NIQ: Everyday Nutrition Habits Redraw Boundaries for Supplement Category
NielsenIQ’s new report highlights a "convergence effect" where food, supplements, beauty and health services increasingly overlap as U.S. consumers take a proactive stance on wellness. About 70% now view nutrition as a daily habit, driving functional ingredients like protein and fiber into mainstream foods and beverages. Wearable adoption, now at 36% of adults, is prompting nearly double the behavior change, while GLP‑1 medications are reshaping long‑term dietary and supplement demand. Cost remains the primary barrier, presenting a clear growth opportunity for brands that can prove measurable outcomes.
2,000+ Supply Ships Stranded: Iran War Puts Food Security at Risk
More than 2,000 vessels carrying grains, edible oils, soft commodities and fertilizers are stranded in the Strait of Hormuz due to the ongoing Iran conflict. The blockage threatens spoilage of perishable cargoes and creates immediate shortages for food‑and‑beverage manufacturers, while...
Little Debbie Expands Donut Lineup with New Chocolate Old Fashioned Donuts
Little Debbie, America’s No. 1 snack cake brand, announced the launch of Chocolate Old Fashioned Donuts, expanding its donut portfolio. The treat is sold in a six‑pack “Big Pack” for families and a 3‑oz individually wrapped single‑serve for on‑the‑go snacking. The...
In-N-Out’s Owner Says the Chain Will Never Offer Online Ordering. Here’s Why.
In‑N‑Out’s owner Lynsi Snyder‑Ellingson reaffirmed the chain’s refusal to adopt online ordering, emphasizing that real‑time customer interaction and ingredient freshness are core to the brand. She explained that digital platforms would erode the personal experience that defines the company’s culture....
Is Hojicha The New Matcha?
Hojicha, a roasted Japanese green tea, is gaining momentum as a milder alternative to matcha. Google Trends shows global interest in the term up 54.6% since early 2025, with “hojicha latte” searches jumping 173%. Cafés across the UK and Japan...
Investors Urge Restaurant Sector to Disclose ‘Healthiness’ of Sales
A coalition of 33 investors, overseeing more than $1.1 trillion in assets, has urged out‑of‑home food companies to disclose the healthiness of their sales. Coordinated by UK NGO ShareAction, the group calls for nutrient‑profiling tools and calorie‑based indicators to be adopted....
Save A Lot Debuts La Tierra De Sabores Hispanic Private Label Brand
Save A Lot is relaunching its Hispanic private‑label line as La Tierra de Sabores, merging the former Tio Santi and Caracara brands into a single offering. The refreshed assortment keeps core items such as tortillas, seasonings and cheese while adding...
Ahold Delhaize to Introduce Product Carbon Footprinting
Ahold Delhaize announced a rollout of product carbon‑footprinting (PCF) tools to measure emissions of every item it sells. The retailer says roughly 95% of its greenhouse‑gas impact lies in Scope 3, with 80% tied to product emissions, prompting a target to cut...
Sales in January-March Grow From the Previous Year for S Group
Finland’s S Group reported Q1 2026 retail sales before tax of €3.44 billion (approximately $3.75 billion), marking a 5 % increase over the same period last year. The growth was driven by higher volumes in grocery, non‑food items and fuel retail at its...
MAHA Push Accelerates Reformulation, but Leaves Food Industry in Limbo
The Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) agenda is driving rapid, informal policy signals that push food manufacturers to reformulate products, even though no formal regulations have been issued. Industry leaders warn that reliance on speeches and agreements—such as...
Functional, Feel-Good Drinks Edge Out Alcohol for ‘Controlled Indulgence’
U.S. alcohol consumption hit a record low, with only 54% of Americans reporting drinking in the summer, down from 58% the prior year. The decline translated into a 3.3% drop in beer, 4.1% in spirits and 6.1% in wine sales...
Sugar Factory Launches Retail Line
Sugar Factory, the New York‑based confectionery brand known for its over‑the‑top candy and dessert concepts, announced the launch of a consumer‑focused retail line. The new assortment includes packaged gummies, chocolate‑coated nuts, and limited‑edition flavor collaborations, designed for grocery aisles and...
