Though more and more men have been doing the grocery shopping and managing the household for decades, the recession – and the increase in layoffs – seems to have kicked the trend into high gear. The biggest of U.S. food and personal products makers have recognized the sea change and are paying closer attention to men, marketing products and rearranging store layouts to cater to them. Market researchers have noticed that males aged 18 to 50 are content to do the grocery shopping themselves or at least participate. GfK MRI and ESPN report that 31 percent of men nationwide are now the primary household grocery shoppers, more than double the 14 percent in 1985. And a Yahoo! survey of 1,000 fathers found that 51 percent were the primary grocery shoppers in their household.

A partnership between French yogurt-maker Yoplai and Abu Dhabi’s Agthia Group has proved to be a formula for success in the United Arab Emirates. The Agthia Group has the rights for the Yoplai brand in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and provides installed production capacity of 16,000 tons. The group has also invested $13 million in a new plant to produce yogurts from Yoplait’s product line that appeal particularly to area palates. "The range carries a slight premium, but in line with what's right for the local market," said an Agthia Group executive of the marketing success in the UAE. "The initial response has clearly validated we have got it right."

Kraft Foods announced results of a sustainability and environmental survey that measured the company’s impact on climate change, land and water use. Most of the company’s environmental footprint – about 90 percent – originates on non-company farms that grow ingredients for its products. The survey supports the work of sustainable agriculture efforts on key commodities to improve crop yields, reduce environmental impacts and improve the lives of farm workers and their families. The company said it also continues to build upon previous success around energy, carbon dioxide, water, waste and packaging reductions.  The multi-year footprinting project was conducted with Quantis Inc. and reviewed by World Wildlife Fund and the University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment.

Kraft Foods has increased advertising, capital expenditure, and sales and marketing spending in India by more than 70 percent over the past year in an effort to boost annual sales by 30 percent for chocolate. The aggressive spending follows on the heels of its acquisition of Cadbury Plc., which controls 70 percent of the chocolate market in India, according to company executives. The company is also expanding into the growing $ 3 billion market for biscuits (cookies): it has started selling Oreos, which Kraft makes locally despite rising sugar prices and declines in the rupee against the dollar. “If we can get a substantial percentage of that market it would be very good,” an executive said. “We’d like to make up for the lost time.”

Marketing Week provides numerous examples of how companies are applying interactive technology to outdoor marketing campaigns to boost and extend consumer awareness of brands through “experiential” activity. Smart outdoor media lengthens “dwell time” for brands such as Heineken, Lynx, Green Giant and British Airways by persuading consumers to interact with, for example, digital out-of-home (OOH) screens and other displays. According to Marketing Week, revenues tied to digital OOH reached £101 million ($156 million) in 2010. About 16 percent of the outdoor marketing expenditures last year were focused on OOH. A growing number of consumers – 60 percent according to a recent survey – want more interaction with digital OOH screens. Forty-seven percent are eager to download discount vouchers from OOH screens to their mobile phones.

As budget-conscious grocery shoppers hunt for deals during the economic slump, retailers like Safeway, Kroger and Supervalu are paying more and more attention – and spending more dollars – hyping their own less-expensive product lines. No longer particularly worried about offending big packaged goods brands, retailers are devoting greater shelf space to their private-label offerings. Market researcher packaged Facts says that through mid-November store brands accounted for 31.4 percent of the 14,400 new food and beverage items that debuted this year in the U.S. That’s twice the share logged in 2010. To keep the momentum growing, retailers are plucking experienced marketers from companies like P&G and PepsiCo to revamp and innovate  their product marketing.

The 2011 FamilyBrands survey, whose goal is to find out which consumer product brands in the U.K. are most favored by the whole family, ranks retailer Marks & Spencer at the top of the list, followed by cosmetics and skin care retailer Boots and household cleaner marketer Fairy. According to Popsop, it is not surprising that M&S tops the list because department stores are ”the symbol of unity for a family since there everyone can find something just for him or her.” The survey asked 1,500 adult consumers to rate brands on criteria such as “socially responsible,” “caring” and “good listeners.” Four other retailers besides M&S fill out the top ten spots, though the survey ranks companies in 12 categories, including food + drinks, politics, FMCG, digital, airlines, restaurants, etc.

