Headlines

Mamma Chia Goes for the Green(s)

Boasting higher fiber and protein counts than current green beverages on the market, Mamma Chia founder and CEO Janie Hoffman believes that the four-SKU line has the potential to “evolve the greens category in a way that we haven’t seen.”

Portion of Proposed Class Action Lawsuit Against Bai Brands to Proceed

U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam in the Northern District of California declined to dismiss the case in its entirety, agreeing with plaintiffs that a “reasonable consumer” could be misled into thinking that phrases like “Antioxidant Packed” means that the beverages provide a “good source” of antioxidants.

Whole Foods Addresses Asparagus Water Snafu

Images of the product on sale at a Whole Foods store in Brentwood, Calif. surfaced on social media earlier this week, inviting widespread ridicule.

Jamba Juice Introduces New Line of Organic Cold-Pressed Juices

Last year, Jamba Juice made its initial foray into the category of cold-pressed, high pressure processed (HPP) juices with the launch of a four-SKU line, which debuted in California. Today, the company announced that it is furthering its presence in the space with a new line of organic products.

Soylent 2.0 Puts Algae in a Bottle

The move into a bottled format isn’t Soylent 2.0’s only new point of differentiation. The product has also undergone a reformulation, with “farm-free algae sources” now accounting for over half of the product’s lipid calorie count.

Harmless Harvest Drops “100% Raw” From Labels

Citing the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s “lack of legal definition or certification for the term ‘raw,’” Harmless Harvest wrote in a recent blogpost that “there is no way for us—or any product—to achieve official certification that we are a raw product,” hence the decision to remove “100% Raw” from its labels.

Vita Coco Launches Lemon Tea Variety at Kroger

Packaged in Vita Coco’s familiar 500 mL Tetra Pak carton, the beverage will be made available exclusively at Kroger supermarkets through the end of the summer.

New on FBU: How to Efficiently Optimize Your Retail Strategy

To better understand methods for getting a retailer to optimally sell your product, including strategies in both category and shelf management, working with brokers and how to navigate sales data, FBU recently sat down with Daniel Lohman, who is a strategic advisor specializing in the organic and consumer packaged goods industry.

Ingredient Trends: 5 for Function

All of these natural functional products are available in beverages right now: and they’re growing and on-trend.

Diversity in Natural Foods: The Way Forward

Readers of my last two columns get the point quickly: food and beverage companies in the natural products industry should strive for racial and ethnic diversity. To that end, now we’re going to think about solutions: practices that the industry and its component companies can inaugurate to spur both employee and entrepreneurial diversity.

With Launch of Sam Lives, Fresh Samantha is (Sort Of) Back, Again

She is the namesake of pioneering super premium juice brand Fresh Samantha, and while Samantha Levin was just two years old when her father launched the beverage line, she’s following in the footsteps of her family’s business -- for the second time -- with an HPP smoothie/meal replacement brand called “Sam Lives.”