Candy Now Tastes Different. It’s Not Just You.
Brad Reese, grandson of Reese’s creator, accused Hershey of altering the classic Peanut Butter Cups recipe, alleging swaps of real milk chocolate for compound coatings and peanut butter for a creme. Hershey responded that core Reese’s products remain unchanged, but...
Toast Launches Integrated Drive-Thru Platform for Quick-Service Restaurant Chains
Toast introduced Toast Drive‑Thru, an integrated platform that unifies point‑of‑sale, digital menu boards, kitchen display and AI voice‑ordering for quick‑service restaurants. Targeting over 140,000 U.S. drive‑thru lanes, the solution streamlines order capture and reduces hardware fragmentation. Early adopters report faster...
Flavor Sheriffs Wanted: Carl’s Jr. To Trade Free Sandwiches for Photos of Bland Food
Carl’s Jr. is rolling out a limited‑time promotion from April 14 through April 30, rewarding customers with a free Western Bacon Chicken Sandwich for uploading a receipt or photo of a bland competitor chicken sandwich via its mobile app. The new sandwich boasts...
Hershey Wants a Bigger Bite of the Functional Foods Market
Hershey’s new CEO Kirk Tanner is positioning the candy maker to capture a larger share of the $138 billion functional foods market, which grew 4% last year. The company already offers Fulfil protein bars and is eyeing extensions of existing brands...
SpotOn’s Rapid Fund Debuts and Other Digital Transactions News Briefs From 4/14/26
SpotOn Transact rolled out Rapid Fund, a service that makes card deposits available within 30 minutes and teamed with Parafin to launch SpotOn Capital, giving restaurants faster cash‑flow tools. BlueSnap completed a deep integration with SAP Cloud ERP and S/4HANA,...
Sustainable Fertilizer Practice Causes Increased Cadmium in Rice, Study Shows
A study by Wageningen University published in Nature Food shows that large‑scale recycling of manure in Chinese paddy fields raises soil cadmium, which eventually accumulates in rice. While manure reduces soil acidification and cuts mineral phosphorus fertilizer use, it also...
Winland Foods Invests in US Pasta Plant
Winland Foods is injecting $38.5 million to expand its St. Louis pasta plant, adding a new production line and rail‑car access. The upgrade will boost capacity and flexibility, allowing greater output of jumbo shells and other egg‑pasta products. The facility is slated...
Herdez Gives Control of Nestlé Mexico Ice-Cream Business to Froneri
Grupo Herdez will hand operational control of its Nestlé‑licensed ice‑cream portfolio in Mexico to Froneri, creating a 50‑50 joint venture. Froneri will inject capital and assume full operational authority, while Herdez receives no cash inflow and will reclassify its stake...
MBRF Expands Salic Meat Contract with Inclusion of Beef
Brazilian meat conglomerate MBRF, formed by the merger of Marfrig and BRF, has expanded its agreement with Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Company (Salic) to include beef. The contract now doubles the maximum poultry volume to 600,000 metric tonnes annually...
Chuck E. Cheese to Open First Birmingham Outlet at Star City
Chuck E. Cheese is set to open its first UK venue at Birmingham’s Star City, partnering with SuperPark to convert the former Genting Casino space into a 4,157 m² family entertainment hub. The development will create 45 jobs for Chuck E. Cheese and 26 for...
Slice Factory Launches Wood-Fired Mexican Street Concept Leñasada
Slice Factory, the Chicago pizza franchise, launched Leñasada, a wood‑fired Mexican street‑food concept, inside its 8800 Grand Ave location. The 2,200‑sq‑ft co‑branded space offers tacos, burritos, quesadillas and bowls featuring wood‑fired proteins such as asada, chicken, al pastor and shrimp....
Givaudan Can Manage the Effects of War in the Middle East Short Term, CEO Says
Givaudan’s new CEO says the US‑Israel‑Iran conflict has not materially disrupted the Swiss fragrance and flavour maker’s operations so far. The company is absorbing inflationary pressure on freight and logistics by planning coordinated price hikes with customers. The Middle East...
