Each year, the frozen category’s most productive conversations happen face-to-face—when buyers, suppliers, and service partners can compare notes quickly, pressure-test plans, and align on what matters most for the year ahead. That’s why AFFI-CON remains a key marker on the calendar for procurement, operations, and commercial teams working across frozen foods and ingredients. Why AFFI-CON …
Continue reading “AFFI-CON 2026: The Key Week for Frozen Supply Chain Leaders”
Varietal innovation doesn’t usually make procurement headlines—but it should. When a new apple earns recognition at a major grower and production-tech event like SIVAL in Angers, it’s a reminder that the most meaningful supply chain shifts often start in the orchard, not the warehouse. This year, the STELLAR™ apple was recognized with a Silver Award, …
Heat is one of the most reliable levers in product development—and jalapeños remain the workhorse pepper that delivers it without narrowing your customer base. From retail dips and frozen appetizers to sauces and frozen ready-to-heat meals, diced jalapeños add instant flavor and visual appeal across a wide range of SKUs. Right now, the advantage isn’t …
Many of us take stock of our habits at the beginning of the year—and for most people, nutrition ends up at the top of the list. According to The New York Times, nutrition experts spent 2025 unpacking some of the biggest food myths, clarifying what actually supports long-term health, and identifying the small shifts that …
Continue reading “A Healthier 2026 Starts with What (and How) We Eat”
When kitchens and manufacturers look for ingredients that deliver comfort, consistency, and speed of execution, peas don’t always get the spotlight. But rehydrated zipper peas—a Southern staple with real menu credibility—check a lot of boxes for foodservice and prepared foods. With current availability open, this is a practical moment to lock in a product that …
Continue reading “Rehydrated Zipper Peas Are a Quiet Menu Win”
United States Potatoes: U.S. potato production finished slightly below the prior year, with the processing segment continuing to be shaped by contracted programs. For the coming season, contract discussions are active across major growing regions, and early indications suggest processing raw material pricing is trending lower in new agreements. Blueberries (Cultivated): The U.S. cultivated blueberry …
Continue reading “Peru Mango Supply Tightens as Vietnam Offers Stay Competitive”
Recent federal nutrition guidance is reinforcing a back-to-basics message that prioritizes whole, nutrient-dense foods while calling for a meaningful pullback from highly processed items that rely on chemical additives. For food manufacturers and supply-chain partners, this direction matters because it aligns public guidance with the growing expectation that labels be simpler, ingredients be more familiar, …
Continue reading “Ingredient Simplification and Produce Handling Move Into the Spotlight”
Frozen is no longer the aisle you visit when time is tight—it’s increasingly the aisle you build around. Conagra’s Future of Frozen Food 2026 frames the category as a modern eating infrastructure: a place where convenience doesn’t have to trade off with ingredient expectations, and where shoppers can assemble meals that feel both intentional and …
Broccoli rarely gets treated like a risk ingredient—until it suddenly is. Between weather volatility, shifting harvest timing, and demand spikes tied to prepared meals and foodservice resets, broccoli can move from “always available” to “harder than expected” quickly. Right now, we have strong availability of IQF broccoli from Mexico ready to move, and for manufacturers …
Continue reading “Mexico IQF Broccoli: High Volume, Ready to Ship”
Flavor forecasts matter less as “predictions” and more as a window into how product teams and menu developers may build next year’s concepts. McCormick’s 2026 callout—black currant—signals a direction that’s bigger than one ingredient: fruit-forward profiles with depth, tart-sweet contrast, and strong performance in beverages, sauces, and desserts. Why Black Currant Fits the Current Moment …
Nutrition trends don’t disappear overnight—but they do shift in emphasis, and those shifts show up in customer expectations long before they become formal requirements. New consumer insight highlighted by Food Business News points to a move away from single-nutrient fixation and toward a broader “dietary diverse” mindset, with fiber gaining momentum as the next headline …
When winter turns ugly in a major growing region, supply gets tight fast—and the pain shows up as spec changes, availability gaps, and pricing pressure. Storms and sustained cold in southern Spain have slowed production and pinched the flow of cucumbers, the kind of staple item that’s usually supposed to be boring. The problem typically …
Continue reading “Spanish Weather Shocks Prove Supply Stability Is Planned – Not Promised”
The “food as medicine” concept has moved from a niche wellness message to a mainstream expectation—and that shift is changing what buyers and formulators are asked to deliver. Increasingly, customers want foods that do more than taste good: they want nutrient-dense options tied to specific functional outcomes, delivered through everyday eating without adding complexity. For …
When federal nutrition guidance tightens its framing, buyers feel it long before the consumer reads a headline. The newly released Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025–2030 position this cycle as a major reset with a simple throughline: “eat real food,” built around nutrient-dense protein foods, dairy, vegetables, fruits, healthy fats, and whole grains—while calling for a …
Continue reading “Dietary Guidelines That Will Shape Formulation Decisions”
As consumers look for comfort in uncertain times, nostalgia has become a reliable lever for food and beverage brands. But what’s changing is how nostalgia shows up in product development: it’s no longer just a retro label or a throwback package. More teams are trying to recreate specific remembered flavors—and that’s where the operational reality …
You never get as many auto responses as you do in the last weeks of December. Most everyone is in hibernation mode, comfortably situated wherever they’re spending the holidays. The mood has changed, the pace slowed down, and we’re left to wonder how the year seemed to have passed so quickly. The projects, the meetings, …
Some products feel mass-produced. Others feel crafted. And every once in a while, you come across something so thoughtfully made that it forces you to rethink what a simple snack can be. That’s what happened during our team’s recent visit to a chip plant tucked into Colombia’s coffee-growing mountains—an operation that quietly produces some of …
Continue reading “Why Mountain-Grown Plantains Make Better Chips”
Flavor forecasting for 2026 is widening the lens: it’s no longer enough for a product to taste good—it has to mean something. The next wave of winning profiles is being framed as “emotionally intelligent,” where nostalgia, comfort, and cultural identity carry as much weight as heat level or sweetness. In practice, that’s why “spicy” and …
Regulators and industry stakeholders are closely watching efforts to establish a federally recognized definition of ultra-processed foods. As definitions take shape, non-nutritive sweeteners used for sugar reduction are emerging as a key area of focus, including both traditional high-intensity sweeteners and sweeteners often positioned as plant-derived or “clean label.” For manufacturers, the way non-nutritive sweeteners …
Continue reading “Sweeteners Under Review as Ultra-Processed Food Definitions Evolve”
United States Blackberries (including marionberries/boysenberries): Processors reported good quality and sweetness, with yields sufficient to cover demand and carry some inventory for spot needs, supported by improved sorting performance. Blueberries: In Oregon, the blueberry run extended late due to mild fall weather; quality was strong with a higher share of top-grade packs, and processors noted …
Continue reading “Mexico Remains Lead Supplier as U.S. Avocado Arrivals Grow”