Motif FoodWorks, the ingredient innovation company on a mission to make plant-based food taste better and more nutritious, announced the grand opening of its new lab and office space in the Boston Seaport neighborhood, a growing hub for science and technology innovation.

Eat Just, Inc., a company that applies cutting-edge science and technology to create healthier, more sustainable foods, in partnership with 1880, an establishment founded to inspire conversations that change the world, made history when their cultured meat was served and sold to guests for the first time at a series of dinners.

The new co-manufacturing division of BumbleBar, Inc. recently recruited its quality food safety manager from Archer Daniels Midland, one of the world’s largest food processing companies.

Although there may be a pandemic-related slowdown, there’s no stopping new product development targeted at the commercial and non-commercial foodservice sectors. To better help its readers with new product development strategy, Prepared Foods asked Jeff Miller, founder and CEO of Cutting Edge Innovation, to create a thought leadership series connecting R&D strategy to foodservice sales. Cutting Edge Innovation advises on foodservice strategy, sales, business development, and innovation and Miller also created an online course, “Turbocharge Your Foodservice Sales.” 

Aleph Farms Ltd. and its research partner at the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, cultivated a slaughter-free ribeye steak, using three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting technology and natural building blocks of meat – real cow cells, without genetic engineering and immortalization.

If 2020 was the year of supply chain uncertainty due to COVID-19, 2021 may well be the year that transparency in food labeling takes center stage, particularly for gluten-free products.

To better help its readers with initial new product evaluation and development Prepared Foods asked Nancy Jo Seaton, owner and president of Seaton Food Consultants, to create a thought leadership series.

The Institute for the Advancement of Food and Nutrition Sciences (IAFNS), is a new 501(c)(3) organization focused on catalyzing science for the benefit of public health.

By expanding its capabilities to address the growing consumer interest in functional beverages, the company is poised to offer partners and customers the opportunity to meet consumer needs and expectations while embracing current food and beverage trends and advancements in the market.

Although there may be a pandemic-related slowdown, there’s no stopping new product development. To better help readers with corporate innovation strategy, Prepared Foods turned to leaders at the Eureka! Ranch and the Innovation Engineering Institute, Cincinnati. Founded in 1986, Eureka! Ranch has become a global think tank and innovation training company. 

Tate & Lyle, a global provider of food and beverage solutions and ingredients, introduced the “Collaborate at Home Kitchen”, a digital engagement hub where food and beverage manufacturers can explore trends, science and solutions that power modern consumer choices. The hub also provides users with access to Tate & Lyle’s experts, as well as additional resources to help them find solutions to their formulation challenges.

Although there may be a pandemic-related slowdown, there’s no stopping new product development activity. To better help its readers with initial new product evaluation and development Prepared Foods asked Nancy Jo Seaton, owner and president of Seaton Food Consultants, to create a thought leadership series. Seaton has more than 30 years of food industry experience and most recently led global product evaluation for the Subway restaurants. She also has worked for such global food brands as Chiquita, Unilever and ConAgra.

Silicon Valley-based cellular agriculture company Mission Barns announced a $24M Series A to scale up its cultivated fat technology and build a pilot manufacturing plant in the Bay Area.

Although there may be a pandemic-related slowdown, there’s no stopping new product development. To better help readers with corporate innovation strategy, Prepared Foods turned to leaders at the Eureka! Ranch and the Innovation Engineering Institute, Cincinnati. Founded in 1986, Eureka! Ranch has become a global think tank and innovation training company. 

ADM opened a new cutting-edge, plant-based innovation lab, located in ADM’s Biopolis research hub in Singapore. The lab will develop next-level, on-trend and nutritious products to meet growing food and beverage demand in the Asia-Pacific region.  

Ajinomoto Health & Nutrition North America, Inc., announced the opening of its new North American corporate headquarters at 250 East Devon Avenue in Itasca, Ill. The new space is designed to accelerate Ajinomoto Health & Nutrition's commitment to delivering high-quality ingredient solutions that drive value for customers.

Danone North America honored a commitment to science and education through the ninth annual Gut Microbiome, Yogurt and Probiotics Fellowship Grant Program. This year's honorees, selected by a committee of nutrition scientists, are Catherine Shelton of Vanderbilt University and Alice Solomon of the University of Arizona. Winners were chosen based on the quality of their proposals, faculty recommendations and each of their studies' value to human health and wellness.

Although there may be a pandemic-related slowdown, there’s no stopping new product development. To help readers with new product development strategy, Prepared Foods asked Dave Lundahl, founder of InsightsNow, to create a thought leadership series connecting R&D with consumer insights. 

CP Kelco, a leader of nature-based ingredient solutions, launched a new global innovation center, adding to the company’s growing network of innovation and technical support facilities around the world. The Atlanta-based innovation center is designed as an open, collaborative space for scientists and customers alike to engage in ingredient research, problem-solving, development and pilot plant scale-up of food, beverage, home care, personal care and other consumer and industrial products.

“Last September, an operator approached us to help alleviate some labor challenges they were experiencing,” notes Elise Carlson, CFS, King & Prince senior research and development manager. “They were taking frozen, cellophane-wrapped cod, thawing it and then cutting it into pieces. Kitchen staff then cut the cod by hand so not all pieces were exactly the same, which is a desirable attribute."

