Beyond The Headlines: General Mills enters ramen market, Mars supports pet food innovators

This week in industry news, General Mills announced plans to launch its first ramen products and Mars and EIT Food backed pet food innovators. Meanwhile, Unilever Food Solutions highlighted the impact of globalization on global food menu trends, and fruit processing firm Zentis bolstered its boba production with a new US facility.

Launches and innovation

General Mills entered the noodles market by launching two ramen products with flavors from its existing brands Old El Paso and Totino’s. The products will be available in two Old El Paso flavors, including fajita with a smoky blend of bell peppers and onions in chicken broth, and beef birria with a balance of spice and umami. Under the Totina flavors, the firm is introducing cheese pizza flavor and spicy buffalo-style chicken pizza. The company will roll out the products in Walmart stores in the US next month.

Business highlights

EIT Food and Mars Petcare announced the winners of the Fiber Valorization for Pet Food Challenge, focusing on identifying innovative solutions for transforming agricultural byproducts into nutritious ingredients for pet food. One of the winners is Netherlands-based BioscienZ, which develops processes using microorganisms to produce new food and feed ingredients. The other is Cremer Sustainable Nutrition, which has developed an innovative solid-state fermentation process to enhance plant fiber digestibility and taste. While BioscienZ will work on converting solid fibrous raw materials into liquid pet food with Mars Petcare, Cremer will focus on refining its technology for pet foods.

Popping boba with a thin, natural shell and liquid center offers an aromatic burst of flavor (Image credit: Zentis).Fruit and nutrition processing firm Zentis North America unveiled a fully automated popping boba production line, which it says is the largest in the US. The line is installed in Plymouth, Indiana, and is marketed as an alternative to imported popping boba products from Asia. The flavors produced at the new facility include strawberry, cherry, raspberry, orange, lemon and chocolate, and other customized flavors. The edible pearls are available in sizes from 6mm to 9mm. 

Food delivery platform Deliveroo decided to exit the Hong Kong market after a nine-year run in the market. The company will sell certain assets to rival Foodpanda, citing intense competition concerns. It has nominated liquidators Cosimo Borrelli and Jocelyn Chi from Kroll, a financial and risk advisory firm, to manage the closure of the business and remaining assets. Deliveroo’s Hong Kong’s service will end on April 7.

Research highlights

Unilever Food Solutions’ report on global menu trends highlighted that the ongoing culinary shift from West to East and North to South, such as Asian flavours surpassing traditional European cuisines, is influencing this year’s four distinct global menu trends. These include traditional street food being elevated to gourmet offerings, globalization and migration blending diverse food traditions, revival of lesser-known ingredients, and a surge in consumer demand for personalized and immersive dining experiences.

Westfalia Fruit Group’s Chilean operation was awarded under SDG 17 (Image credit: Westfalia Fruit, PR047).Scientists at The Ohio State University, US, developed a device called “e-Taste” that could allow consumers to taste fish soup, coffee and cake in virtual reality. The interface uses a combination of sensors and wireless chemical dispensers to perceive taste remotely. The sensors recognize molecules like glucose and glutamate, representing the five basic tastes of sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. Once captured via an electrical signal, that data is wirelessly passed to a remote device for replication. The findings are published in Science Advances.

Sustainability highlights

Fresh fruit and vegetable supplier Westfalia Fruit’s Chilean alliance won the UN sustainable development award for its work with the Pro Tiltil Alliance in Chile. The recognition acknowledges the alliance’s efforts to foster sustainable development through collaborative corporate action. These include a community kitchen for allowing local entrepreneurs to produce and sell food legally, small farmer support for climate change adaptation, employment programs, and improving local school infrastructure.