This week in industry news, Coca-Cola announced a new Orange Cream soda variant, tapping into nostalgic flavors, while US President Donald Trump fired three inspectors from agencies overseeing the F&B industry. Meanwhile, Symrise reported €5 billion (US$5.2 billion) in group sales for the 2024 financial year, recording a 5.7% increase from 2023. 

Business highlights

Coca-Cola responded to consumer demand for the “iconic and nostalgic” taste of orange cream with the launch of Coca-Cola Orange Cream. The brand notes that the flavor has been around since 1905 but has seen a revival with spiking consumer interest in the past decade. The variant will be sold in the US and Canada from February 10 and will be available in both regular and zero sugar varieties.

Flavor and fragrance ingredients supplier Symrise’s Taste, Nutrition & Health segment achieved organic sales growth of 7.8% in the 2024 financial year despite “challenging economic conditions.” The company’s savory products and beverages from F&B application areas achieved double significant growth. The Naturals and Sweet application areas recorded low single-digit progress with strongest growth in the EAME and North America regions.

Founder of Gimme Seaweed, Annie Chun, received an award from the Korean government for her contribution to Korean seafood exports and the seaweed industry. The company notes that in 2012, when the brand entered the snack category, it became the first and the only US Department of Agriculture (USDA) certified, non-GMO, and organic seaweed snack product. Chun also influenced South Korean farmers to reorient their farming practices to make this happen, according to the company.

Nestlé USA enhanced its US production capacity with a new facility in Glendale, Arizona, dedicated to producing Coffee Mate creamers and Starbucks-branded packaged coffee products. The factory will enable the F&B giant to cater to “booming” consumer demand for convenient, at-home coffee offerings. The company has invested US$675 million in the facility and aims to strengthen its market share of the US refrigerated creamers segment.

Venture capital firm Lever VC has passed the first close of its Fund II, raising an initial US$50 million. The company will make early-stage investments into promising players in the global food and agri-tech space. Additionally, the VC financed five start-ups developing cutting-edge solutions this week, including novel fats producer Gavan, sugar replacement developer Oobli, AgTech software and digitization players Flox AI and HerdDogg, and meat replacement ingredient producer Mush Foods.

Regulatory highlights

US President Donald Trump dismissed three inspectors from agencies overseeing F&B industries this week, including inspector general Phyllis Fong of the USDA, who served 22 years at the department. Others fired include Health and Human Services inspector Christi Grimm and Sean W O’Donnell, the inspector general of the US Environmental Protection Agency. Trump defended his actions to reporters, saying: “It’s a very common thing to do.”

The USDA said that people recovering from the impact of the recent Eaton, Hurst, and Palisades wildfires and straight-line winds in California might be eligible for food assistance through the agency’s Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or D-SNAP. Over 81,477 households in 28 areas in the state’s Los Angeles County are estimated to be entitled to government relief to meet grocery expenses.

Innovation highlights

Scientists at the Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich identified a new set of bitter compounds in roasted Arabica coffee and how they influence its bitter taste. The researchers also demonstrated that genetic tendencies can influence how bitter these roasting substances taste to individuals. Principal investigator Roman Lang believes the findings boost understanding of how the roasting process can impart flavors and offer opportunities to develop new coffee types with coordinated flavor profiles.