The 2018 World's Top 10 Most Innovative Food Companies

Compass may not be a household name, but you’ve probably eaten its food. The multi-billion-dollar company runs thousands of cafeterias around the world–from schools to stadiums to museums. For years it has strategically acquired food services that align with its values as a way to grow its influence even more. Beyond cooking for millions of people, Compass has focused on reducing food waste and looking toward sustainable food alternatives. It worked with the Global Animal Partnership to commit to serving humanely raised meat, and supplemented its vegetarian offerings through deals with plant-based food companies including Impossible Foods, known for its meatless (yet “bloody”) Impossible Burger, and Hampton Creek, the startup behind the egg-free Just Mayo and scrambled “eggs.”

World Central Kitchen

Following the 2010 earthquake that devastated Haiti, celebrity chef José Andrés founded the nonprofit World Central Kitchen as a way to feed people affected by natural disasters. It’s supported millions of people since then, including victims of Hurricane Harvey in Texas. And even as FEMA support ends for victims of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, World Central Kitchen is still on the ground distributing meals in the ravaged country. Andrés’s team doesn’t let difficult conditions hold them back–they operate within any workable kitchen they can find. The effort has inspired a new model for disaster relief.

Chobani

Greek yogurt giant Chobani may sell a smooth product, but it isn’t afraid to play rough. In 2016, it poked its rivals General Mills and Dannon with an ad campaign suggesting their yogurts contain unappetizing additives. The company has also been expanding tastes to win a greater share in the overall yogurt category, where it generates an estimated $1.5 billion in revenue annually. In 2016, it launched a new line of yogurt drinks, more variations on its Flip mix-in product, additional yogurt flavors, and a concept café inside a Target in Manhattan.

But the company doesn’t want to change taste alone. Chobani funded its own healthy-living food incubator, awarding an inaugural class of six $25,000 each to continue growing in a mission-driven way. The drizzle of honey on top came in April 2016, when CEO Hamdi Ulukaya rewarded his employees with hundreds of millions in shares. “One thing I always say is, ‘I don’t want more, I just want to do more,’” he says of his strategy for investing in others. “Whatever I see in the world that discourages me, I answer with Chobani.”

For Ulukaya, it’s part of what he sees as the role of business: Since governments aren’t solving problems like the income gap on their own, corporations should. Chobani gives a portion of its profits to charity, focusing on access to food for underserved communities. As Chobani brings back jobs to communities like tiny Norwich, New York–in a factory abandoned by Kraft Foods–it’s also helping hire some of the most vulnerable community members. Roughly 30% of the company’s workforce are resettled refugees. In 2015, Ulukaya launched a new personal foundation, the Tent Foundation, which is helping lead other corporations to help refugees as well.

AeroFarms

AeroFarms is a vertical farming company that operates inside a converted steel warehouse in Newark, New Jersey. Its thousands of trays of seeds grow in a high-tech aeroponic growing system that does not require sunlight or soil. The 70,000-square-foot site will ultimately farm up to two million pounds of food per year that will then be sold in area grocery stores. Cofounder David Rosenberg hopes his system will eventually be a solution for food shortages.

Eden Creamery

Eden Creamery is the company behind the country’s top-selling pint of ice cream: the low-calorie, high-protein Halo Top. At around 300 calories for an entire pint, and with traditional flavors like cookies and cream, mint chocolate chip, and strawberry, as well as a newer line of dairy-free options, Halo Top has changed consumers’ approach to ice cream, taking it from an occasional treat to a near-daily indulgence. That habit has pushed Eden Creamery’s revenues north of $100 million. Last year, the company opened its first Halo Top scoop shop, inside a mall near Los Angeles.

Safe Catch Foods

With its proprietary mobile food safety technology, Safe Catch made it possible to scan any item of food for impurities. It has used the technology to launch the first wild tuna product that is guaranteed to be low in mercury, and it is now moving on to scanning for other contaminants. Safe Catch also improves sourcing by using AI to map ocean purity.

Union Wine Co.

Union Wine Company is the business behind Underwood Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris, the cans of wine you might have taken on a picnic or to the beach. It has led the “beer-ification” of wine, making products that are portable, unpretentious, and approachable for new wine drinkers. Introducing the cans in 2013 spurred a 168% three-year growth rate for the company.

Daily Harvest

Daily Harvest is taking aim at the staid freezer aisle with its “farm-frozen” goods that offer the same convenience of conventional frozen foods, without the huge amount of processing and refining that tanks the nutritional value. Its offerings, which include meals like smoothies, soups, and chia parfaits, contain ingredients that are frozen at peak ripeness and within hours of being plucked from the farm. Daily Harvest patrons can skip the freezer aisle all together: its meals are sold direct-to-consumer.

a2 Milk

a2 Milk is the leading Australian premium brand of cow’s milk that launched in the U.S. in 2016. Ordinary cow’s milk contains two types of proteins, A1 and A2. Many people are sensitive to the A1 protein, which can lead to a misdiagnosis of lactose intolerance. By sourcing only from cows that naturally lack the A1 protein, a2 Milk is able to produce cow’s milk that is easy to digest.

Amy’s Kitchen

Two years ago, Amy’s Kitchen, maker of organic and vegetarian or vegan frozen and canned foods, launched the country’s first meat-free fast food restaurant, Amy’s Drive Thru. The menu ranges from light salads to “burgers” and fries that draw customers from the traditional restaurants across the street, all at the same low prices customers expect from fast food eateries. Amy’s is now opening additional locations of the Drive Thru in California, with more planned across the U.S.

Source: Fast Company

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