Aldi is expanding its seasonal confectionery offering with a new line-up of Easter eggs and chocolate treats, with prices starting at 99p as retailers compete for shoppers ahead of the spring holiday. The retailer’s latest collection includes several new product launches alongside returning favourites, spanning novelty eggs, premium layered formats and bite-size chocolates under its private-label ranges, including Choceur, Moser Roth, Dairyfine and the Specially Selected line. Among the headline launches is the Choceur Jammy Wheel Biscuit Egg (£8.99, 325g), a biscuit-inspired Easter egg that nods to the popular jammy biscuit category. The white chocolate and biscuit-flavoured egg features a raspberry and white chocolate cream layer designed to replicate the flavour profile of the classic biscuit. Another novelty addition is the Choceur Disco Ball Egg (£3.99, 200g), which combines a gold-dusted milk chocolate shell with popping candy and crispies in a disco-ball shaped format aimed at gifting and seasonal novelty appeal. At the more premium end of the range, Aldi is introducing layered and filled eggs under the Moser Roth brand. The Moser Roth Millionaire’s Overload Egg (£8.49, 225g) features a milk chocolate half shell layered with salted caramel, blonde chocolate, shortcake biscuit, caramelised biscuit spread and sea salt fudge, topped with blonde chocolate pearls and biscuit crumb. Also launching is the Moser Roth Pistachio Layer Egg (£9.99, 240g), which combines pistachio white chocolate with an extra-thick milk chocolate shell – reflecting the continued popularity of pistachio in premium confectionery. The Specially Selected Half-Loaded Belgian Truffle-Filled Egg (£9.99, 225g), arriving in stores from 30 March, includes a Belgian chocolate half shell filled with seven truffles in flavours such as Milk Brownie and White Chocolate Berry. Aldi is also targeting younger consumers with novelty formats such as the Dairyfine Milkshake Hollow Egg & Straw (£2.29, 71g), available in strawberry and chocolate milkshake varieties. The hollow chocolate chick can be filled with milk and consumed through a “magic straw”, creating a flavoured milkshake-style drink. The Specially Selected White Chocolate, Strawberry & Granola Egg (£4.99, 170g) combines white chocolate with granola and strawberry pieces for a textured “fully loaded” shell concept. Alongside new launches, Aldi is bringing back a number of established Easter products, including the Choceur Mini Chocolate Eggs (£1.15, 74g), now available in orange, mint and a new caramel flavour. The retailer’s Dairyfine Filled Mini Eggs (£2.49, 150g) also return in Nutoka and Jaffa varieties, while larger egg formats inspired by those flavours, the Dairyfine Nutoka Egg and Dairyfine Jaffa Egg (£4.99, 150g), debut this year. The range is rolling out across Aldi stores now and throughout March, as retailers look to capitalise on Easter’s importance as one of the key seasonal periods for chocolate sales in the UK grocery market.

Conagra Brands has announced plans to expand its manufacturing facility in Fayetteville, Arkansas, through a multi-year investment of approximately $220 million. The project is expected to create more than 100 new jobs over the next five years and increase chicken production capacity at the site. The Fayetteville facility currently produces ready-to-eat meals for several Conagra brands, including Hungry-Man, Banquet, Healthy Choice, Gardein and Evol. The site produces around 15 million cases of product each year. Craig Weiss, senior vice president of supply chain at Conagra Brands, said: "This significant investment in our Fayetteville facility will allow us to continue to grow our leading frozen foods business. Conagra is committed to investing in innovation across the company, including our supply chain. We are also pleased to continue growing in Fayetteville, where Conagra has a long history." Construction is scheduled to begin later this year.

