Each day at 5 p.m. we collect the five top food and supplement headlines of the day, making it easy for you to catch up on today's most important natural products industry news.

January 9, 2018

3 Min Read
5@5: The good and bad (and ugly) of switching to natural ingredients | Hain's sale struggles?
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Switching to healthy ingredients is riskier for brands than you might think

Dunkin Donuts is the latest large food chain to kick artificial dyes to the curb. While the company calls the move a “milestone,” removing artificial ingredients puts Dunkin—and other big companies that change their formulations to appease consumers seeking cleaner ingredient labels—at risk. While the payoff might be more loyalty from that set of consumers, the risk is potentially high conversion costs, complex sourcing issues and the potential of alienating some loyal customers. “It’s really difficult to find the ingredients that are substitutes for these artificial colors that look the same and taste the same—and cost the same,” says Jenny Zegler, global food and drink analyst at Mintel. Papa Johns, for example, said it spent $100 million to get artificial ingredients out of its products. And General Mills found that many consumers complained about reformulated Trix when the company removed artificial colors from its cereals in 2015. It brought back the classic Trix version last year.  Read more at AdWeek…

 

A sale or breakup of Hain has always been hard. Here’s why it may finally happen this year

Hain Celestial’s broad portfolio, which includes everything from tea to meat to personal care products, has long been a challenge to its potential sale, analysts say, although certain divisions could make sense for certain large CPG companies. Last week, a New York Post report called the nature of the company's sale prospects “grim.” CEO Irwin Simon told The Post: “This year we are looking at a strategic overview of all of our business, and some things may not fit. Read more at CNBC…

 

Whole Foods places new limits on suppliers, upsetting some small vendors

Some small vendors are already feeling the effects of Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods Market. In one instance, an entrepreneur says she’s allowed less space on the shelf compared to a few years ago, and a sign with her photo and the words “Made Locally” have been removed from her local store. Whole Foods is reportedly also requiring vendors to work with Daymon, a retail strategy firm, on all in-store demos, inventory and displays. According to The Washington Post, the retailer is requiring suppliers that sell more than $300,000 of goods per year to discount their products to fund this new program, and requiring them to pay the consultancy for demos. Read more at The Washington Post…

 

From Coca-Cola to fish oil, meet the female CEO changing the supplement industry

Melanie Lawson pivoted from a career in advertising to start Bare Biology, a UK-based fish oil company that she says markets fresh, concentrated fish oil products. Its signature Lion Heart liquid contains 3,000 mg of EPA and DHA per teaspoon. Read more at Forbes…

 

France was the first country to ban supermarkets from throwing away unused food—and the world is taking notice

In 2016, France enacted a law prohibiting supermarkets of a certain size from wasting food. Instead, they must donate it or face a fine. The country also introduced policies to require schools to teach food sustainability and to require companies to report their food waste data. These steps contributed to its top ranking in the 2017 Food Sustainability Index. Read more at Business Insider… 

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