Four Supermarket Chains Hit by Fraud over the Origin of Their Fruit and Vegetables
On 7 April 2026 France's consumer‑protection authority DGCCRF ordered Carrefour, Leclerc, Aldi and Lidl to halt misleading practices around fruit and vegetable origin labeling and, in some cases, promotional pricing. The regulator found origin information hidden in catalogs, using tiny fonts, ambiguous...
10 Celebrity-Owned Booze Brands To Sip This Spring
The spring‑time roundup spotlights ten celebrity‑owned alcohol brands, from George Clooney’s Casamigos tequila to Beyoncé’s SirDavis whiskey. Each brand leverages the star’s image to market premium spirits such as gin, rum, vodka and cognac. The article notes recent product launches,...
Tropic’s Non-Browning Banana Secures New Key Market Approvals
Tropic, a UK‑based ag‑biotech firm, received regulatory clearance for its non‑browning banana in Japan and Brazil, allowing import, sale, and cultivation in the latter. The approvals expand the company’s footprint in two of the world’s most influential fruit markets and...
New Zealand Launches Public Consultation on Import Requirements for Fresh Blueberries
New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries has opened a public consultation to create import requirements for fresh blueberries intended for human consumption. The comment period runs from March 31 to May 15, inviting industry and technical stakeholders to weigh in. The initiative...
Veeno Bars Go Into Administration
Veeno, the Italian‑style aperitivo wine bar chain, entered administration for a second time on April 8, 2024, after a pre‑pack sale failed to revive the business. The company originally raised more than £200,000 (about $256,000) via Crowdcube and secured a £150,000...
7-Eleven Is Closing 645 Stores — The Five-Year Decline Most Customers Don't See
7‑Eleven’s parent, Seven & i Holdings, announced it will shutter 645 North American stores by the end of fiscal year 2026, extending a five‑year pattern of net closures. The company plans to convert some sites into wholesale fuel locations and...
How Air Cargo Disruptions Are Driving Food Price Pressures Across the Gulf
Air cargo disruptions triggered by the Iran‑Israel conflict are forcing airlines to reroute flights around contested airspace, tightening capacity on dedicated freighter lanes into the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The reduced availability and higher operating costs have pushed freight rates...
Koch Mezcal Lands in Hungary
Koch Mezcal, the Oaxacan premium agave spirit, launched in Hungary on April 10 through the Jan‑ker/Mr Alkohol platform. The entry follows previous rollouts in Sweden, Romania and the Baltics, marking a strategic foothold in Central Europe. Brand Venture brokered the...
Why the Grocery Code of Conduct Won’t Lower Prices and What It Shows About Industry Self-Regulation
Canada’s new Grocery Code of Conduct, a voluntary framework signed by Loblaws, Metro, Costco Canada, Walmart Canada and Empire, aims to bring fee predictability between grocers and suppliers. After five years of industry consultation, the Code clarifies roles but remains...
Cleo Highlights Lebanese Flavors and West Village Vibes
Halley Chambers and Kip Gleize have opened Cleo, a West Village rotisserie spot that blends Lebanese seven‑spice chicken with a modern, family‑friendly menu. Drawing on their Brooklyn concepts Margot and Montague Diner, they pivoted from a French‑style vision after discovering...
Family Office Behind Relaunch of Iconic Restaurant
A prominent European family office has funded the reopening of Krogs, a historic seafood restaurant in Copenhagen. The office committed roughly €18 million (about $19.5 million) to a full‑scale renovation that adds 30 new tables and modernizes the kitchen. Krogs will relaunch...
‘Worth the Wait’: Douro Winemakers Declare 2024 Vintage Ports
Port producers Symington Family Estates and Kopke Group have both declared the 2024 vintage as a classic year, citing ideal weather that restored the region’s traditional warm‑day, cool‑night cycle. After a string of challenging harvests from 2018‑2023, the 2024 growing...
LVMH Starts 2026 with Spirits Uplift
LVMH’s spirits division posted a 5% organic rise in Q1 2026, delivering €610 million (US$719 million) in revenue, buoyed by a favourable Chinese New Year timing that lifted Hennessy Cognac sales. The broader wine‑and‑spirits segment fell 2% on a reported basis, with...