To respond promptly to market demands while respecting the environment, Latteria Soresina – an important Italian cooperative in the dairy sector – continuously invests in state-of-the-art production systems, such as the SMI EBS 6 KL ERGON stretch-blow moulder. Keeping up with the times 125 years without stopping for even a single day. The history of Latteria Soresina shows how the company has been able to interpret market signals and respond to changing needs through growing efficiency and innovation. Today, milk sourced from cows raised within a certified supply chain and processed according to tradition using innovative techniques is packaged in practical PET and rPET bottles blown by the EBS 6 KL ERGON stretch-blow moulder. The system is equipped with ReduxAir moulds, an efficient solution that performs stretch-blow moulding operations at lower pressures than those typically used.   Looking to the future sustainably The goal of Latteria Soresina is to generate a positive impact for society and the dairy-food sector. The company’s focus on quality and its local territory is reflected in concrete sustainability choices, including environmental protection, animal welfare and ongoing support for members, employees and collaborators. The sustainable supply chain is supported through periodic investments to renew barns, haylofts and dairy processing plants in order to reduce environmental impact and energy consumption. All breeding members, with more than 200 barns located near the Latteria Soresina plants, have signed a supply chain agreement that includes careful monitoring of the entire production cycle, supported by preventive actions and periodic controls. SMI solutions for Latteria Soresina In response to the growing popularity of fresh milk, and to produce PET and rPET bottles containing 50% recycled plastic in 0.5-litre and 2-litre sizes, Latteria Soresina has invested in a plant designed to expand production while reducing environmental impact. The SMI EBS 6 KL ERGON stretch-blow moulder, installed at the Soresina facility, supports these needs and ensures flexible and sustainable production. The SMI stretch-blow moulder also enables increased use of rPET bottles. In addition, the use of increasingly lightweight preforms helps optimise distribution and reduce the company’s carbon footprint. To further reduce the environmental impact of packaging, the 0.5-litre and 1-litre containers used for fresh milk have been redesigned, achieving 15% raw material savings. The SMI stretch-blow moulder has also been tested using white PET preforms with titanium dioxide (TiO₂), which acts as a light barrier – an important element in the production of ESL (Extended Shelf Life) milk. ReduxAir moulds The moulds installed on the EBS 6 KL ERGON stretch-blow moulder are equipped with the ReduxAir bottom, which, thanks to specific technical and design features, enables faster release of air between the outer walls of the bottle and the mould surface. This allows the 0.5-litre container to be produced at an air pressure of 20 bar and the 1-litre container at 25 bar, significantly lower than the approximately 35 bar normally used. This delivers clear advantages in terms of energy savings and environmental protection, due to reduced operation of the high-pressure air compressor.   Low-consumption preform heating The innovative and compact preform heating tunnel used in SMI stretch-blow moulders is equipped with an aluminium diffuser that ensures optimal temperature control and prevents the risk of overheating. Energy costs for bottle production are also reduced thanks to the use of highly energy-efficient infrared lamps.   AirMaster recovery system The EBS 6 KL ERGON stretch-blow moulder is equipped with a two-stage air recovery system called AirMaster, which complements the standard air recovery system by capturing and recycling part of the high-pressure blowing air. This helps deliver significant savings in compressed-air consumption and energy costs.   Focus on Latteria Soresina Latteria Soresina was established on 5 February 1900 in the town of Soresina, in the province of Cremona, through collaboration between farmers and milk producers. This cooperative structure continues to represent the most suitable model for turning the close relationship between members into operational reality. The journey of the milk – 100% Italian – produced by 46,000 cows raised on farms in the Po Valley, begins every morning at 5am. It is collected from more than 200 associated farmers and transported to the Latteria Soresina plants for daily processing, ensuring fresh production and high-quality products.   For more information, contact SMI Group here .

