Douglas Tompkins, 72, North Face founder, dies in kayaking accident

After founding North Face and then Esprit, the avid conservationist used his fortune to buy more than 2 million acres of land through various conservation groups. He inspired many in the natural products industry, including with his Natural Products Expo East 2014 keynote. Read more at The New York Times...

Organic vs. non-GMO food labels. Who's winning?

Sales of foods marketed as non-GMO are outpacing sales of food marketed as organic, and it's frustrating some organic farmers. Yet consumers are still confused about the difference. Read more at The Wall Street Journal...

Healthy Food Ingredients buys maker of purple corn

The company bought Suntava Group, known for its proprietary non-GMO purple corn used in cereals, snacks, baked goods, supplements, skin care and pet foods. Read more at Food Business News...

Myers Park graduate launches vitamin company

A team of young entrepreneurs from Brown University are launching VitaLives, a children's multivitamin company that provides stipends to hospitals and pharmacies in poor regions for each bottle of vitamins bought in the U.S. Read more at The Charlotte Observer...

Will a reward entice inventors to tackle fish-free fish food?

One of the big questions around aquaculture is how to feed fish without further depleting fish stocks for fish feed. The F3 Challenge is offering a $100,000 prize to whoever can make 100,000 metric tons of vegetarian feed by September 2017. Read more at National Geographic...