Stoli Vodka Expands Australian Presence
Stoli vodka has added retail listings to more than 1,790 Australian stores in the past six months, including 292 Dan Murphy's and 1,400 BWS locations for its 50 ml bottles. In March 2026 the brand’s premium 700 ml format entered 100 Local...
Freixenet Launches ‘Super-Premium’ Alcohol-Free Sparkling Wine
Freixenet is launching Diamond 0.0%, a super‑premium alcohol‑free sparkling wine made from Italian grapes and dealcoholised via vacuum distillation. The 75 cl bottle will hit UK shelves in April 2026 at a recommended retail price of £9.50 (about $12), roughly twice the cost...
Cocoa Price Crash Spurs Hopes for Demand Recovery, Cheaper Candy
Cocoa futures have plunged more than 70% from their 2024 record, creating a deep price crash. The steep decline follows a 2024 rally that triggered demand destruction and left many manufacturers with costly inventories. With a robust harvest and a...
Champagne Puts Celebration at Heart of 2040 Initiative
The Comité Champagne has launched the "Champagne 2040" initiative, moving its strategy from production volume targets to a consumer‑centric outlook. The plan emphasizes the type of Champagne shoppers will desire in the next 15 years, including taste, alcohol level, sustainability...
Industria Licorera De Caldas Certified Carbon-Neutral
Industria Licorera de Caldas (ILC) became the first Colombian spirits producer to receive a Carbon Neutral Footprint certification for its entire portfolio, and it also secured verified Water Footprint certification, joining only ten spirits companies worldwide with that distinction. The...
NEIT, THE INDEPENDENT IRISH WHISKEY MAKER, PRESENTS THE OPENING CHAPTER OF “NEIT OUT”
NEIT, the independent Irish whiskey maker, launched the first chapter of its NEIT OUT series, called “Sin Plan,” at Milan’s Salone del Mobile. The pop‑up runs from April 18 to 26 at Via Maiocchi 3, offering coffee, cocktails and food alongside a new limited‑edition whiskey...
Chilean Authorities Meet with Salmon Sector to Coordinate Algal Bloom Response
Heterosigma akashiwo, a harmful algal species, has surfaced in Chile's southern waters, affecting 11 salmon farms in the Reloncaví Sound. The National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service (Sernapesca) convened meetings with industry players, the navy, and Subpesca to coordinate a response...
Higher Gas Prices Starting to Impact Spending, Foot Traffic at US Restaurants
U.S. gasoline prices climbed to $4.16 per gallon in early April, prompting consumers to curb restaurant outings. Black Box Intelligence data shows foot traffic falls 2.4% once gas exceeds $3.50 and 2.9% above $3.80, with family and casual dining hit...
Disaronno Celebrates ‘Dolce Side of Life’
Illva Saronno has unveiled the Dolce Side of Life campaign ahead of National Amaretto Day, targeting UK consumers with a fresh, experience‑focused narrative. The initiative, backed by a "significant" media spend, rolls out a five‑week ATL push from 19 April...
The Wine Group’s Helen Kurtz on Speed to Market and Competing in a Crowded Category
The Wine Group’s CMO Helen Kurtz explained how the company is slashing product launch cycles, moving new wines to store shelves in months rather than years. By prioritizing speed to market, the firm aims to capture emerging consumer trends before...
Siemens Mixes Drinks Tech in Canning Plant
Siemens Digital Industries has equipped DrinkPAK’s Texas canning plant with integrated automation, energy‑efficient infrastructure, and recipe‑based production controls. The solution also includes automated guided vehicles and a flexible financing platform that links capital costs to performance metrics. Siemens says the...
Has LT Foods Overcome Tariff-Led Pain?
LT Foods Ltd, India’s leading rice exporter, is rebounding after US rice tariffs fell from 50% to 18%, reviving pricing power and margins. The United States accounts for roughly 46% of its revenue, making the duty cut pivotal. Shares have...
SB Meets… Paolo Dalla Mora, Liquid Ventures
Liquid Ventures has launched as Europe’s first venture builder dedicated to the fast‑growing no‑ and low‑alcohol sector. Unlike traditional incubators, it co‑creates brands with full operational infrastructure, from branding to distribution, and backs them with capital. The firm sees untapped...