Prepared Foods discusses plant protein ingredients and formulation strategies with Charlie Baggs, president, founder and executive chef at Charlie Baggs Culinary Innovations, Chicago.

Prepared Foods' Executive Editor–Technical David Feder interviews ethnobotanist and regular contributor to Prepared Foods Kerry Hughes. She discusses the trending foods, beverages, and ingredients using botanicals that caught her attention at the 2024 Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California. Among specific better-for-you and botanical ingredients Hughes notes are: aloe, ashwagandha, cranberry, elderberry, ginseng, milk thistle, mushrooms, saw palmetto, and tomato lycopene.

In this episode of Reasoned Opinion, Executive Editor–Technical David Feder’s editorial series on trends in the food beverage, nutrition, and ingredient industries, he presents the more interesting ingredients, foods, and beverages that caught his eye at the 2024 Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California.

Prepared Foods Editor Bob Garrison recaps Natural Products Expo West trends, tastes and technologies with Carolina Sasson, Chief Operating Officer at Mission Field. Mission Field, Denver, is a global consultant specializing in food & beverage innovation, strategy and insights.

Earlier this year, the Oregon cheesemakers at Tillamook released a comprehensive trend report on new ways consumers are finding to enjoy cheese. Two intriguing pairings revealed by the report included matching artisanal honeys with artisanal cheeses, and then what the trend-spotters called “the cheddar plunge”— soaking a sharp cheddar in wine, shrubs, or ale to completely change the cheese experience. David Feder, Executive Editor-Technical for Prepared Foods, discusses these and other cheesy...

Cell-based meat—real meat created without involving the animal—is closer to reality than you think. A food technology company in Israel, Ever After Foods, Ltd., has passed the tipping point in overcoming the barrier of scale-up in cell-based meat production. And they’ve done so by shifting the paradigm. Ever After CEO Eyal Rosenthal went into cell-based meat cultivation with recognition that “innovation is needed to drive a production of cultivated meat that is more similar to the traditional...

Prepared Foods Chief Editor Bob Garrison talks food and beverage innovation strategy, topics and trends with Mario DiFalco and Kim Lopez-Walters, co-founders of Illuminate Growth Partners in the San Francisco Bay area.

Prepared Foods talks clean label snack trends and technology with Simon Sacal, CEO of Solely Inc. Since 2018-2019, this La Jolla, Calif., company has converted upcycled fruits and vegetables into a growing line of snacks (bars, jerky, dried fruit), confections (gummies) and even meal/side dish offerings (pastas). Along the way, it has earned numerous supplier awards and Prepared Foods gave it a 2022-2023 Spirit of Innovation award for its Solely Fusilli Pasta made from just one ingredient:...

Prepared Foods chats with Fred Scarpulla, Chief Culinary Officer for Amy’s Kitchen, Inc., makers of healthful, organic prepared foods that include pastas in all shapes and formats.

The plant-based meat analog explosion started out as a disruptor in the prepared foods field and is currently going through some serious growing pains. But the idea of crafting meat, poultry, seafood, and dairy replacers derived from plants and other non-animal sources goes back centuries. Think: tofu. While there’s no argument that the main driver of the consumer love affair with meat-free options has been the technological boom that allowed for meat, poultry, and seafood mimics that have...

In an interview with Prepared Foods, Kantha Shelke, PhD, CFS principal of Corvus Blue, LLC, a Chicago-based food science and research firm, shares effective ways to lower sugar content in RTE and heat-&-eat cereal products through both technical means as well as using alternatives to the refined sugars still predominant in these most popular breakfast products.

Renewal Mill, Pbc., a California company at the forefront of the new circular economy of food upcycling, has done the front-end work to ensure that it is rescuing valuable resources that would otherwise go to waste or be used in ways that are less sustainable. The company’s success comes from a deep understanding of the confluence of all those aspects as individual building blocks of a working upcycling paradigm. Renewal Mill co-founder and COO Caroline Cotto describes how Renewal Mill...

Prepared Foods talks natural and organic product trends with Scott Dicker, market insights director at SPINS LLC in Chicago. In this podcast, Dicker discusses those natural and organic categories that are doing well (think global flavors, at-home meals) and he shares an inside look at SPINS’ top trends for 2024!

