Bacetti is a new line of bite-sized premium ice cream novelties developed by a brother and sister team who founded the same-named San Francisco-based company about a year ago.

How do you say Greek yogurt in Italian? Ciao Bella Gelato Co., Florham Park, N.J., has the answer.

As mentioned in a another March 2012 article, Kraft Foods has aggressive new product plans for this year.

At the end of 2011, Northfield, Ill.-based Kraft Foods promised many new products for the coming year.

Expect to see some new feature flavors—in both the natural and churned lines—this year from Velvet Ice Cream Co., Utica, Ohio. And while president Luconda Dager is hush-hush about other 2012 plans, she says what won’t change is the company’s continued focus on quality and value.

Mikawaya is a Vernon, Calif.-based candy maker and ice cream processor that is on the move with new products and formats backed by social media marketing. The company plans to expand its ice cream offerings with its first pint line — Mikawaya Exottics — to be released as early as this April.

Philip R’s Frozen Desserts made headlines in 2010 with its award-winning Lollibons (picture an ice cream lollipop or a cake pop on a stick). The Swiss vanilla almond Lollibon was selected as a silver finalist for Outstanding Perishable Foodservice Product in the 2010 sofi Awards from the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade. In 2011, the novelty received a top award from the World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product contest in the creative and innovative class.

During a recent visit to Whole Foods Market, I slowed down my pace in order to better observe the trends in new products and label claims. Filtering out natural, organic and similar marketing tactics, one solid trend that was apparent across most food categories was a tie-in to fruit. The pork chops had a serving suggestion to include apple sauce. Breakfast cereals either contained dried fruit pieces or a recommendation to add something fresh from the farm stand.

There was no energy crisis when it came to demand for energy drinks in the 52 weeks ended Dec. 25, 2011. The category showed double-digit growth in both dollar sales (up 16.6%) and unit sales (up 17.6%), according to Chicago-based SymphonyIRI Group.