Innovation and NPD

One of the most important jobs of food packaging is extending food shelf life. Image Source: Monty Rakusen/Getty Images

Extending shelf-life through packaging: The complexities and variations

By Augustus Bambridge-Sutton

Food packaging has a number of key roles. Firstly, it aims to keep food safe from its environment, so it doesn’t get dirty or contaminated. Secondly, it makes it more convenient to transport. Thirdly, it can serve to extend food shelf life. It is this...

Beyond the initial visual impact, what factors are influencing consumer attitudes to packaging? What attributes do people look for in packaging? And does this impact purchase intent? GettyImages/Tom Werner

GUEST ARTICLE

The top 5 trends driving innovation in packaging science

By Katy Askew, managing director, IFIS Publishing

Packaging is the shop window for your brand, the primary interface through which food and beverage manufacturers interact with consumers. Packaging innovation, therefore, cannot be taken lightly. How are R&D teams leveraging packaging science to develop...

GettyImages/hemul75

NPD Trend Tracker: From vegan ice cream to Meatless Farm’s return

By Sarah Rhynes and Flora Southey

In this latest edition of the NPD Trend Tracker, we’re seeing a lot of movement in the plant-based space, ranging from vegan ice cream to an improved pea and fava protein burger from THIS, and Meatless Farm’s return to retail following a brief hiatus....

Image Source: We Are/Getty Images

NPD Trend Tracker: From Olympic peanut butter to blueberry muffin popcorn

By Augustus Bambridge-Sutton

We have a lot of sweet treats this week with blueberry muffin popcorn, KitKat Chunky Hazelnut and two different types of cookie dough ice cream. We also have the renewal of an old partnership for Whole Earth, and a new plant-based cheddar for Violife....

The Kraft Heinz Company is pulling three main levers to achieve this goal: replacing virgin plastic with recycled content; eliminate or reduce plastic packaging; and explore plastic alternatives. GettyImages/sergeyryzhov

How Kraft Heinz plans to cut virgin plastic use by 20% by 2030

By Flora Southey

Part of its strategy includes exploring alternative plastic materials, but the company wants to make sure new solutions don’t end up having a worse impact on the environment. “It’s a complicated puzzle, but it’s one we’re committed to solving,” Rashida...

Image Source: alphaspirit/Getty Images

NPD Trend Tracker: From Arabic honey to watermelon kombucha

By Augustus Bambridge-Sutton

This week, we have a range of products aiming for sustainable packaging: from wine and spirits, to coffee, to ketchup. We also have kombucha made from watermelons grown in Italy, honey from the UAE, and bread from Danish bakery Ole and Steen.

Image: General Mills

Precision fermentation: Future of dairy or busted flush?

By Oliver Morrison

There was a notable failure in the US for ‘one of the world’s first next generation cheese alternatives’. But that shouldn’t detract from the potential benefits that precision fermentation technology can bring to the dairy alternatives category, FoodNavigator’s...

Madhūka is found in the forests of India. Image source: Instants/Getty Images

Versatile high-fibre 'superfood' Madhūka arrives in the UK

By Augustus Bambridge-Sutton

Found in the forests of South and South East Asia, the Madhūka flower provides a versatile ingredient that can be used as nibs for cereals, snacks and museli, as powder for coffee and milkshakes, and as tea. Now, ōForest, a new brand, is bringing it to...

FaTRIX will be used as a substitute for butter in bakery goods such as croissants. Image source: FreshSplash/Getty Images

Plant-based fat mimics the texture of animal fat in bakery products

By Augustus Bambridge-Sutton

Some products, such as croissants, need a bit of butter to get their unique texture. Israeli startup Gaven Technologies hopes to provide a vegan replacement of butter and other animal fats in bakery products, with its new plant-based fat FaTRIX.

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