Philip Durham Philip Durham, UK business unit leader at Atlante, explores how own-label branding has evolved over the years and how it now competes with bigger brands and bigger budgets. For years, private label was the quiet understudy to big brands: cheaper, simpler and content to stay out of the spotlight. That era is over. Of course, there will always be space for brands that can build emotion, aspiration and identity – elements that private label can’t always replicate. Good examples are Rodds Coffee, Kencko and Tribe, all achieving what private label would struggle with: consumer reach, product innovation and niche purpose. But that space is narrowing. As retailer brands grow stronger, the burden of proof is shifting. National brands now have to truly deliver in quality, innovation or purpose to justify their premium and stay relevant. Private label, meanwhile, has grown up. What started as a budget back-up has become a creative force in modern grocery. In many categories, it now defines the direction of travel for taste, ethics and value. Here is how own-label has evolved from, so to speak, a teenage imitator into a fully fledged professional. The teenager years: Awkward, imitative, trying to fit in Private label began life in its teenage identity crisis: copying the cool kids, dressing and speaking the same, hoping nobody would notice the difference in price. It matched formats, borrowed colours, and delivered 'good enough' versions of branded goods. It worked, but only at the checkout. Emotionally, own-label was a compromise: something shoppers bought because they had to, not because they wanted to. This was private label at its most functional: affordable, but largely forgettable. The uni years: Finding confidence, improving and developing purpose Then came the glow-up. The 'uni years' of private label were defined by discovery, ambition and rapid improvement. Retailers tightened standards, upgraded sourcing and partnered with specialist producers capable of delivering genuinely great products. Ranges like Taste the Difference, Finest and No.1 emerged, packaging sharpened up, and ingredient lists cleaned up. All in all, the value proposition stepped up. Consumers started reaching for own-label because they liked it, and that was the moment national brands first felt the pressure. Career development: Learning strengths, building identity Once quality stabilised, private label entered its professional era – the point where it realised it wasn’t just 'good at this,' but built for this. Every pack became a piece of brand DNA: ethics, sourcing, values, design and flavour all rolled into one. Private label stopped being a 'side hustle' and became the core expression of the retailer’s identity. This evolution was fuelled by something brands could only dream of: consumer data. The winners began using loyalty programmes, basket insights and behavioural analytics to shape product development with forensic precision: formats that matter, claims that land, trends that stick. While brands spend millions trying to guess intent, retailers see it live, hourly, in their data. The scale of these successes is enormous. Tesco Finest, for example, generates over £2 billion in annual sales and is continuing to grow, while Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference reached £1.6 billion in 2023–24, and is on track to exceed £2 billion by 2025–26. Far from sub-brands, these are supermarket-built megabrands. Retailers have doubled down, investing hundreds of millions into marketing capability, packaging identity and brand ecosystems. In other words, private label grew up, put on a suit and became a fully fledged professional. The executive era: Stepping into leadership, commanding the room For years, own-label succeeded by quietly doing good work. But the executive era demands something different: visibility, confidence and the ability to lead from the front. In today’s world, attention is the new shelf space. If a private label wants influence, it must find its voice, speak and be heard. Branded goods dominate online because they communicate relentlessly: reviews, recipes, reels, communities. They don’t just sell, they tell stories. Retailers have already shown they can do this, too. Let us consider the rise of the Christmas advert. What began as a few festive jingles is now the UK’s annual brand Olympics, and supermarkets dominate it. From Sainsbury’s nostalgic epics to Aldi’s cheeky Kevin the Carrot, grocers now set the emotional tone of the season. To keep climbing, retailers should embrace digital storytelling, from behind-the-scenes reels and TikTok recipes to producer spotlights and sustainability journeys. No celebrities are needed. The key is delivering authenticity with clarity and charm. Digital presence isn’t a vanity project, it’s the new trust signal. The boardroom: Authority, responsibility and leading from the front Private label now sits on the cusp of this stage. Some retailers are ahead, while others are lagging. For those that are winning, private label isn’t a side project anymore – it makes up over 50% of grocery sales in the UK. For many retailers, it is the majority of what their customers purchase. With that scale comes a new expectation: private label must start behaving like a brand marketer. This means asking tough, strategic questions – including how to reach younger consumers who will define the market for the next 30 years, how to build emotional connection, how to show up consistently across digital, social, in-store and culturally relevant conversations, and how to tell stories instead of simply displaying products. Future shoppers won’t distinguish between 'brand' and 'retailer brand'. Rather, they will distinguish between what feels relevant and what feels outdated. Boardroom status, however, comes with risk. If a national brand falls short – for example a poor reformulation, a tone-deaf campaign, a PR misstep or, more worryingly, a food safety scandal – then retailers can delist it and move on. Overall, the damage is contained. If a private label makes a misstep, the consequences are entirely different. A mistake doesn’t just tarnish a single SKU, but the retailer itself, eroding trust and reputation. Private label’s success has earned it influence. Now it must pair that influence with marketing leadership, strategic clarity and cultural fluency. The boardroom stage isn’t about shouting louder. It’s about being smarter: more strategic, more human, and more connected to the consumers who will grow up with these products as their default choice. The journey isn’t over There will always be iconic brands that justify their space, but the room is getting smaller. Private label has evolved from a teenager to a student, a professional and an executive, and now stands as one of the most powerful forces in grocery retail. It leads the way in delivering both value and values, with confidence, clarity, and a touch of boldness. The trust is already there. The next chapter won’t be written in price tags, but in pixels, purpose and participation.

