The latest food and beverage industry news and trend analysis

Little Debbie, the top-selling snack cake brand in the United States, is expanding its breakfast and snack portfolio with Chocolate Old Fashioned Doughnuts. Following the record-breaking 2025 launch of its original variety, the brand is utilising a dual-format strategy, Big Pack cartons for grocery and 3 oz. single-serves for convenience, to capture the rising demand for "bakery-style" nostalgic snacks.

UK plant-based brand THIS is launching two ready-to-eat deli slice variants to capitalise on the demand for convenient, high-protein meat alternatives in the food-to-go and snacking categories.

Mars Snacking is diversifying its TWIX brand with "TWIX Bits," a poppable format designed to capitalise on the high-growth bitesize snacking segment, supported by a "Two-Way Contract" campaign featuring LiAngelo Ball.

Conagra Brands has appointed industry veteran John Brase as its next President and CEO, effective June 1, 2026. Brase, who brings deep expertise from The J.M. Smucker Co. and Procter & Gamble, succeeds Sean Connolly following a decade-long transformation of the company into a pure-play food leader.

Tesco is scaling its summer inventory with over 300 new SKUs, prioritising a significant expansion of the Tesco Finest Deli portfolio and the introduction of weather-resilient BBQ options to drive seasonal growth.

Fonterra Co-operative Group Ltd has appointed Richard Allen as its next CEO, effective May 1, 2026, signalling a focus on internal continuity and the cooperative's evolution into a global B2B dairy provider.

Kraft Heinz is expanding its portfolio with Kraft Mac & Cheese Restaurant Edition, a premium line offering sophisticated flavours and larger portions to meet the rising demand for cost-effective at-home dining solutions.

Nestlé UK and Ireland has appointed Purina veteran Ben Duncan as Managing Director for Food, leveraging his two decades of commercial and category expertise to lead iconic brands like Maggi and Carnation.