Prepared Foods' second installment of our two-part interview with Yves Potvin, founder and CEO of Konscious Foods Canada, Inc. Yves discusses deviating from the most common source of plant protein—soy—opting instead to use protein predominantly from peas, with supporting protein from additional sources such as chickpeas and seaweed.

What’s next in plant-based proteins and has fungi truly arrived as a protein source? Are cell-based or cultured proteins ready for the market? What other new protein ingredient sources should formulators consider? Prepared Foods talks with Stephanie Lind, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Elohi Strategic Advisors, to covers the protein ingredient landscape, including the latest in precision fermentation.

Kristi Knowles, chief executive officer, Mother Raw, discusses the brand's mission and new organic product innovations. Under her leadership, the brand has grown from 300 retail listings in 2018, to 8000+ listings across North America. With the brand promise “Put Good on GoodTM” Mother Raw brings a fresh focus to the dressing, marinade, dip, queso and condiment categories. Known for clean, natural, allergen friendly offerings, Mother Raw products address a range of consumers including vegans...

Yves Potvin first created a true soy-based hot dog analog in the 1980s. From there, Yves’ culinary tinkering expanded into plant-based deli slices and until he founded Garden Protein International—a.k.a. Gardein—in 2003, where he created a line of game-changing analogs of beef, chicken, sausage, crab, and fish. Today, Yves is the founder and CEO of Konscious Foods Canada, Inc., makers of some 10 different offerings of sushi, onigiri, and poke analogs that brought the fresh raw seafood...

The connection between digestive health and immune function is top of mind for consumers at a level never before seen. But the ingredients that confer good digestive health are not always used to their best effect in the fermented foods—especially dairy products such as yogurt, cheese, sour cream, and kefir. Dana McCurdy, PhD, a fermentation scientist and expert on kefir and other dairy food fermentation with special focus on probiotics and the functional components of fermented foods,...

Prepared Foods talks snack tastes and trends with Sally Lyons Wyatt, executive vice president & practice leader for client insights at Circana. Wyatt delivered a “State of Snacking” address at this year’s Sweets & Snacks Expo and PF Editor Bob Garrison checks in to learn more!

Prepared Foods talks sustainability with Randi Kronthal-Sacco, senior scholar at the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business; and Doug Yolen, VP, Food & Beverage, Media Center of Excellence, Circana. The two organizations study consumer attitudes and behaviors and released their 2022 CSB Sustainable Market Share Index.

David Feder, Executive Editor-Technical for Prepared Foods, discusses sugar reduction in beverages and dairy products with Kristen Sparkman, Product Developer and Culinologist for CuliNEX, a leading food product development consultancy. Sparkman is a degreed food scientist, sweetener expert, and culinologist. Join us as she zeroes in on the use of various sugar-reduction strategies for beverage, dairy, and frozen dessert formulations.

Which came first, the chicken or the plant-based egg? Advances in fiber, gum, and protein manipulation have advanced hydrocolloid technology so dramatically that it is possible to make a plant-based cooked egg analog—fried, poached, or hard-boiled—that looks, feels, and tastes like the real thing. David Feder, Prepared Foods network’s Executive Editor-Technical sits down with Yo! Foods, Ltd.’s Yosefa BenCohen, research chef and co-founder, and chief product designer, and Eran Groner, CEO...

David Feder, Prepared Foods' Executive Editor-Technical interviews Marie Spano, MS, RDN, LD, CSCS, sports nutritionist and founder of Spano Sports Nutrition Consulting. Spano is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, sports nutritionist, and has acted as the major league sports nutritionist for the Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta Thrashers, the Blackzillians mixed martial arts team, the Chicago Cubs, and the Atlanta Braves, seeing them through to their 2021 World Series...

The events of the past few years have sealed cultured dairy in the minds of consumers as the primary method of attaining a healthy gut microbiome for enhanced immune function. Prepared Foods' David Feder, Executive Editor-Technical, interviews Dr. Miguel Freitas, Vice President of Health and Scientific Affairs for Danone North America, and learns what’s next in how cultured dairy and cultured dairy analogs positively impact immune health.