British snack brand The Protein Ball Co has introduced three new products as part of a new dual-textured ‘Stuffed’ line. The brand is aiming to tackle ‘format fatigue’ in the protein snack space, diversifying away from traditional protein bars and offering an option with added flavour and texture complexity. This taps into the rising ‘sensory-led’ trend across the F&B space, with brands increasingly developing products that offer layered, multi-textured formulations for enhanced eating experience and differentiation amid crowded categories. Launching this month, The Protein Ball Co’s new three-strong Stuffed range comes in three gooey-centred, indulgent and trending flavour varieties: Matcha & Vanilla, Pistachio & Chocolate, and Hazelnut & Chocolate. Like the other products included in the brand’s portfolio, they are positioned as a minimally processed option with no added sugar, artificial additives and offering up to 3g of fibre per serving. Matt Hunt, co-founder of The Protein Ball Co, said: “Our commitment to bold, full-bodied flavours means we’re always on the lookout for new ways to differentiate ourselves from a sea of jaw-aching, ultra-processed protein bars”. He added: “The meteoric growth of the GLP-1 movement, initially in North America and subsequently the UK, has fostered a growing demand for tasty smaller portion offerings that can be consumed over the course of the day.” Designed for on-the-go convenience, Hunt describes the new protein balls as an ideal “clean deck energy lift” for commutes, snacking at the desk or post-gym workout. The Stuffed protein balls are priced at £2.20-2.50 per 35g pack of three.

Health-Ade is launching a limited-edition kombucha flavour, strawberry mango chilli, as part of its spring line-up. The new variant combines strawberry and mango with a hint of chilli, offering a sweet flavour profile with a mild spicy finish. It is made with organic fruit juice and contains live probiotics and organic acids. Sandra Heidrich, VP of marketing at Health-Ade, said: "Flavour-first innovation is core to who we are. We're seeing consumers gravitate toward dynamic flavor experiences. With the rise of the 'swicy' trend, we wanted to bring that sweet-heat balance to kombucha." "Strawberry Mango Chili delivers a delicious pairing with familiar flavours for a sip that is bold, bubbly and gut-healthy." The spicy flavour will be available for a limited time at Sprouts stores and online via the company’s website.

Genius Gourmet has partnered with hot sauce brand Tapatío to launch a new range of high-protein snack puffs, expanding its better-for-you snacking portfolio. The new Tapatío Protein Puffs will be available in two varieties: Tapatío and Spicy Queso. Each serving contains 15g of protein and is made with gluten-free ingredients. The launch extends Genius Gourmet’s existing Protein Puffs line, combining the flavour profile of Tapatío’s chilli-forward hot sauce with a crunchy puff snack format. Pete Vas Dias, president of Genius Gourmet, said the collaboration brings together a well-known flavour with the company’s functional snack offering. “Partnering with Tapatío is a dream come true for us,” he said. “We’re taking one of the most beloved heat flavours in the world and pairing it with a bold, craveable lineup that includes both classic Tapatío heat and our new Spicy Queso flavour.” The products are positioned as high-protein snacks for consumers seeking functional nutrition in convenient formats. Genius Gourmet is showcasing the new puffs at the Natural Products Expo West 2026, which is currently taking place from 3-6 March at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. Attendees can sample the products and learn more about the collaboration.

