In a virtuous circle that promises to provide a significant boost to the market for crackers, major marketers in turn have begun to roll out an ever-expanding line of innovative products to meet the challenge created by soft sales and slow growth in product segments such as potato chips and cheese snacks.

The North American food & beverages colorants market is estimated to be dominated by the U.S., followed by Canada in 2014.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) notes, "The abundance of farmers' markets and the emergence of larger scale retailers carrying local products (and promoting them) is a healthy indicator of market responsiveness to consumer demand."

In the $28 billion U.S. pet food market, mergers and acquisitions have dominated the headlines in recent years.

According to the Packaged Facts report, Functional Foods & Beverages: Key Trends by Product Categories and Benefits, all three are also undergoing major shifts in the marketplace that reflect cultural and lifestyle changes including heartier breakfasts and more, healthier snacking.

The supermarket industry's "center store" of shelf-stable and frozen products is hardly sedentary. Take sriracha hot sauce, as the center store very much did.

Helping to drive a robust functional foods market in 2015 is a nation still struggling to shed extra pounds and keep them off, consumers recognizing the importance of engaging in regular physical activity to promote overall good health, and adults of all ages seeking out foods and beverages to help them maintain enough energy to support fast paced lives that less and less frequently involve food preparation and healthful, sit-down meals with family or friends.

No bowl or milk necessary for the modern American breakfast. The most important meal of the day in the U.S. is shifting away from the familiar snap, crackle, and pop of cold breakfast cereals to embrace the convenient goodness packed into the food industry's increasing array of nutritional and cereal bars.

Locally produced foods are stepping out of the shadow of their once "quirky niche" designation to claim a much more prominent place in the U.S. food and beverage retail-scape.

Today's consumers want and expect more than great taste and belly-filling from the foods and beverages they consume.