News on Food Trends from the United States

McDonald's best of sustainable supply 2012

March 14, 2012

McDonald's (potato) suppliers making progress in sustainability

McDonald's just announced its 2012 Best of Sustainable Supply Chain winners by highlighting 51 stories of supply chain partners addressing challenges to help improve food sources, the environment, communities and employee wellness across the world. Man...

Russian Banana (Courtesy Idaho Potato Commission)

March 14, 2012

Idaho increases specialty potato market share

Russet potatoes still dominate markets, but specialties are gaining.

March 12, 2012

Pepsi, Coca-Cola change caramel colouring affected by Proposition 65

Coca-Cola and Pepsi are changing how they make an ingredient in their drinks to avoid being legally obliged to put a cancer warning label on the bottle. The new recipe for caramel colouring in the drinks has less 4-methylimidazole (4-MEI) - a chemical...

March 12, 2012

New potato characters: Potandon's Klondike Family Makes Their Debut

Potato marketer Potandon Produce proudly introduces the animated potato characters of the Klondike Family with the first episode of an online story book that can be found at www.KlondikeBrands.com. This innovative potato family features some of the ...

March 12, 2012

Natural color solutions for snack foods: visit Chr. Hansen at SNAXPO

Chr. Hansen invites snack professionals attending the SNAXPO trade show in Phoenix, Arizona, US March 17-19, 2012 to visit their booth to see its full range of natural colors for snack foods and to discuss the opportunities in natural colors with leadi...

March 08, 2012

McDonald's shuffles US menu in value makeover;Small french fries, drinks to fall off Dollar Menus

McDonald's Corp restaurants in the United States will be tweaking and expanding their promoted value-priced items later this month as many diners remain strapped for cash and the world's biggest hamburger chain works to increase its lead over rivals.

March 08, 2012

McDonald's Happy Meal focus of new marketing campaign

McDonald's USA will introduce a new, national Happy Meal campaign this week, including TV ads promoting nutrition and active lifestyles.

March 08, 2012

Idaho farmers reject processors' contract offers

Idaho potato growers have rejected processors' contract offers, convinced they were insufficient to cover rising input costs and prevention of the emerging disease zebra chip.

March 06, 2012

New Leaders Trained at 2012 Potato Industry Leadership Institute

Eighteen potato growers and industry representatives from across the United States joined together to form the 2012 class of the Potato Industry Leadership Institute (PILI), an annual program designed to identify, develop and cultivate new leaders within the potato industry.

March 06, 2012

Key Technology Introduces FoodSafetyPRO™

Key Technology introduces FoodSafetyPRO™ for food processors looking to improve their recordkeeping in accordance with the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), Safe Quality Food (SQF) certification, and/or Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) cert...

March 05, 2012

Growth of restaurant chain Five Guys Burgers and Fries brings success for Idaho broker

Five Guys Burgers and Fries opened about 200 new locations in 2011, and the Lorton, Va.-based chain plans to open about 200 more in 2012. That’s great news for Rick Miles Produce Service. The Rigby, Idaho, broker and distributor is the sole supplier o...

idaho potato commission 75th anniversary

March 03, 2012

Idaho Potato Commission celebrates 75 year anniversary

The Idaho Potato Commission is one of the oldest and longest running commodity groups in the country.In 1937, a group of people from the burgeoning Idaho® potato industry joined together to form the Idaho Fruit and Vegetable Advertising Association, la...

March 01, 2012

Popchips doing healthy sales, expanding to Britain

Popchips CEO Keith Belling didn't want to just make and sell a new brand of the same old snack;he wanted to create a whole new category. In the five years since Belling's company started making Popchips in San Francisco, it has become one of the faste...

February 28, 2012

General Mills acquires Food Should Taste Good

General Mills announced today the acquisition of Food Should Taste Good, a rapidly-growing natural snack foods company based in Needham Heights, Massachusetts. Food Should Taste Good will become part of Small Planet Foods, General Mills’ natural and o...

February 28, 2012

American Frozen Food Institute Elects New Board Leadership

The American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI) today announced the election of four officers and nine members to the AFFI Board of Directors. The elections took place on Feb. 20 at the AFFI Annual Meeting in San Diego held in conjunction with the 2012 AFFI...

February 28, 2012

Sweet Potato Tots introduced at Sonic

SONIC is expanding its unique Tots offering by introducing new Sweet Potato Tots to its menu for a limited time. According to data from the USDA Economic Research Service, sweet potato U.S. per capita consumption has been on the rise, even as white po...

NPPGA President Chuck Gunnerson presents the 2012 NPPGA MSA to Susie Thompson

February 26, 2012

Susie Thompson Wins NPPGA Meritorious Service Award

Asunta (Susie) Thompson is the winner of the 2012 NPPGA Meritorious Service Award. It was presented to her at NPPGA's annual banquet. This comes on the heals of winning a Meritorious Service Award from the National Potato Council in January. Dr. Thom...

February 26, 2012

US Potato research threatened by budget cuts

President Obama's budget proposal for Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 proposes cutting $700 million in the USDA's spending levels.The amount represents a 3 percent cut from FY 2012 USDA spending levels.