Univar Solutions Inc. announced a collaboration with The Hatchery Chicago, a nonprofit food business incubator, to foster food and beverage innovation in one of North America's largest incubator facilities. 

Welcome to 2022! It’s a good bet this new year will fly by even more quickly than the past one just did. Recently a key retail executive forecasted that their industry will change more in the next five years than it has in the past 50. Another executive believes society will change more in the next 50 years than it has in the last 300.

From news to new products, to trends and research, our audience found itself engaged with specific pieces of content throughout 2021. Here is a look what you, our audience, found most useful and inspirational in 2021.

In the world of food colorants, the anti-artificial trend governs the space today, with natural colors appearing in about 75% of new food product launches. Consumers still use their eyes to choose foods, but they want the ingredients, including (and sometimes especially) any colors, to be derived from biological sources, such as fruits, vegetables, flowers, and other botanicals. 

Students find themselves in culinary school having come from many different backgrounds and having traveled down many paths. Some are cooks that are ready to move into a more challenging role in the kitchen; others want to learn new skills in baking by becoming a pastry chef; and others are building on years of cooking experience, having had no formal training. I found my way to Le Cordon Bleu Culinary School by way of music. 

Texture’s impact also is not limited to mouthfeel. It is relevant to a product’s flavor, appearance and even a related auditory sound. For these reasons, it plays a strong role in the entire eating experience.

SKU works by equipping startups with the tools they need to succeed. Startup companies receive the resources and relationships that they require to become breakout successes and household names. SKU then surrounds those stellar startups with a wraparound infrastructure of seasoned entrepreneurial mentors, customized curriculum focused on the entire CPG ecosystem, advanced operations support, and access to funding.

On a continuing growth path, CuliNex, a clean label food product consultancy, has recruited two industry veterans to accelerate business development and marketing activities.

The next wave of pasta products boasts a world’s worth of influences and a host of new nutritional benefits, all introduced through ingredients novel to noodles and largely nonexistent in the pasta and prepared pasta meal spaces. Exploring beyond Italian and Asian, product developers have turned to cuisine cultures ranging from Eastern Europe to Turkey to North Africa to bring greater variety, and nutrition, to the humble noodle dish.