FoodNavigator-USA’s Special Edition on Kids’ Food

Food Navigator is an industry newsletter useful for keeping up with food industry interests.  In Special Editions, it collects articles on specific topics, this on on food for kids.

Special Edition: Food for kids!

Almost a third of American children aged 10-17 are dealing with overweight or obesity, and many are lacking in essential nutrients from potassium, dietary fiber and calcium, to vitamin D. So how can the food industry respond to these concerns and develop more nutritious, but appealing snacks, meals and beverages for kids? We explore innovations targeting every life stage, from a new wave of baby food brands to Paleo meat sticks for tweens.

• 60-second interview: Are kids’ diets getting better?   First, some sobering statistics* from the CDC: Almost one in five (17%) of Americans aged 2-19 are dealing with obesity, which affects 8.9% of 2-5-year-olds, 17.5% of 6-11-year-olds and 20.5% of 12-19-year-olds, and continues to disproportionately impact children from low-income families… Read
• RXBAR extends minimalist philosophy to school lunchboxes with new kids line: Chicago-based RXBAR’s new kid’s line is now available in 3,000 stores nationwide, providing a smaller version of the fastest growing bar by dollar growth in the natural and conventional channels, per measurement by market analytics firm Nielsen… Read
• Serenity Kids shakes up the baby food aisle with a new line of high-fat, meat-based purees: Despite the sustained popularity of the paleo diet that has spawned an entire industry of packaged products from soup to snacks to decadent desserts, parents who want their children to follow the trend have had to make their own baby food – until now… Read
• Veggie Go’s brings “healthy innovation” to the fruit snack aisle with launch of Bites: New parents who remember enjoying classic fruit snacks growing up but who struggle to justify giving them to their children in the current era of clean eating and better-for-you foods now have a new option from Veggie Go’s that the company says they can share with their kids guilt-free. .. Read
• Soup-To-Nuts Podcast: Tweaking ads to show cooking with kids makes brands relatable: Images of mom preparing dinner alone in the kitchen for her busy family have been a staple in food and beverage marketing for decades, but new consumer research from the Benenson Strategy Group suggests brands that continue to recycle this theme are missing the mark with modern families and their sales could suffer as a result. .. Listen now
• Amara Organic Foods: We’re pioneering a new category in baby food: Innovation in the baby food aisle has come in waves. First came jars, then shelf stable pouches, and most recently a new generation of HPP (high pressure processed) refrigerated brands carving out a premium niche in the category. But could freeze-drying and other techniques open up another – more affordable – sub-segment?.. Read
• Brands, health advocates & FDA strive to ensure children go to school with breakfast: With one in six children in the US and one in five in Canada entering classrooms hungry each morning, food service players, CPG manufacturers, FDA and non-profits are raising awareness about the importance of breakfast and striving to feed more children at the start of the day… Read
• Kidfresh co-founder: We’re bringing Millennials to the frozen aisles: Cynics might argue that junk food is junk food, whether it comes in green-hued packaging and eschews artificial colors, flavors and preservatives, or not. Kidfresh co-founder and CEO Matt Cohen begs to differ. .. Read
• Sports drinks, fresh fruits top back-to-school grocery lists: Sports drinks seem to signal the start of the school year, according to numbers crunched by market data firm Nielsen… Read
• NurturMe CEO shares what it takes to secure accounts with ‘top tier’ retailers: After years of knocking on the doors of top tier retailers and hearing no, baby and toddler food company NuturMe is finally hearing yes from major players including Target, Kroger and Costco – a change the company’s CEO attributes to the brand’s new “Tummy Friendly” positioning… Read
• Children’s snacks are ‘complete white space’ for paleo products, says exec from The New Primal: As the primal or paleo trend continues to mature, subscribers are no longer restricted to fitness enthusiasts and CrossFitters who served as ground-zero for the diet, according to Jason Burke, co-owner and founder of meat snack company The New Primal. .. Read