit. Probiotics and prebiotics, and the ever-emerging science around them, are drawing growing consumer and industry interest.
McDonald’s has announced that it is responding to customers’ number one request by setting goals for switching to environmentally-friendly packaging materials and offering recycling in all its restaurants.
In Singapore, neighbourhood cafés are being ‘disrupted’ by a new foodie trend: vending machine cafes that serve up blast-chilled dinners, ready to eat or frozen, called Chef-in-Box.
South Africa now owns the title of home to the world's worst outbreak of human listeriosis, with confirmed cases: 767; deaths: 81 as at 16 January 2018. Here is news of two symposia worth attending - two different programmes with complementary objectives.
Global confectionery group, Ferrero, has signed a definitive agreement with Nestlé to acquire its US confectionary business for $2.8bn in cash.
A patented sweetener called HEYLO is being touted as a breakthrough product that could finally replace traditional sugar, according to Food Navigator. The sweetener is made from water-extracted stevia and acacia fibre, also known as acacia gum or gum arabic.
What are the emerging flavours and ingredients food and beverage manufacturers should watch in 2018 as they formulate new products, and refresh existing ones? Kerry has put together some charts to help firms explore new possibilities in sweet, savoury, salty snacks, soft drinks, dairy and hot beverages - with an American focus.