Unilever’s Ireland unit lost €9.8 million in 2010, mainly because of restructuring costs totaling €7.1 million, which included severance payments, according to a report filed with the Irish Companies Office. The report noted that sales in the country dipped slightly in 2010 to €247.7 million from €248.4 million in 2009. The company’s pre-tax loss of €9.8 million was slightly better than the €10.6 million figure recorded in 2009. According to company directors, Unilever Ireland “saw decline in underlying turnover for the third consecutive year” and “In order to ensure the future success of the business, we announced a significant restructure.” The number of employees dropped to 210 from 238, and staff costs decreased by 10 percent, after “significant redundancies across all functions” were found.

Nestlé announced it is investing CHF10 million ($10.8 million) to build a factory in Angola, its first in that south-central African country. To be located in the capital Luanda, the facility will be a “finishing centre” for packing and repacking products such as Nido milk powder and Nescafé coffee, according to the company. The factory construction is a component of the company’s three-year $162 million investment program launched last year in equatorial Africa. Nestlé vice president Roger Stettler said Angola is “particularly important” because it is “an emerging market with a strong, growing economy.” The facility in Luanda is the first stage in the construction of a larger Nestlé factory on the same site that will produce culinary, dairy, coffee and beverage products.

Forty percent of Americans say they prefer to curb their hunger with snack foods throughout the day rather than by eating the traditional three square meals, according to a survey by Snack Factory’s Pretzel Crisps brand. More than three fourths (78 percent) said they eat snack foods for lunch and 55 percent eat snacks for dinner. The trend toward substituting snacks for full-course meals is greater among younger people – ages 18 to 49 years. Only 31 percent of people age 50 or older skip meals for snacks. But the survey found that  whatever the age, “more and more people are relying on snacks to get them through the day.”

Dairy product producer Dean Foods announced a 50/50 joint venture with Swiss-based Hero Group, producer of fruit and infant nutrition brands Hero and Beech-Nut. Dubbed Hero/WhiteWave, the new venture will take Dean's WhiteWave business into the jam and chilled fruits business for the first time. Hero has had success with chilled-fruit products in Europe, and believes that North American consumers will be receptive to the products. According to reports, the two companies will develop new healthful products, while sharing technology, manufacturing and distribution capabilities. Dean also announced healthy financial results for the third quarter, with earnings per diluted share on an adjusted basis doubling to $0.28 from a year ago.

The U.K.’s Advertising Standards Authority has reprimanded Unilever for putting an advertorial on a newspaper Web site that was not clearly marked as an advertisement. The advertorial for Flora pro.active featured a reporter for the Daily Telegraph talking generally about the benefits of exercise and a nutritious diet, but also mentioned that the Flora beverage helped her reduce cholesterol. The ad also contained a link to further information about the product. The main headline of the advertorial mentioned “Flora pro.active” and another heading mentioned “in association with Flora pro.active,” but the ASA said Unilever and the newspaper did not clearly state that the piece was in fact a marketing communication.

Hindustan Unilever reported that profit before interest and tax (PBIT) was up 30.1 percent; net profit was Rs. 689 crore (US$140.9 million), up 21.7 percent, during the fiscal quarter that ended September 30. The company said its domestic consumer business grew 18.5 percent with strong underlying volume growth of 9.8 percent. “Growth has been broad based, and ahead of market,” the company said. “All segments have delivered double digit growth for the third consecutive quarter.” Other quarter highlights: soaps and detergents grew by 21.8 percent; personal products grew 18.2 percent; beverages grew 14.6 percent, with all brands delivering double digit growth; and inflation and commodity costs continued high. The company said higher costs were managed through “aggressive savings programs coupled with judicious pricing.”

