Food industry splinters on GMO labeling, plant-based products in scramble to meet changing consumer demands

| | October 11, 2019
This article or excerpt is included in the GLP’s daily curated selection of ideologically diverse news, opinion and analysis of biotechnology innovation.

The trillion-dollar food industry was once unified and used to getting its way in the Swamp through the collective might of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, a lobbying behemoth that became synonymous with so-called Big Food. But consumers have completely changed the game.

GMA announced [in September] that it will change its name to the Consumer Brands Association, a move that comes nearly two years after about a dozen major food companies left the group amid deep disagreements over how to handle thorny food policy issues like GMO labeling.

The rebrand signals the emergence of a new landscape for foodmakers, one in which there is no central, unified lobbying group representing the sector inside the Beltway …. Every single major food company is struggling, in one way or another, to find solid footing in a marketplace where consumers are increasingly asking questions about what they’re eating.

Related article:  Impossible Foods cuts prices 15% as new competitors enter plant-based meat market

Consumers have upended the sector in recent years by demanding more transparency, simpler ingredients and brands that align with their values. The intense pace of change has left major food companies unable to agree on all sorts of issues, from mandatory labeling of genetically modified ingredients to whether the federal government should nudge foodmakers to reduce salt in their products.

Read full, original article: The end of Big Food

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