Fast Company recently announced its picks for 2024’s Most Innovative Companies. With the rise of generative AI, it’s not surprising that many of the high-ranking companies overall including Nvidia, Microsoft, and OpenAI, were recognized for how they’re driving this technology forward. But food companies also brought their share of innovative products to the table in 2023 — here’s a look at the top 10.
J.M. Smucker topped the list in Fast Company’s food category this year and was number 12 on the overall list. The company embraced its roots as a sandwich-and-spreads brand with the wildly popular Uncrustables, boosting the production capacity and perfecting these frozen, crustless peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, ultimately turning Uncrustables into what’s expected to become a multi-billion dollar brand.
Ranking second in the food category, Driscoll’s harnessed the power of infrared matter analyzers and gathered farm data points to scale up its premium fruit line, Sweetest Batch, and make it more affordable ($4 per 10-ounce pack). Next in line, Chomps made it’s jerky snacks stand out from the competition by using high-quality, sustainably produced meat sources and eliminating nitrates, additives, and sugar.
Other food companies on the list this year include:
- Scout
- Unilever
- Banza
- Oatly
- Kind Snacks
- Alec’s Ice Cream
- Atomo Coffee