Natural and organic products producer Hain Celestial Group reported a 13.3 percent increase over last year’s first quarter net sales to $292.4 million. GAAP net income rose 28.5 percent (11.7 million), compared to $9.1 million in the first quarter last year, with adjusted net income up 19.9 percent. The company reconfirmed its annual guidance for fiscal year 2012, which it raised last month in connection with its recent acquisitions of Daniels Group and the Europe's Best brand. Total net sales are expected to be $1.455 billion to $1.480 billion, and earnings per share will range between $1.63 to $1.73. CEO Irwin D. Simon said consumption trends improved year-over-year “driven by consumers seeking out our natural and organic products.”

Consumers interested in losing weight are responding to marketing promises, driving healthy weight management product sales, according to a Euromonitor report. Weight loss companies have successfully upgraded their meal replacement lines, introducing new flavors for current products, and launching new powders, soups and bars. All have enjoyed success at the retail level. Palatability and texture have improved markedly, thanks to the application of new ingredient technologies. Meal replacement slimming and weight loss supplements posted the highest sales in the U.S., mainly because of strong promotional efforts from direct sellers Amway and Herbalife. “A combination of high overweight/obesity rates, affluence and the desire for a perfect body helped North America dominate retail value sales of weight management products in 2010,” Euromonitor said.

Abbott Nutrition has introduced Glucerna Hunger Smart shakes and bars for diabetics. According to the company, the products are designed as meal replacements that assist in managing hunger and blood sugar spikes while helping diabetics achieve weight management goals. The Glucerna shakes contain a proprietary carbohydrate blend called Carb Steady with both low glycemic and slowly-digestible carbohydrates to help minimize blood sugar spikes. Each 180-calories shake has 15 grams of protein and six grams of sugars, as well as 25 vitamins and minerals. The snack bars are 140-150 calories with 10 grams of protein in addition to Carb Steady.

Kraft Foods announced it is extending its Cocoa Partnership – established by Cadbury to boost coca farming in Ghana, India, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean –  to the Dominican Republic. The five-year initiative with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will try to sustainably increase the yield and quality of Dominican cocoa, while improving farmer livelihoods and communities. About 10,000 small-scale cocoa farmers of the Conacado cooperative will benefit from training in farming techniques, post-harvest practices and supplemental income opportunities, Kraft said. The Cocoa Partnership has committed 45 million pounds Sterling (approximately $70 million) to the program.

PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi told Reuters recently that her company’s product line will grow much healthier over the next ten years, thanks to an expansion of more nutritious juices, dairy products and grain products. Nooyi said that within ten years, healthier products will comprise as much as 30 percent of its portfolio, up from a current 22 percent. The new focus by PepsiCo takes advantage of a growing consumer trend toward purchasing more nutritious products. The company hopes to double sales of healthier products to $30 billion in the next nine years.

Unilever has agreed to build a new sauce factory in Russia’s Tula region. The 50 million euros ($70 million) facility, which will employ 500 people, adds to the company’s sizeable – 1 billion euros –  investment in the country, where it already has seven production plants. The company says the investment in the region is an attempt to boost sales to offset listless performance in Europe and the U.S. Last week Unilever purchased Russian cosmetics group Kalina for 500 million euros.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest has filed a federal complaint in California alleging that “fruit” snacks from General Mills contain mostly sugars and lack fruit. Filed on behalf of a California mother, the suit says that snacks such as Fruit Roll-Ups, Fruit by the Foot and Fruit Gushers – marketed as “fruit flavored” and “naturally flavored” – are missing the beneficial fiber or nutrients associated with real fruits. Instead, they contain some fruit concentrate, corn syrup, unspecified “natural flavor,” and various food dyes. The complaint says the labeling of General Mills fruit-flavored snacks violates various state laws governing misleading and deceptive advertising and fraudulent business practices.

As part of a corporate social responsibility program dubbed Creating Shared Value, Nestlé announced a reforestation initiative in Malaysia that involves planting 750,000 trees to help protect the biodiversity of the lower Kinabatangan river ecosystem. The 560 kilometer Kinabatangan is Malaysia’s second longest river. Nestlé said the trees will be planted over the next three to four years – 100,000 will be planted in the first year – on both sides of a 110 km stretch of the river in Sabah, a Malaysian state on the island of Borneo. The project will also try to reduce pollution in the river by allowing the trees to form a natural barrier against soil sediment, agricultural fertilizers and pesticides.

