Functional food brands face a range of challenges, from taste to health claims, in order to get their products to appeal to consumers, and educate them about product potential.
The gut health trend is one of the single biggest changes to hit the food and drinks industry in recent decades. So what are gut-loving consumers buying and what gut-friendly products will we see next?
We speak to Julia Trebels, category & consumer insight manager at SIG, to find out more about the research and development process behind the market-first product.
Drinking beer could be good for your gut and immunity, stimulating healthy microbiota diversity thanks to the beneficial brew of compounds found in the fermented beverage.
Functional beverage company Curated Culture is looking to raise funds to support its expansion plans in the sports nutrition sector, after experiencing its first taste of success with its dairy- and sugar-free probiotic teas.
Oregon-based organic kombucha brand Brew Dr. is going "a little bit bolder, a little bit bigger" with its new branding and flavors as the company looks to expand household penetration amidst a growing competitive landscape in the functional...
With a new flavor of its probiotic tonic set to hit store shelves regionally later this month, The Spare Food Co. is repurposing whey from the Greek style-yogurt manufacturing process to create its line of beverages while advocating for more food and...
Global food ingredients giant ADM announced today it will acquire Deerland Probiotics & Enzymes, significantly expanding its capacity in microbiome-targeted ingredients.
Australian probiotic brand PERKII has seen steady sales of its probiotic beverages amid the pandemic, boosting the firm’s confidence in its overseas expansion plans.
Mining the traditional fermented beverages “Masato de Yuca” and “Chicha de Siete Semillas”, scientists from Peru and Spain have reported a potential new probiotic with performance that matches or exceeds an established commercial strain.
Singapore start-up Soynergy is aiming to launch a probiotic drink made from okara, using its biotech platform that contributes towards zero-waste food manufacturing.
Yakult has detailed its plan to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 through its newly established Environmental Vision 2050, which will also include efforts to reduce plastic packaging by 30% by 2030.
Yakult Honsha is expanding sales of its Yakult 1000 product – a probiotic drink containing its proprietary Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota and formulated to relive stress and improve sleep across the whole of Japan.
A group of researchers at the National University of Singapore (NUS) has developed fermented probiotic tea and coffee with strains that confer digestive and immune benefits.
Malaysia-based kombucha brand WonderBrew is on track to more than double its sales this year, as it seeks to expand its e-commerce presence amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
APAC’s probiotics sector is continuing to soar, but consumers are increasingly seeking applications beyond supplements and dairy, with honey, tea and coffee emerging as potential formats for innovation.
Orange juice may be a potential non‐dairy based carrier for the probiotic Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis, according to a study conducted by researchers in Australia.
The probiotic supplement industry has slammed an online beer advertisement for capitalising on therapeutic terms such as ‘pro-biotic’ and ‘good for the gut’ which were permitted for being only “tongue-in-cheek” by an alcohol marketing regulator.
Legumes, cereals, pseudocereals, fruits, and vegetables show much promise as transport mediums for probiotics, prebiotics, and bioactive compounds to the gut at concentrations that prove beneficial, says researchers.
Good Culture explores adjacent cultured dairy categories with its new Wellness Probiotic Gut Shots. It wants to be a platform brand for nutrient-dense functional foods.
BioZen, which claims to be the first company to make kombucha in Brazil, is launching fruit kefir. We talked to its co-founder about low-sugar drinks, gut health and reaching male consumers.
General Mills has led a funding round that poured $12 million into Boulder,CO-based functional food firm NextFoods and its GoodBelly brand via its venture investing arm 301 Inc.
With 95% market share in kefir, Lifeway Foods continues to explore opportunities in the probiotics space, and its new Elixir sparkling probiotic beverages will soon be joined by Icelandic skyr and plant-based protein drinks.
Consumer awareness of probiotics and their functional health benefits continues to grow with 79% of them saying they would prefer to consume probiotics in food and beverage products rather than supplements, Ganeden’s 2017 SSI Consumers Survey found.
Chr. Hansen’s new probiotic children’s drinking yoghurt taps into a trio of trends identified by the dairy producer combining functional dairy for gut health that appeals to young taste buds and health conscious parents.
A prebiotic nanofibre matrix that protects beneficial bacteria in the low pH environment of fruit juices could prove an effective encapsulation agent for the probiotic delivery in functional beverages.
Pectin and pulp extracted from passion fruit makes an effective probiotic food carrier, research finds as it demonstrates properties that stimulate probiotic growth and survival in the gut.
Growing demand for products that support gut health is fueling rapid growth in sales of fermented beverages, but for kombucha to hold on to its pole position in the category and reach its full market potential, manufacturers must improve labeling compliance...
Ganeden has developed an immune health ingredient, Staimune, from its patented probiotic strain GanedenBC30 for use in functional shelf-stable beverages to be released later this summer.
Interest in probiotics is skyrocketing and the friendly bugs are increasingly turning up in functional beverages. But what are the challenges of this delivery system and what are the solutions?
Cold-pressed juices, cashew-milk smoothies, energy drinks, water and even cold-brew coffee: probiotics are making their mark across on-trend beverages.
Fermented foods such as sauerkraut, kombucha, kimchi and yogurts containing ‘live and active cultures’ are healthy and tasty, but they are not necessarily packed with probiotics, says Ganeden Inc, the Ohio-based firm behind one of the best-known probiotic...
From scientists to shelves: developing technology from the University of Queensland
Probiotic water PERKii is launching in Australia, using patented technology developed by scientists at The University of Queensland that claims to ensure the delivery of live probiotics to the digestive system.
Probiotic specialist Yakult USA has challenged allegations in a class action alleging it is misleading US shoppers about the digestive health benefits of its fermented drinks and says it is confident of "eventual and ultimate vindication at trial,...
Probiotics specialist Ganeden has announced a new application, one that straddles the supplement /food divide. The company has partnered with BioGaia to place its Ganeden BC30 into a line of straws that can be packaged with beverages.
Nebraska Cultures has joined the ranks of probiotics suppliers competing in the functional food realm with spore-forming bacterial ingredients with the announcement of GRAS status on its ProDura Bacillus coagulans ingredient.
Ganeden Biotech - the Ohio-based company behind ultra-resilient probiotic BC30 (Bacillus coagulans GBI-30, 6086) - has announced the issuance of a US patent covering the use of all Bacillus coagulans strains (including BC30) in coffee, tea and cereal.
In discussing gut health it’s wise to keep in mind the words of the late United States Supreme Court justice Potter Stewart when discussing a 1964 obscenity case. Pornography, Stewart said, was hard to pin down, but “I know it when I see it.” So it...