The European Parliament and Council of the European Union have agreed to go ahead with a ban on the use of animal-associated names for plant-based products, restricting 31 words in total including ‘chicken’ and ‘steak’. The decision was made yesterday afternoon (5 March 2026) following trilogue negotiations that were extended from late last year into 2026. Under the new legislation, 31 animal-associated words and traditional names for cuts will be prohibited for labelling plant-based foods and reserved only for meat products. This move will deliver a significant blow to the plant-based meat alternatives category, which has relied on many of these familiar words to communicate the kind of flavours and textures consumers can expect from the product, and how the product can be enjoyed. Which words will be banned? The 31 restricted words are: chicken; beef; turkey; duck; goose; lamb; beef; pork; bacon; goat; veal; poultry; mutton; ovine; steak; ribs; rib-eye; T-bone; rump; liver; chop; wing; breast; thigh; shoulder; flank; loin; tenderloin; shank; drumstick; and brisket. While the choice to restrict these words has been criticised heavily as an unnecessary limitation by major players across the plant-based food industry, the sector has welcomed the EU’s decision not to include a select few widely used words as part of the ban. These include ‘burger,’ ‘sausage’ and ‘nuggets,’ which were put forward for potential restriction as part of the original proposal, led by MEP Céline Imart, last year. In calls for the ban to be scrapped, many campaigners argued that these format-based words have been extensively used for decades to describe the shape of products, rather than the type of protein they are made with. The vegetarian Glamorgan sausage, for example – a traditional Welsh sausage made from cheese and leeks – has been well-established and referred to by the term for over a century, long before today's modern meat alternatives hit the market. These highly debated descriptive words will remain permitted, provided that products are clearly labelled plant-based so that consumers can continue to make informed choices. Next steps Legislators have agreed on a three-year transition period before new regulations take effect, allowing plant-based food producers to clear existing stock and adapt their packaging/branding. Further details will be finalised on Friday 13 March, with the file then progressing to formal adoption by the Agriculture and Fisheries Council and a final vote in the European Parliament plenary. The extent to which the restrictions will impact the market for ‘hybrid’ products (those made with a blend of meat and plant-based ingredients), as well as products such as meat-flavoured foods, seasonings and flavourings that do not contain meat, is currently unclear. Further clarification on these elements is expected to follow. Additionally, the ban will be extended to cover cultivated meat – meat that is created using cellular agriculture, involving the cultivation of real animal cells in bioreactors and eliminating the need for raising and slaughtering livestock. These novel foods are not yet available on the market in the EU, but have been included as part of the ban preemptively. Industry impact Plant-based F&B industry organisation ProVeg International has warned that the ban will create significant complexities around translation and linguistic coherence and undermine the single market, with the same products facing different naming constraints in different regions. “Removing familiar terms does not improve transparency; it reduces clarity and increases friction at the point of purchase,” commented Jasmijn de Boo, global CEO of ProVeg International. “The real impact will depend on how these rules are implemented in practice… Labelling should empower consumers and support a competitive, future-fit food system.” Manufacturers operating across different markets will now contend with costs of packaging redesign as well as challenges around labelling standardisation and further compliance measures. This will particularly impact small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), The Vegatarian Society has warned, and will have a knock-on effect on international trade and labelling norms beyond Europe. The legislation was introduced to protect the animal agriculture industry, with MEP Imart describing this latest development as an “undeniable success” for European livestock farmers. Supporters of tighter restrictions around meat-related words for plant-based products, including European livestock farmer associations like European Livestock Voice and Copa-Cogeca, argue that the use of such words in plant-based food marketing is misleading to consumers and devalues the cultural significance of traditional meat products. The longstanding debate The debate has been ongoing since 2019 at European level, with Copa-Cogeca chairman Jean-Pierre Fleury referring to the use of meat-related words on plant-based alternatives as “cultural hijacking”. “Certain marketing agencies are using this to deliberately confuse consumers by promoting the view that substituting one product for another has no impact on the nutritional intake,” he said in an earlier press statement discussing the issue as part of the ‘Ceci n’est pas un steak’ EU livestock campaign launch. The campaigners argue that plant-based alternatives should ‘develop their own approach’ to gain consumer recognition, rather than focusing their marketing around existing meat products. Industry organisations on the plant-based side have disputed arguments surrounding consumer confusion, with ProVeg’s Jasmijn de Boo stating that there is “no evidence of widespread confusion where products are clearly labelled as plant-based or vegan”. European studies have indicated that around 80–95% of consumers correctly identify plant-based alternatives and support the use of such descriptors, ProVeg noted. Recent research has indicated that alternative proteins (including plant-based meat alternatives and cell-based meat) could generate over €111 billion annually , and support more than 400,000 jobs by 2040. However, key players fear that regulatory hurdles such as labelling restrictions could significantly reduce projected market growth and investment across Europe.

