Member News & Headlines Blog

Food Processing generates annual lists of the top 100 food and beverage companies in the United States and Canada. You can find lists dating back to 2011 by clicking on each year's tab. These lists of the top food and beverage companies are one of a kind; nowhere else can you sort both food and beverage manufacturers by sales, rank or income all in one place.

Food Processing's 43rd annual Top 100© list (2018) ranks food and beverage processors based on their sales of value-added, consumer-ready goods that were processed in U.S. and Canadian facilities. Use the chart below to electronically sort each of the top food and beverage companies by name, rank, or sales

Thanks to Americans’ increasingly hectic lifestyles, sales of grab-and-go items like salty snacks, including chips, popcorn and pretzels, are increasing, according to the June 2018 “Salty Snacks: U.S. Market Trends and Opportunities” report from Packaged Facts. Convenience is cited as a top purchase driver.

“The state of the snack food market is ever-evolving,” says Amber Glover, business development manager, Asenzya, Oak Creek, WI. “More and more often, the consumer isn’t eating three square meals a day. Instead, they rely on several snacks to help them get through their busy schedules.”

Contributing to growth is the fact that salty snacks are readily available in vending machines, gas stations, and convenience stores—which only increases their appeal among rushed shoppers. Though competition does exist from chocolate confections, cookies, and crackers, Packaged Facts estimates that sales of salty snacks will exceed $29 billion in 2022.

To read the entire article from Snack and Bakery HERE

At Kellogg, I have the opportunity to work on world class brands that are made in 21 countries around the world.  I feel privileged to know that through my work, I am helping to achieve our company’s purpose of nourishing families so they can flourish and thrive.

Kellogg is a company with a Heart and Soul, passionate about fighting hunger and feeding potential for people and communities. That means ensuring that there is enough food for everyone, especially for children who might not always have access to a good breakfast. 

Breakfast is so important to success in the classroom. Without a healthy start to the day, kids simply don’t show up ready to learn. That’s why we launched Breakfasts for Better Days™, our global signature cause platform. Through Breakfasts for Better Days, Kellogg is donating 2.5 billion servings of food and expanding feeding and nutrition education programs to reach 2 million children. Overall, our goal is to create three billion Better Days by the end of 2025.

To read this entire article click HERE

• Kraft Heinz CEO Bernardo Hees recently spoke with The Wall Street Journal about the company's push to increase sales by giving its well-known brands a healthy update — without losing faithful customers.
• Hees used Capri Sun as an example, saying that because the drink wasn't organic, even consumers who enjoyed it as children would not buy the beverage now. To address this and similar issues with other Kraft Heinz products, the company introduced organic and no-added-sugar versions of Capri Sun, Oscar Mayer hot dogs without byproducts and Kraft mac and cheese with no artificial coloring, he said.
• But not all brands work with a natural or healthy marketing approach, Hees noted. It's also challenging to revamp products quickly, he said.

Check out this article from FoodDive HERE

Chicago Tribune's first ever FOOD BOWL offers a 3-week crash course in the fine art of cuisine from Tuesday, August 7 through Sunday, August 26. The festival showcases the distinct tastes and flavors of Chicago from its neighborhoods to its award winning restaurants and world-class chefs. 

The FOOD BOWL gives locals and tourists alike the opportunity to get up close and personal with Chicago's second to none food scene through 100+ events that include specialty classes, test kitchens, panels and talks, pop-up bars, neighborhood tours, fine dining and more.

Why Chicago? Why now?

Here are just a few reasons that make Chicago the city at the top for foodies:

The James Beard Foundation moved their big Awards ceremony-aka the Oscars of the food world--to Chicago four years ago and will be calling Chicago home again next year.

Condé Nast Traveler says "Chicago is the best restaurant city in America” (2017).

Bon Appétit magazine calls Chicago “America’s most exciting city to eat in right now.”

Chicago's Alinea restaurant has been named the “Best Restaurant in the World” by many, including Elite Traveler magazine.

25 Chicago establishments received one or more Michelin star in 2018.

So now's your chance to experience Chicago's finest at Chicago Tribune's FOOD BOWL. Here are some highlights--the rest of the events are listed on the website.

Read the full article HERE

LaForce Baker is the founder and executive chef at Moon Meals Inc., a company providing plant-based meals including vegan meats, cheeses, and sauces to major retailers and foodservice operators. When Black Enterprise interviewed Baker in 2014, he discussed his vision to expand to other markets, to make healthy, tasty options accessible to other time-starved, urban professionals. Four years later, his vision for Moon Meals has come to life. Thanks to the Fiesta Wrap, the company’s new vegan grab-and-go concept, the bootstrapped entrepreneur who overcame poverty is launching in all 187 Jewel supermarket locations in the Midwest.