COVID-19 has certainly brought an ever changing "new normal" to the food industry but one thing that will be a sure constant in 2022 is that food safety and quality testing will continue to be important for the integrity of the global food chain.

In conjunction with its February profile of new sports foods and drinks, Prepared Foods interviewed Scott Peters, director of product development at 3i Solutions, Wooster, Ohio. 

Global bakery manufacturer and ingredients leader Dawn Foods announced Adam Pawlick as the company's new vice president of research & development for North America. Pawlick joined the company in March 2022, and reports to John Schmitz, president of Dawn North America.

Mars Wrigley broke ground on a new, best-in-class, global research and development hub adjacent to the company's existing Global Innovation Center on Goose Island. Leaders from Mars as well as key Chicago stakeholders, including Michael Fassnacht, CEO, World Business Chicago, and Alderman Walter Burnett Jr., gathered together to commemorate the milestone for the company.

Titled "PAT to Optimize the Cost, Consistency, and Yield of Cultivated Meat Production," the paper explores groundbreaking solutions to enhance the efficiency and sustainability of cultivated meat production processes through applied advanced sensor technology.

The addition of Park 100 will complement OSI’s existing business while providing a significant presence in the attractive soup, sauce, and macaroni and cheese categories.

his collaboration will drive advancements in bioreactor technology, perfusion systems, and media rejuvenation while reducing environmental impact through optimized water usage, power consumption, and circular economy initiatives like waste stream utilization.

The new facility is located adjacent to The Mart Group’s headquarters, bringing the company’s total employment in Rupert to more than 230 people. The new Mart Frozen Foods facility will directly create 80 full-time jobs, and have an estimated annual economic impact of $11.15 million.  

Bush, a graduate of Manchester Business School and INSEAD, is an experienced international CEO with nearly 40 years of experience, working across grocery retail. 

GHOST's net sales have more than quadrupled over the past three years, and GHOST Energy is one of the fastest-growing brands in the energy category, characterized by its unique identity, distinctive flavors and packaging, and strong consumer appeal.  

Chunk Foods creates plant-based whole cuts that rival traditional meats in taste and texture, offering consumers a versatile option for at-home preparation.

The family-founded, chickpea hearts have a crunch with savory, zesty flavor profiles. Now that they’re available through Redstone Foods Inc., more people in the US can access the product.

The blending and finishing facility is strategically positioned with nearby access to railroads and interstates for efficient truck and rail delivery across the United States. Construction is set to begin immediately.

The study, conducted at the University of Georgia, compared the cumulative impact of daily pecan eating versus not eating pecans on changes in fasting cholesterol levels and responses to a meal higher in saturated fat (meeting 35% of total daily calories). Findings show notable reductions in cholesterol levels with pecan consumption, as well as lower post-meal triglycerides. 

Consumers are drawn to the complementary flavors and heat levels offered by different peppers and regional tastes. Understanding these synergies can help manufacturers discover new product innovation opportunities.

The white paper also calls attention to mitigation strategies and highlights research, collaboration, and public health communication needs to better address the issue while also offering insight into how a global, interdisciplinary approach can expedite solutions.

The final packaging contains at least 60% UCO-based bio-renewable polymer material, which is part of SABIC’s TRUCIRCLE™ portfolio. Oerlemans Plastics member of OPACKGROUP, a specialized manufacturer of flexible films and packaging, converts these polymers to a multilayer PE film for Lamb Weston’s pre-fried frozen potato products.

This tool is expected to transform the process of fragrance creation across various industries by leveraging Giuseppe, NotCo’s advanced generative AI platform, alongside Cramer’s extensive database of tens of thousands of fragrance formulations, enabling the rapid development of premium fragrances in seconds.

Automation of batch processing isn’t new, but as more companies move beyond the basics of automation, they are finding that new technology brings big rewards—as well as big challenges.

The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) reports several CPU hardware implementations are vulnerable to side-channel attacks, being referred to as Meltdown and Spectre (also KAISER and KPTI).

A dedicated warehouse management system can not only manage recalls, but it can also manage a fully automated warehouse automation system.

Both X-ray and metal detection machines can prevent a lot of headaches. But if this is your first time purchasing a system, determining which is right for your operations can be confusing.

Environmental demands, allergen control, acoustics, cleaning and production needs all help define what you need from floors, doors and ceilings, and shape the evaluation process for identifying and installing the right ones.

Every step of the production process and the supply chain is under scrutiny. Filling equipment is not exempt.

In every food plant, there are gears and bearings that need grease, machines that need oil changes and components that need regular lubrication to continue performing at their best.

Meat processors are increasingly turning to newer, higher speed packaging solu­tions that include dedicated interleav­ers and card dispensers that maximize throughput of raw bacon.

Motors and drives run the food and packaging production lines that processors rely on, and they are a major consideration of any automation strategy.

Many foodborne illnesses occur because a link in the cold food chain was weak or broken, with temperature inconsistencies that allowed pathogens to begin growing.

Robots in picking, packing and palletizing applications have performed some new feats—thanks to clever system integrators who have given them sensitive touch, better grips and keen vision.