Cargill corporate environment and safety chief LaRaye Osborne said the company made “meaningful progress” during fiscal 2011 toward achieving its 2015 environment, health and safety (EHS) goals, a five-year plan focused on worker safety and environmental sustainability. Cargill aims by 2015 to achieve zero fatalities, zero injuries at 75 percent of its more than 1,200 operating locations globally, and a reportable injury frequency rate – the number of injuries per 200,000 hours worked – of 2.0. In fiscal 2011, which ended in May, the EHS plan led to a 50 percent reduction in fatalities and a seven percent improvement in the reportable injury frequency rate. By 2015, Cargill aims to improve energy efficiency by five percent and increase renewable energy to 12.5 percent of its energy portfolio.

Natural and organic products marketer Hain Celestial Group has acquired the Europe's Best brand of natural, frozen fruit and vegetable products in Canada, where frozen produce is a $385 million market. The company said it plans to expand Europe's Best product lines, which include 24 premium fruit and vegetable products, into other channels of distribution in North America. All Europe's Best products are washed and individually quick frozen, by means of a flash freeze process, to retain flavor and freshness and preserve nutritional value.

A leading U.S. organic yogurt producer told an audience at College of Holy Cross (Mass.) that organic farming methods are superior to conventional for many reasons. Gary Hirshberg, head of Stonyfield Farm, said organic, sustainable food production is not only better for people and the environment, but it can also make good economic sense. As an example of how organic methods work better, he said traditional sugar cane production involves burning the cane fields to harvest crops, a process that is wasteful and destructive to topsoil. His farm in Brazil, however, separates cane from waste material and puts the waste back on the field, leaving the topsoil unharmed.

P&G CEO Bob McDonald told a Chamber of Commerce luncheon that the Cincinnati, Ohio, area lags in business start-ups and patents issued on a per capita basis and needs to ramp up spending on innovation. Business, financial and economic growth depends on investment in innovation by businesses and organizations, he said, and there’s no better time to invest than during economic downturns. He suggested several ways the region could foster innovation, including: speeding up start-up activity at research institutions, supporting collaborations with “pillar” companies, working together to strengthen support infrastructure, recruiting new talent, aligning public policy with an industry cluster strategy, and boosting investment in local start-ups. “It’s time to make Greater Cincinnati a leader … when it comes to innovation,” he said.

To encourage risk taking and innovation some companies are moving to reward failure where they see ideas that failed but that had potential. The advertising agency Grey, for instance, has a "Heroic Failure” award that is given to an employee who demonstrated edgy risk. Companies are also trying to create cultures more conducive to innovation and experimentation. P&G has set up a separate division called FutureWorks to partner with vendors in an atmosphere supposedly that will encourage bolder innovation; Grey New York has a "no meeting zone" every Thursday morning; others have mediation or nap rooms. As author Judy Estrin says "Failure, and how companies deal with failure, is a very big part of innovation."

Nestlé announced that it is enlarging its U.K.-based Product Technology Centre, where new confectionery products are developed and existing ones are reformulated. According to the company, the Technology Centre is also charged with deploying newly-developed technologies to Nestlé’s global operations so that confectionery products are produced safely and effectively while meeting the consumer needs. Centre Director Stefan Palzer says the expansion of the facility will allow the company to “accelerate and intensify confectionery product development” using sustainable and high quality raw materials, advanced manufacturing processes, and reliable equipment.

PepsiCo and its charitable arm have partnered with international food assistance programs in an initiative to boost chickpea production in Ethiopia. Enterprise EthioPEA will also promote long-term nutritional and economic security in the east African country, the continent's largest producer of chickpeas. Chickpeas are rich in protein – an average of 22 percent – and are a sustainable alternative to meat. Among other goals, the partnership hopes to enable 10,000 Ethiopian farmers to double chickpea yield by applying more modern agricultural practices and irrigation techniques. Participating with PepsiCo are the PepsiCo Foundation, the United Nations World Food Program and U.S. Agency for International Development.