To read the entire article from Black Enterprise click HERE

It's so rewarding for CFBN to be able to host events where our guests are able to meet new people, learn about different aspects of the industry and build business relationships. 

Last week, we kicked off the month of August with our friends at CPG Professional Networks, to host an event where attendees had the spotlight. It was a great opportunity to connect with the industry, so we appropriately named this event, “Hot Networking, Cool Drinks.” We truly had a blast bringing together the food & beverage industry of Chicagoland. Special thank you to our partners at CPG Professional Networks for a great event!

PITTSBURGH & CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 31, 2018--As part of its commitment to reduce natural resource needs and manage overall environmental footprint, The Kraft Heinz Company today announced the expansion of its environmental stewardship strategy to include time-bound targets for achieving greater packaging sustainability and setting science-based goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Specifically, Kraft Heinz supports the move toward a circular economy and aims to make 100 percent of its packaging globally recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025. This announcement, a complement to its Growing a Better World strategy released in last year’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report, supports the Company’s broader efforts to improve the sustainability of its supply chain.

“Our collective industry has a massive challenge ahead of us with respect to packaging recyclability, end-of-life recovery and single-use plastics,” said Bernardo Hees, CEO at Kraft Heinz. “Even though we don’t yet have all the answers, we owe it to current and future generations who call this planet ‘home’ to find better packaging solutions and actively progress efforts to improve recycling rates. That’s why Kraft Heinz is placing heightened focus on this important environmental issue.”

A Matter of Science and Food (IFT 18) gave food industry professionals and science enthusiasts the chance to network, collaborate and share information. Attendees were given the opportunity to showcase their inventions, listen to expert panel discussions and explore the logistics of the industry. There was a ton of information to take away from this year’s show, so I decided to make a list of the top 5 things that I learned at IFT 2018.

• 1.     Food trends require science to come to life in products. Plant protein, coconut, coffee flavors, and fermented foods were just a few of the trends that I spotted at this year’s show. Often, what’s overlooked is the incredible amount of science and technology required to deliver products that meet consumer needs – yes, price, taste, convenience, and safety still matter – but science is necessary to deliver the trend. The IFT Show is one of my favorite places to see the hard work of food scientists in action, along with the continuing evolution of the food and beverage industry. 

• 2.     Our CFBN Members are killing it and making a difference.  A few examples….
• ·       Edlong – demonstrated and explained the art of dairy-free options
• ·       Imbibe – showed off innovative beverage trends
• ·       FoodMinds – presented multiple panels highlighting food industry efforts
• ·       FONA International – took time to teach educators about food science
• ·       IFSH – provided guidance for food safety and researching needs
• ·       CoreFX – shared a range of dry dairy, cheese and nutritional lipid ingredients
• ·       Kinsa Group – connected talented candidates to leadership opportunities

• 3.     The World attends IFT. The IFT18 show presented many amazing opportunities, including the chance to network with international representatives from:
• ·       ProChile
• ·       Invest Chile
• ·       Wallonia Trade Office/Belgian Trade Commission
• ·       New Frontiers in Food

• 4.     Business connections are invaluable, especially in the world of food science and technology. Truly, it’s the relationships that we create in industry that generate value and innovation over time.  The annual IFT shows make this incredibly clear. I’m so proud of CFBN’s relationship with the Chicago Section IFT, and we seek to grow and extend the incredible relationships that this group has been creating since 1941.  It’s also fun to connect with friends and colleagues from all over the country and the world. There are simply too many for me to list…but IFT 2018 brought us all together (again!)

• 5.     Chicago is the best place for IFT.  My favorite IFT experiences have always been in Chicago (despite my clear biases). Next year’s IFT show is set to take place in New Orleans, LA, and I’m sure it will be a great show (who doesn’t love New Orleans, beignets, and Cajun food?)…but what’s most exciting is that IFT will be returning to Chicago in 2020, and for the following 10 years! Is Chicago truly becoming the Silicon Valley of food? I sure think so!

Our friends at FoodNavigator give us an overview of the food and technology trends at IFT18!

Plant proteins are trending - but are they better when blended with animal? Coffee flavor is hot, but only if it's cold brew, and coconut is promising a whole lot more than just water. FoodNavigator has rounded up some of the highlights from the world's biggest food science show.

See all of the trends from FoodNavigator here