Babybel is expanding its snack cheese portfolio with the launch of Babybel PRO, a new mini cheese designed to deliver both protein and probiotics in a convenient, portion-controlled format. The new product combines 5g of protein and 1 billion live and active LGG probiotic cultures per serving, positioning it within the growing functional snacking segment. The individually wrapped cheeses are made with 100% real cheese and four ingredients, and contain 50 calories per piece. According to the brand, the concept aims to address increasing consumer demand for snacks that deliver added nutritional benefits while maintaining convenience and taste. Market research cited by the company indicates rising interest in functional foods that go beyond traditional formats such as protein bars, shakes, probiotic drinks and yogurts. “As shoppers increasingly seek out snacks that deliver both protein and probiotics, we recognised an opportunity to expand the Babybel portfolio so consumers don’t have to choose between goodness and enjoyment,” said Jessica Dillon, senior brand director for Babybel. “To meet consumers’ desire for both benefits in one snack, we brought them together in the playful, perfectly portioned format only Babybel can offer.” Packaged in the brand’s signature red wax coating, Babybel PRO is positioned as an on-the-go snack suitable for occasions ranging from post-exercise refuelling to afternoon snacking. The company says the product fits easily into gym bags, lunchboxes and backpacks, reinforcing the brand’s focus on convenient, single-serve snacking. Babybel PRO joins the brand’s existing range, which now includes nine varieties spanning traditional dairy cheeses and plant-based alternatives. Current offerings include Mini Babybel Original, Reduced Fat, Mozzarella, White Cheddar, Gouda and Monterey Jack varieties, as well as plant-based cheese alternatives. The new product is available now at Target and select retailers, with distribution expanding to Walmart and Kroger starting in March and a broader nationwide rollout planned throughout 2026. The suggested retail price is $8.49 for a 12-count pack. Babybel is produced by Bel Brands USA, a subsidiary of Bel Group, which manufactures a range of portion-controlled dairy and plant-based snack products, including GoGoSqueez, Boursin and The Laughing Cow.

Oatly has announced a multi-year investment to expand production capacity at its Landskrona facility in Sweden, as demand for plant-based drinks continues to grow across Europe. The upgrade will increase the site’s output capacity by more than 33%, raising annual production from 150 million litres to 200 million litres. The expansion will take place within the plant’s existing footprint. Operational since 2006, the Landskrona site employs more than 300 people and serves as a fully owned production hub for the company. The facility also hosts several core business functions alongside Oatly’s nearby science and innovation centre in Lund, Sweden. Simon Broadbent, SVP of sustainable operations at Oatly, said the investment reflects rising demand for the company’s products. “We’re seeing growing demand for our products, so the time is right to upgrade our Landskrona site which has performed fantastically well in recent years, both in stability of output and outstanding cost management,” he said. “The Landskrona factory is a key site for us, not only because of our roots in Sweden, but also because it’s a fully owned, end-to-end production hub and home to many of our core functions.” The project is also expected to reduce the company’s corporate climate impact in 2026 and 2027 through efficiencies in ingredient sourcing, distribution and energy use. The Landskrona facility already operates on 100% renewable energy. Demand for plant-based drinks in Europe has increased by 6% over the past year, according to Oatly, with the company reporting double-digit growth in the region. Out-of-home and foodservice channels grew by more than 20% during the same period. The company has been expanding its product offerings and consumption occasions, including new Barista Edition flavours and the launch of the Oatly Baristamatic system for automated coffee machines. Following the expansion, Oatly expects to source more oats from Swedish farmers. Around 70% of the production from the Landskrona facility is currently exported, with volumes set to increase to support demand in markets including Germany, the UK, France and Spain. The investment was first outlined during Oatly’s full-year 2025 financial results, when the company reported profitable growth in both the fourth quarter and the full year. At the time, CEO Jean-Christophe Flatin said the results reflected strategic efforts over the past three years to restructure the company’s supply chain and cost base while reinvesting in growth initiatives. Construction at the Landskrona facility is scheduled to begin in March 2026 and is expected to be completed by March 2027.

