I would like to introduce you to the new website for Nutrition Business Journal - www.nutritionbusinessjournal.com.

Alot has changed in the world of web design since we first launched NBJ’s website in 1998, so you will notice MANY changes in the look, feel and efficiency of the new nutritionbusinessjournal.com.

NBJ’s mission has always been to deliver strategic business information, analysis and market data to those in or interested in the nutrition industry to fuel better business decisions and promote healthier lifestyles. The new nutritionbusinessjournal.com is our new way of delivering on this mission.

I welcome your feedback and suggestions, via this blog or via my email prea@nutritionbusiness.com

Enjoy!

-Patrick

Like protein, flax is an ingredient with few faults. Suprisingly nutritious and inexpensive for manufacturers, flax is becoming a hot ingredient in many mass-market foods including spreads, tortillas, breads, cereals and many more. InsideBayArea.com reports on the growth of flaxseed with a well written article.

The article “lead” is especially catchy:

“It looks like dried bugs, smells like paint, tastes kind of bitter and turns slimy when you mix it with water. Home cooks are befuddled by it, chefs have no interest in it. But make no mistake, if you’re not already eating flax, you will be soon.”

For more on plant and fish oil omega-3 ingredients, read NBJ’s recent Nutritional Raw Materials & Ingredient Supply Issue.

On December 29th, a professional soccer player died on the field of heart failure, as reported by ESPNsoccernet.

This may bring added attention to the high levels of stimulants in energy drinks and some dietary supplements in the United States as the Beijing Olympics grow near.

This should be concerning to U.S. nutritional ingredient manufacturers and suppliers keeping an eye on developing trends in the energy market. NBJ subscribers will recall NBJ’s September Sports Nutrition & Weight Loss issue contained commentary and analysis on the energy market.

Specifically, NBJ research indicates that energy drink and caffeine consumption…or rather over-consumption…may become a consumer health issue in 2008. A few publicized events like this may push the energy & caffeine consumption issue over the threshold in the consumer press.

The growth of Starbuck’s and certain energy drinks, including Red Bull and Hansen’s Energy, has been incredible, but reminiscent of other fast growing products that flew high, and fell hard.

Something to think about in the new year.

-Patrick

Registration is now open for Nutrition Business Journal’s Supplement & Nutrition Industry Raw Material & Ingredient Supply Webseminar. We’ll begin the live online event on December 4th, 2007 at 11am MT.

I think that this webseminar will be highly educational for any executive in or interested in the supplement & nutrition industry supply chain. So much has impacted this business in the last year - rising fuel costs, poor weather producing poor crops, currency fluctuations and China…to name a few. We’ll discuss all of these issues on December 4th, completely reviewing our November RMIS issue.

NBJ is one of the few research firms that dives deep into the supplement & nutrition industry’s supply chain in any significant way. Issues to be discussed will include: pricing, imports, exports, leading players, nutritionally enhanced flavors, sales and growth forecasts…and how they all relate to the complex and ever changing supply chain.

I highly recommend you sign up for this webcast.

-Patrick

What’s the saying - no good deed goes unpunished? It’s easy to forget that wisdom when you’re trying to save the world. Case in point - the local food movement. Popularized by Berkeley professor Michal Polland and a few other passionate and observant thought leaders, local food is not only sweeping through your natural and health food stores, but it’s also invading conventional grocery.

Today, however, the San Francisco Chronicle’s Bill Moseley highlighted another ethical food movement at odds with the local - fair trade. His article is entitled, Farmers in developing world hurt by ‘eat local’ philosopy in U.S.

William’s conclusion follows: “While the local food craze is all well and good, we should not be so quick to denounce organic and fair trade foods that are imported from the developing world. By shunning these products, we do not encourage local markets to flourish in these countries, but we condemn these farmers to the ills of conventional production for the global market (the only other real alternative at this time). We should remain open to such products in the short term, but also work for broad scale changes in the rules of the global market place to ensure that even conventional agricultural production is safe and fairly compensated.”

I tend to agree.

Improving the world we live in is never easy. Hopefully an open discussion of the issues will help these two movements find common ground.