The Greg Steltenpohl Pragmatic Visionary Award, honoring natural products pioneer and plant-based visionary Greg Steltenpohl, is officially accepting entries for its first annual $100,000 grant for early-stage ventures in the food space. The founder of Odwalla and Califia Farms, who died in March 2021, devoted his life to changing the food system through business.

Prepared Foods’ Spirit of Innovation Awards recognize product development teams for excellence with innovative new products. Winners are acknowledged for each step of the process: from insights and ideation through formulation and full development of the product. Join the virtual audience on August 9 at 11am EDT.

Sweet Thins were designed to help build the market for watermelon seeds, which come from a variety of watermelon that is specifically grown for its seeds rather than its flesh.

Danone NA’s Research & Innovation team continues to connect the dots and it forecasts even more market opportunity—enough to warrant substantial new product development. That led to several years of research and development behind Silk Nextmilk, which debuted January 2022 nationwide in Whole Fat and Reduced Fat varieties.

Last year saw Kellogg introduce MorningStar Farms® Incogmeato® Homestyle Chik'n Tenders so restaurant operators could add plant-based protein to the menu. This back-of-house product can be quickly fried or baked and used in any and every daypart.

Last year saw Applegate take that farm-to-fork commitment to change one step further. With the October launch of Applegate Naturals Do Good Dog hot dogs, it became one of the first and few to appeal to consumers on the basis of regenerative agriculture.

This year brought more than 120 submissions and after two judged panel tastings, experts selected six items according to a 10-point scale for overall innovation, the team’s problem-solution story and sensory performance (including taste, appearance, texture, smell, etc.) 

What started as a five-year commitment to raise a minimum of $50,000 in scholarships for the Williams-Franklin Foundation (WFF) at the start of 2021 by Organic & Natural Health Association, has blossomed into a $55,205 total in less than two years throughout various natural products industry events and supporters. These funds have raised more visibility for opportunities in the natural products industry for students of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU).

When broadline foodservice distributor US Foods Holding Corp., introduced as many as 18 “Spring Scoop” products this March, it embraced the theme, “Do More with Less” and emphasized versatile items to help operator customers manage labor shortages and other operational challenges.