Food Business Consulting

Packaging EPR Is Facing a Legal Test: What Food & Beverage Companies Need to Know

by

Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility laws have moved quickly from legislative proposals to real compliance programs. Now, some of those programs are facing another test: the courts. Legal challenges involving packaging EPR are underway in Oregon, California, and Colorado, raising questions about how states can structure producer fees, regulate interstate businesses, and delegate responsibility for managing … Read more

GRAS Is Changing. Here’s What Your Company Needs to Do Next.

by

If the first takeaway from the evolving GRAS landscape is awareness, the second is action. Because the reality is this: most food and beverage companies are not operationally set up to respond to rapid ingredient disruption. And with increased scrutiny from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, state regulators, retailers, and MAHA-driven policy shifts, “wait … Read more

What the Redefinition of Drinking Means for Innovation Pipelines

by

As drinking becomes more intentional, innovation pipelines are under new pressure—not to move faster, but to move smarter. The rise of non-alcoholic beer, alcohol-removed wine, mocktails, functional beverages, and alternative formats has not created a single new category. It has created a landscape of adjacencies, each serving different moments, motivations, and risk profiles. That complexity … Read more

GRAS Reform Paused, but Not Forgotten

by
Prepare for GRAS Reform. The government shutdown is only a pause.

As Washington’s October 2025 government shutdown drags on, one piece of business left in limbo is the long-anticipated FDA rulemaking to end “self-affirmed” GRAS. In March, HHS directed FDA to pursue a rule that would eliminate the decades-old practice allowing companies to deem ingredients “generally recognized as safe” without notifying the agency. Industry trackers had … Read more

Sensory Testing Isn’t Optional: The Overlooked Advantage in Product Development

by
sensory testing isn't optional

This post builds on our original insights from 2020. Updated June 2025. It’s one thing to believe your product tastes great — it’s another to prove it. In today’s competitive food and beverage landscape, consumer sensory analysis remains one of the most effective (and underutilized) tools for developing and refining products that win on shelf. … Read more

From Chaos to Strategy: How the Pandemic Reshaped Ingredient Sourcing

by
Disruptions in sourcing ingredients has continued since the pandemic.

This post builds on our original insights published in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Updated May 2025 to reflect current sourcing strategies. When global supply chains crumbled in 2020, ingredient sourcing shifted from a steady, behind-the-scenes function to a headline-making pain point. Today, nearly five years later, those disruptions have led to lasting changes in … Read more