Flowers Foods has appointed Michelle Lorge as president of Simple Mills, marking a leadership transition for the better-for-you snack and baking brand as founder Katlin Smith steps down from her CEO role. Lorge will report directly to Ryals McMullian, chairman and CEO of Flowers Foods. Smith, who founded Simple Mills in 2012, will remain involved with the company in an advisory capacity after choosing to step away from day-to-day leadership to focus on family and philanthropic interests. “Michelle has been instrumental in shaping Simple Mills into the mission-driven, high-growth brand it is today,” McMullian said in a statement. “Her deep understanding of the business, strong leadership skills, and unwavering commitment to the company’s purpose make her exceptionally well-suited to lead Simple Mills into its next chapter.” Lorge has spent more than a decade helping build Simple Mills into a leading natural foods brand. An 11-year veteran of the company, she most recently served as chief marketing, innovation and mission officer, where she led product development, brand strategy and sustainability initiatives. Since joining the company in 2015 as one of its earliest employees, Lorge has played a key role in scaling the brand from start-up to a nationally distributed platform. Today, Simple Mills’ portfolio of crackers, cookies, snack bars and baking mixes is sold in more than 30,000 stores across the US. Before joining Simple Mills, Lorge spent more than ten years at Kraft Foods, where she led marketing and innovation efforts for brands including Philadelphia Cream Cheese, A1 Sauce, Grey Poupon and Cool Whip. “I am honoured to step into this role and continue the incredible work Katlin started,” Lorge said. “Simple Mills was founded on a belief that food can have a profound impact on human and planetary health, and that belief continues to inspire everything we do.” Smith launched Simple Mills after identifying an opportunity to create packaged foods made with simple, nutrient-dense ingredients. Under her leadership, the company evolved into a prominent natural foods brand with distribution at retailers including Whole Foods Market, Sprouts Farmers Market, Target, Walmart and Costco, as well as through e-commerce platforms such as Amazon. Smith has received several honours recognising her entrepreneurial success, including listings on Forbes 30 Under 30 and Inc. 30 Under 30, as well as being named a Top Woman in Grocery by Progressive Grocer. “Building Simple Mills has been one of the greatest privileges of my life,” Smith said. “Michelle has been by my side, shaping Simple Mills for many years and is deeply aligned with the mission and values that define who we are.” Thomasville-based Flowers Foods is one of the largest producers of packaged bakery foods in the US, reporting $5.3 billion in net sales in 2025. The company operates bakeries nationwide and manages a broad portfolio of brands, including Nature’s Own, Dave’s Killer Bread, Canyon Bakehouse, Wonder Bread and Tastykake.

