Articles by Prepared Foods Editorial Staff

Columbus Vegetable Oils, a supplier of high-quality oils, shortenings, sauces and dressings, announced the hire of Jenn Farrell as director of research & development and quality. 

The Specialty Food Association (SFA) Trendspotter Panel has predicted what will be hot in specialty food for 2024. Ranging from soup to cell-based meat and seafood to peach to value–and more–the Trendspotters have set their sights on a diverse list of trends for the $194 billion specialty food industry.

Caffeine with added benefits, going back to basics in the plant-based category, complex heat from global peppers, and water conservation and stewardship are all among the food trends expected to rise in popularity across the industry in the next year.

With Buckles and Karapetian in their new roles, combined with the company's executive leadership team, which includes Dan Kucera (chief financial officer), Dawn Rasmussen (chief revenue officer) and April Blackmore (chief operations officer), we believe the company is primed to build upon strengths and accelerate growth.

Impakt IQ (IIQ), a provider of investor grade ESG assessments, business intelligence and ESG scoring solutions, announced the appointment of Errol Schweizer as a partner and CPG Industry lead.

While 88% of active users have a moderate to high commitment to continue their plant-based purchases, one-third of shoppers say they would like to see more plant-based offerings at stores, according to research.

The past decade has seen the rise of natural, botanical sweeteners of all types and abilities flooding the market. These plant-derived sweeteners range from zero-calorie HIS products such as stevia and monkfruit to monosaccharides like unrefined plant sugars which offer only a slight reduction in calories but bring other advantages to the table. The challenge for product formulators is to meet the demand for products with less sugar but make them as indistinguishable as possible from their full-sugar counterparts.

"Our mission at SOMOS is to bridge the gap between convenience, flavor, and our Mexican heritage, and our Salsa Macha is a great expression of that," said Miguel Leal, SOMOS Co-Founder and CEO. "These jars are packed with the vibrancy of Mexico and we're so excited to see that come to life on-shelf and drizzled on all types of food, day and night.”

The agreement combines Tyson Foods’ global scale, experience and network with Protix’s technology and market leadership to meet current market demand and scale production of insect ingredients.

Citation will become Cibo Vita's first outside shareholder. Cibo Vita's co-founders Emre Imamoglu (CEO) and Ahmet Celik (President) will continue to hold a significant ownership interest.