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Kraft introduces new mac and cheese option without the cheese
Kraft Heinz’s newest macaroni and cheese product resembles the brand’s classic creamy comfort food but for one key difference: It doesn’t contain cheese.
The food and beverage giant is rolling out “Kraft NotMac&Cheese,” a vegan mac and cheese that uses a plant-based sauce, the company announced Wednesday. The dairy-free product will come in two flavors — original and white cheddar — and will cost $3.49 a box when it hits store shelves beginning this month.
Kraft Heinz partnered with TheNotCompany, a plant-based food technology company, to craft its vegan take on the pantry staple. The product’s sauce is made from fava bean protein and coconut oil powder. It is Kraft Heinz’s third non-dairy offering after its NotCheese Slices and NotMayo, which hit store shelves this year.
The new product comes as consumers increasingly embrace plant-based snacks and other seemingly healthier food alternatives. Sales of plant-foods rose to $8 billion in 2022, up 44.5% from three years ago, according to data from Plants Based Foods Association, a food trade group.
Worldwide, 42% of consumers believe most people will substitute plant-based foods for meat in the next decade, a 2022 survey from research firm GlobeScan and non-profit organization EAT shows.
According to consumer insights firm Numerator, less than 30% of dairy-free mac & cheese buyers repeat their purchases due to being dissatisfied with the flavor and texture of the products they purchased.
Other food companies are also hopping on the dairy-free bandwagon. In April, cheese maker Babybel said it would introduce a vegan version of its popular white cheddar cheese snack after debuting its first dairy-free cheese in 2022. And cream cheese maker Philadelphia this summer rolled out a plant-based version nationwide.
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Attention American Airlines passengers! If you’re one of those overeager travelers who jumps the queue by boarding before your assigned group, the carrier is coming for you.
American Airlines told CBS MoneyWatch that it’s piloting technology that alerts gate agents when customers try to board planes prematurely, meaning before their assigned boarding group has been instructed to line up at the gate. Such passengers’ boarding passes will trigger an audible sound and display a message to gate agents. They will not be permitted to board and will instead be instructed to wait their turns.
“We are in the early phase of testing new technology used during the boarding process,” the airline said in a statement. “The new technology is designed to ensure customers receive the benefits of priority boarding with ease and helps improve the boarding experience by providing greater visibility into boarding progress for our team.”
“Some people are taking advantage”
The trial has been underway for several weeks at Albuquerque International Sunport in New Mexico, Tucson International Airport in Arizona and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Virginia. So far, the results have been positive, an airline spokesperson told CBS MoneyWatch.
Customers pay for early-boarding privileges, or earn them by obtaining elite status with a particular airline. So passengers who haven’t paid for the perks and cut the line can anger others, adding to the frustrations of flying.
“Some people are taking advantage of the situation because there is no automated process, and you can in theory board with any group,” said Scott Keyes, founder of flight deals site Going.com.
Still, Keyes understands why passengers might want to skip lines to board early.
“The most important perk you get with early boarding is access to overhead bin space,” Keyes said, noting that passengers that board later often have no choice but to gate check their bags, which can be inconvenient. They don’t have access to their belongings in-flight and wait for their luggage to be returned to them at their destinations.
American Airlines did note that with the new system, gate agents still retain some discretion over the boarding process. For example, if members of a family or a group that is traveling together are in different boarding groups, a gate agent can allow the customer in a later group to board with their companions.
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Giuliani must turn over Manhattan apartment, other valuables to election workers he defamed, judge says
Ten months after a jury awarded two Georgia election workers nearly $150 million in a defamation lawsuit brought against Rudy Giuliani, a federal judge ruled Tuesday that the former attorney to Donald Trump must fork over his luxurious New York apartment and other valuables.
Giuliani, who rose to fame in the 1980s and 1990s as a federal prosecutor and mayor of New York City, has seven days to turn over his possessions to a receivership controlled by Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss. Giuliani spread conspiracy theories targeting the ballot counters after Trump lost the 2020 election.
Giuliani has previously tried to sell the apartment for about $6 million.
In his 24-page order, Judge Lewis Liman also ruled that Freeman and Moss should be the beneficiaries of some $2 million that Giuliani has said Trump’s 2020 campaign owes him. Other valuables he must turn over include more than two dozen high-end watches, a jersey signed by New York Yankees Hall of Famer Joe Dimaggio, furniture and other sports memorabilia.
Liman deferred judgment on whether Freeman and Moss are owed a trio of World Series rings that Giuliani’s son, Andrew, has said belong to him. Liman also declined to rule on whether Giuliani must turn over a condo in Palm Beach, Florida.
Giuliani has been disbarred in New York and Washington, D.C., and the fallout from his 2020 post-election actions has continued even as Trump is just two weeks away from an election that could see him retake the White House.
Giuliani no longer works for Trump directly, but in September 2023, the former president hosted a fundraiser at his New Jersey golf club to aid Giuliani’s legal bills.
A spokesperson for Giuliani did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
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