Sustainability has been an important concept for a long time. While it gained more prominence in 2020, it is not a new idea. And, as is the very nature of sustainability, efforts evolve. Leigh Ann Johnston, sustainable business development at JBT Marel, highlights some of the key trends in this area that food and beverage manufacturers can expect from the rest of the year. From high-profile pledges to more discreet efforts, the emphasis on corporate sustainability responsibility across the board has changed. Does it matter in food manufacturing today? Do people care? McKinsey surveyed consumers in the US and globally to assess whether sustainability efforts remained important to them, finding that in the US, consumers consistently rank the quality, price and convenience of products as more important than their environmental impact, while in global markets, price and quality are the top characteristics for consumers in making a purchasing decision; environmental impact is ranked lower. On the producer end, Gitnux found that 76% of consumers expect food manufacturers to take the lead on societal and environmental issues. JBT Marel conducted its own assessment in 2025, engaging with real processors across multiple food and beverage segments, and found that sustainability matters. During our conversations, four key themes rang loud and clear across the industry: Decarbonisation matters for energy costs . Food production and processing account for 15% of global annual fossil fuel use, and these costs are not decreasing. Conservation efforts, particularly water, are key. Conversations around water usage for data centers have led the news, but roughly 70% of today’s global freshwater resources are used for agriculture. Sustainable packaging is a priority. 77% of US consumers consider recyclability and circularity 'extremely important' or 'very important,' and all surveyed global consumers noted that a package’s recyclability is the number one factor they use to determine whether the packaging is sustainable. Transparency is vital. From product traceability and supply chain insights to the environmental footprint of their equipment, processors want to see, measure and report on their sustainability efforts. You can’t manage what you can’t see. To measure, prioritise and grow these efforts, F&B processors need to see their impact – and to do that, they need data. Data is the only way processors can make informed decisions about their operations, but simply seeing the numbers doesn’t lead to success in sustainability. Processors who take a three-pronged approach – bridging efficiency, innovation and real-time data analytics – will see the most success in their efforts. Not only will they move the needle and achieve their goals, they’ll also be able to prove their ROI. Focus number one: Efficiency Resource efficiency is a key focus area for food and beverage processors. Still, global processors with end-to-end sustainability reporting structures may find it easier to measure efficiency than medium- or small-sized operations.   For smaller companies beginning their sustainability efforts, start by thinking about where you have control and influence. Where can you highlight great practices you have in place but haven’t spoken about externally?   Reach out to your supply networks for available data, then collaborate to identify opportunities for efficiency. Are there retrofits or refurbishments to your existing equipment that could be more energy-or water-efficient? Adapting existing technologies will reduce resource needs and improve the bottom line. Focus number two: Innovation To improve efficiency, new technologies are making a measurable impact on resource use – for example, high-pressure processing (HPP). Rather than traditional thermal treatment, HPP processes foods at extremely high water pressure to inactivate harmful pathogens. This provides consumers with safer, fresher packaged fruit and vegetable products without additives or preservatives, while also conserving water and turning waste into a valued resource. Unlike thermal treatment where heat is lost after processing, HPP is able to recycle 85% of the water used for the next machine cycle. Multiple studies assessing the effects of HPP on nutritional components in fruit, vegetable and herb products have suggested that HPP does not adversely alter the products’ chemical and bioactive function of active nutritional constituents, and has little to no effect on sensorial properties. Generally, automated monitoring systems that use the Internet of Things (IoT) to measure energy or water and monitor production efficiency will positively impact F&B processing. Automatic flags that help reduce downtime and manage resource consumption more effectively will be a critical focus area in 2026 and beyond. Focus number three: Real-time data analytics Again, you can’t manage what you can’t see. Take, for example, your home’s energy and water usage: utility bills typically reflect consumption from 6–8 weeks ago. If you notice you’ve used significantly more water than usual, you can’t retroactively fix a leak to lower your bill – the water has already been consumed. To address such issues, you need real-time insights to identify and fix problems as they occur. This is vital in a food and beverage processing plant. Knowing when production issues arise in real time is essential, both to fix the issue and to understand what happened. Where is the issue? Is it a one-time anomaly or a recurring issue that needs a larger fix? You can’t wait 6–8 weeks to go back and pin down what happened because the context and immediacy are already lost. To truly advance automation and predictive maintenance, processors need real-time data to adjust operations instantly, whether to reduce food loss, address labor inefficiencies or perform manual intervention on equipment that’s beginning to show maintenance needs. No 'one size fits all' solution Fortunately, or unfortunately, there isn’t a single issue across the F&B industry that all processors struggle with. To address food manufacturers’ biggest sustainability concerns – whether related to decarbonisation, water conservation or waste – you must develop a solid understanding of where your greatest opportunities lie. Whether those are unique to your company, shared across the food and beverage value chain, or part of the larger processing industry, understanding your unique opportunities and developing a strategy to realise them is crucial. No one size fits all when it comes to creating a sustainability plan, but there are benefits to this by allowing you, as an individual organisation, to define sustainability in a way that's meaningful and relevant to your business. You can define where you will have the greatest and most positive impact, then work collaboratively with your value chain to make realistic, measurable changes. This is where processors will see real returns from their efforts towards a more sustainable future.