Nestlé decides to split with GMA
Nestlé joins Campbell's in splitting from the food industry trade group. Nestlé, the world's largest food company, has been at odds with the Grocery Manufacturers Association's stance on several issues in recent years, including added sugar labeling, voluntary sodium reduction and GMO labeling. “The food industry has a big opportunity to be much more transparent and engaging,” the company's president of corporate affairs, Paul Bakus, told Politico in 2015. "It behooves these companies to be more progressive and transparent." Read more at Politico…
How General Mills is using a VC fund to navigate the war on big food
What was dreamed up four years ago as a platform for 301 Inc.’s team to launch its own businesses within General Mills has since become an investment vehicle that takes minority stakes in emerging health and wellness brands like Beyond Meat, Purely Elizabeth, D’s Naturals, Rhythm Superfoods, Kite Hill, Good Culture and Farmhouse Culture. “One of the things that big companies fall into is they think about staying in their lanes and they think about a category mindset,” VP and General Manager John Haugen says in an interview with The Street. “What we’ve really tried to do is be much more focused on where the consumer is moving.” He says trends he’s keeping his eye on include less-processed products, plant-based proteins, probiotics and fresh, perimeter-store innovations. Read more at The Street…
That’s a wrap: New certified organic data released during National Organic Harvest Month
Certified organic acreage in the U.S. grew 15 percent in 2016, while the number of organic farms jumped 11 percent, according to new data from USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. No surprise here—California leads the way in acreage, sales and number of farms. Behind California in certified organic sales are Pennsylvania and Washington. Read more at NASS…
Rep. Pingree wins food leadership award
At its annual food summit, the James Beard Foundation gave one of its Leadership Awards to U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine, who has backed and introduced legislation to support organic research and local food. Read more at Portland Press Herald…
Kansas State University to help new initiative improve healthy food access for Kansas
Almost one-third of Kansas counties are considered food deserts. The Kansas Health Foundation is about to launch the $4.2 million Kansas Healthy Food Initiative in Wichita, which will assess communities’ food systems, address distribution needs, support marketing and policy efforts, educate Kansans on how to find and prepare healthy foods, and build partnerships to promote healthy food access. Read more at High Plains/Midwest Ag Journal…