PepsiCo has launched an initiative with the People’s Republic of China to promote sustainable agriculture projects and accelerate the development of the Chinese countryside. The company will work with China’s Ministry of Agriculture to build and operate demonstration farms that apply advanced irrigation, fertilization and crop management techniques. According to PepsiCo, they will also promote best practices in China's farming system to improve yields, increase income levels and raise living standards for farmers throughout the country. The partnership underscores the company's support for China's 12th Five-Year Plan, which establishes objectives for developing sustainable agriculture and speeding up agricultural modernization.

Chinese food and beverage company Nutrastar International said it plans to significantly expand its organic and specialty food consumer products business over the next year and a half. Production capacity expansion will total 890,000 square meters on the existing production grounds. The company said it will add hundreds of greenhouses with an annual projected organic production capacity of 6.5 million kg. The company’s current consumer product businesses include a specialty mushroom line and several beverage lines. The company is taking advantage of local government initiatives – sparked by China’s food safety problems – that provide financial support through subsidies to organic and green producers.

Whole Foods Market and Earth University, which exports sustainably grown bananas, have partnered to send five shoppers to Costa Rica to learn about ethical banana production. The  Whole Foods Market’s Earth University offerings include fresh bananas and frozen bananas and pineapples. The grocer’s Whole Trade program certifies growers for paying fair wages and providing safe working conditions, in addition to showing concern for the environment. Whole Foods shoppers can enter the contest by signing up online through September 30. Winners will experience Earth University’s hands-on teaching of sustainable agriculture, and responsible business and community development, the company said.

Campbell Soup Company is introducing 35 new soups and sauces in the U.S. this fall, a seven-fold increase in new product launches over 2010. New Campbell’s soups include five Slow Kettle Style varieties, four regionally-inspired – New Orleans, New England, etc. – soups and eight Healthy Request soups providing “heart-healthy” alternatives to condensed, Select Harvest and Chunky soup products. The company is also launching two 50-ounce, family-size cans of Chunky soup, three Swanson Flavor Boost concentrated broth packets for skillet dishes or stir fries, two unsalted Swanson stocks, and new Italian and Mexican sauces.

An online survey of 2,112 adults conducted in August for Whole Foods Market found that food prices have had a major impact on their food buying patterns. Eighty-two percent said current food prices have affected their grocery shopping, and more than 75 percent said they have changed their cooking and eating habits due to the economy. Large majorities saying they would buy natural or organic foods if they could afford it. Seventy-one percent said they would buy natural/organic foods over conventional foods if the prices were the same. And 70 percent said they would buy organic if prices fit their budgets. Twenty-four percent said natural/organic foods would account for only a quarter of their total household food purchases in 2011.

Swiss nutritional ingredients maker DSM says it has created a business unit that combines Martek’s algal DHA omega-3 and ARA omega-6 products and DSM’s polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFAs) product portfolio. The Nutritional Lipids unit will leverage Martek’s technology and market position in the U.S. and DSM’s global marketing and sales network. The company says scientific evidence shows that nutritional lipids offer significant health benefits and support brain, eye and cardiovascular health throughout life. Products from DSM's Nutritional Lipids portfolio are  found in more than 400 brands of infant formula, nutritional supplements, functional foods and animal feeds sold worldwide. Martek veteran Peter A. Nitze will serve as president, based in Columbia, Md.

Nestlé has partnered with Sydney University to develop a ten-minute online survey of 500,000 Australians seeking information on the key factors that contribute to health and happiness, and the complex relationship between the two. The interactive Happily Healthy Project will also give people ideas about how to change their lifestyles to make them happier and healthier, according to the company. The survey was developed with the help of Dr. Anthony Grant, an author and motivational psychologist. A key component of Nestlé’s Happily Healthy Project is the Happily Healthy Quotient (HHQ) which scores people on their level of fulfillment with life, both physically and emotionally. The company says 30,000 people have already completed the survey.

East Coast grocery retailer Stop & Shop has partnered with Unilever to donate $150,000 to Feeding America and member food banks during September to feed local children and families. The money will buy more than one million meals through hunger relief organizations such as regional food banks and pantries. Every dollar donated buys eight meals from Feeding America. Stop & Shop is conducting special promotional events in September in conjunction with the initiative, including Popsicle Parties and Stuff-A-Truck days. According to the companies, 25 percent of American children face hunger every day.

Fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) supplier Unilever says it has achieved its goal of becoming a "zero to landfill" manufacturer in the U.K. because none of its factories send non-hazardous waste to landfills. The company achieved its target by contracting with waste supplier Veolia to recycle 97 percent of its waste. The remaining three percent will be converted into usable energy.  The arrangement also helps Unilever meet its waste-to-landfill targets beyond the U.K., because the company’s 11 manufacturing sites produce about 25 per cent of its overall European waste. The company says it has reduced its total waste in manufacturing per ton of production by 77 percent since 1995.

Software and IT services firm Solarsoft Business Systems announced that Unilever is extending implementation of Solarsoft’s manufacturing intelligence solutions to all Unilever manufacturing sites in the Americas. Informance software tracks real-time performance in manufacturing environments. Unilever says it has been using the solutions to accelerate and enhance its total productive maintenance (TPM) program in ten ice cream plants in North America and will install the software in 35 additional factories in 13 countries in 2011. The company says the software installed at the ten ice cream plants where it was tested brought “real-time actionable insights.”

Seeking to boost market presence in the fast-growing Indian market, French food and beverage firm Danone is introducing a creamy yogurt in the country. The new product follows other product introductions over the past two years, including smoothies, flavored yogurts and dahi. Danone’s joint venture with Japan’s Yakult Honsha, dubbed Yakult Danone, produces and markets probiotic drinks in India. Yakult Danone and Danone India distribute products in different states and cities. Danone is also trying to figure out a way to market healthy dairy products to consumers at the lower end of India’s economic spectrum.

A new nutritional ingredient developed by British food technology company Provexis and made from ripe tomato extract will be exhibited at a Hong Kong trade show this month. Fruitflow is being touted as a way to prevent unwanted blood clots that cause heart attacks, stroke and venous thrombosis. The syrupy extract prevents blood platelets from clumping and aggregating, which often happens as the results of smoking, obesity and other factors. Fruitflow, whose  health claim has been approved by the European Food Safety Authority, is water soluble, fat and protein-free, easy to mask in foods and beverages, has a long shelf life and can be added to a variety of foods, beverages and dietary supplements.

Warren Struhl, CEO of a company marketing dissolvable tongue strips that deliver a fast jolt of caffeine and B vitamins, tells FoodNavigator-USA that his product and others like it could become a $1 billion market within three years. Sheets Energy Strips from PureBrands have already won the backing of NBA star LeBron James and other celebrities, while response from retailers (Walmart, CircleK, GNC) has been “overwhelmingly positive.” Struhl expects to launch a family of similar dissolvable strip products next year. The energy delivery version costs much less than energy shot drinks while delivering 200 percent of daily value of vitamin B6 and B12, 100 percent of vitamin B5, and 100 mg of caffeine per two-sheet serving.

Despite an underwhelming Russian interest in organic foods, German baby food maker HiPP has opened a factory in Kaliningrad to manufacture its all-organic products. Organic foods account for less than one percent of the total food market in Russia. Nevertheless, the Hipp family continues to search for land close to fresh water and away from highways and conventional farms to avoid contaminating their crops. The annual baby food market for Russian children up to three years old is about $2.2 million, and growing at about eight percent a year, according to 2010 data from Nielsen. HiPP says its local market share is five percent. The company’s market share in Germany is 50 percent.

The Malt-O-Meal Company, maker of ready-to-eat and cooked breakfast cereals, has partnered with Terracycle in a program to reduce waste created by box packaging. The company offers its cereal products in plastic bags that result in 75 percent less consumer waste and save energy and fuel in the process. Its recycling initiative with Terracycle is designed to keep the cereal bags out of landfills. Terracycle collects hard-to-recycle materials and transforms them into usable products like messenger bags, fencing, coasters, stationery products and trash cans. For the program, consumers join the Cereal Bag Brigade and ship used bags to TerraCycle. Shipments from schools earn points that can be redeemed for $0.02 per bag.

Food and beverage company Dean Foods has launched a better-for-you chocolate milk made with white milk, but containing 20 percent less sugar, 40 more calories than regular milk per serving, and no high fructose corn syrup. Fat-free TruMoo contains 130 calories per serving and 10 grams of added sugar. Previous chocolate milk formulas made with high fructose corn syrup contained up to 180 calories and 16 grams of added sugar. Dean Foods said the nationwide launch follows successful retail and school testing in the Northeast and Pacific Coast regions. According to the company, Fairfax County Public Schools in Northern Virginia reversed a chocolate milk ban to bring TruMoo chocolate milk into school cafeterias. Wendy's restaurants also offer TruMoo coast to coast.

Taura Natural Ingredients announced it will be exhibiting innovative snack food ingredients that incorporate fruits and – for the first time – vegetables at the Food Ingredients Europe (FiE) conference in Paris in November-December. Processed using the URC (ultra rapid concentration) technology, the ingredients are formulated from 100 percent fruits and vegetables. The product line includes purees and non-deionised juices that allow snack manufacturers to create a range of nutrient-rich, clean label composite products such as fruit pieces, flakes and pastes for use in applications such as muesli, cereal or snack bars, baked goods, cereals and confectionery.

A group of disgruntled consumers has filed a class action lawsuit in a California federal court seeking compensatory and punitive damages against “all natural” foods maker Kashi Co., a subsidiary of Kellogg, for false advertising, violation of California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act, and other alleged transgressions. The plaintiffs argue that despite the “all natural” claims made by Kashi, its cereals and other products are “composed almost entirely of synthetic and unnaturally processed ingredients," such as sodium molybdate, phytonadione, sodium selenite, magnesium phosphate, niacinamide, etc. The attorney representing the lead plaintiff in the case said "in some cases" substances in Kashi products are "hazardous" and violate "both Kashi's and the FDA's definition of the term 'natural.'" 

With the U.N. declaring countries in the so-called Horn of Africa (Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, etc.) in a state of crisis or emergency because of severe drought and famine, Unilever says it is working with disaster and emergency relief partners to determine how to boost relief efforts. East African countries are enduring the worst drought in six decades, according to the U.N. About 2.8 million people need immediate life-saving assistance; 450,000 are affected by the famine. The company says its local businesses in Kenya and South Africa have been donating cash and food products; the Unilever global business has pledged €500,000 in cash and food products through UNICEF, Save the Children, Oxfam, Population Services International (PSI) and WFP.

Products in the digestive health category are selling well, thanks at least in part to Dannon’s aggressive marketing campaign for its Activia yogurt. Ads featuring actress Jamie Lee Curtis have made countless people aware of the importance of digestive health, says Danielle Harrison of National Enzyme Co. And probiotics aren’t the only beneficiary of the campaign. Nonprobiotic ingredients that have experienced an uptick in sales include aloe vera, fiber and enzymes. The business development manager at Xsto Solutions says his company’s products, including a Japanese chelated zinc and L-carnosine ingredient, is experiencing double-digit growth. PepZin GI, supports a healthy mucosal lining in the digestive system.

Expanding its commitment to Thailand, Nestlé announced it will invest more than CHF 98 million ($114 million) over the next two years to expand its factories and boost manufacturing of products such as coffee and ice cream. The money will also pay for construction of a new Nestlé Quality Assurance Centre. CEO Paul Bulcke said the company’s business in Thailand grew by more than 10 percent in 2010, thanks to domestic sales and the export of Thai-produced products to more than 44 countries around the world. Thailand also benefits from the Nescafé Plan, a CHF 500 million initiative unveiled last year addressing responsible farming, sourcing and consumption across its coffee supply chain.

Although Nestlé board chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe believes organic farmers and farming should be supported, they are ultimately not the answer to the world food supply problem and are not a priority for Nestlé, Fast Company reports. "There's no way you can support life on earth if you go straight from farm to table," Brabeck-Letmathe says, calling organic farming “a privilege” supported by wealthy people in Europe and the U.S. who can pay the higher prices. Organic farming is a "romantic" notion that is not scalable. Moreover, organic farming does not lead to more nutritious foods, he says, and can be dangerous because of the use of manure-based fertilizers.