Brazi Bites, best known for its frozen gluten-free Brazilian-style cheese bread, is expanding its consumer reach by launching on Amazon and in 300 Walmart stores where the brand can tap into a new base of consumers, said co-founder and CMO, Junea Rocha.
Moving forward, Uncle Ben’s will be known as ‘Ben’s Original,’ says brand owner Mars Inc, which like several leading CPG players including PepsiCo (Aunt Jemima) and Conagra Brands (Mrs Butterworth’s), has been under pressure to address racial stereotypes...
Americans may be exhausted from months of social distancing, balancing increased family responsibilities with work and navigating economic uncertainty due to the coronavirus, but fewer are reaching for energy drinks to keep them fueled during the pandemic...
Walmart is ditching the plastic wrap on long English cucumbers in select stores after striking a deal with veggie grower Houweling’s Group to test cucumbers coated in Apeel, an invisible plant-based edible skin proven to dramatically extend the shelf-life...
Sophie’s Kitchen is heading to the frozen food aisle at 400 Walmart stores this month with vegan crab cakes and vegan breaded shrimp, in a move CEO Dr Miles Woodruff says provides a further proof point that plant-based seafood has the potential to move...
Daring Foods – a startup seeking to punch above its weight in the plant-based chicken category via a lower calorie product with a shorter, cleaner, ingredients list and bold branding – has closed an $8m Series A funding round led by VC firm Maveron, taking...
To create a “perfect food system” that can feed more people with fewer resources in the next 50 years, the food industry needs to turn 180-degrees away from long-considered “best practices,” including focusing on high yield crops, concentrating production...
Venture capitalists’ initial hesitancy to enter new deals immediately following the coronavirus outbreak appears to be easing with the most interest and activity focused on grocery CPGs and food delivery, according to an analyst with Pitchbook.
US retail sales of refrigerated kombucha and other fermented beverages edged up 2.4% to $703.2m in measured channels* in the year to July 12, 2020, with dollar sales up 5.1% in the conventional (MULO) channel but down -6.1% in the natural channel, delegates...
An analysis of 21,096 food products from 9,083 brands across 44 categories found an association between Facts Up Front labeling – in which nutrition facts appear on the front of the package in addition to mandated nutritional information on the back of...
At six months into the pandemic, we are well-past the frantic pantry stocking days that left many store shelves bare, and yet, the broad product selection available in stores before the coronavirus outbreak has not returned – prompting questions about...
With $2M in just-announced seed funding, a “junk free” promise and a bright, modern packaging that trades heavily in on-trend buzz words, recently launched Bellway aims to bring new life – and a younger generation – to the sleepy fiber segment.
Public health advocates fear Congress will adjourn for fall break without first extending emergency food assistance that is set to expire at the end of the month – potentially leaving millions of families whose children rely on free or reduced school...
Looking back, spring 2020 was not the ideal time to debut in grocery retail, observes Planterra Foods CEO Darcey Macken, who was gearing up to make a splash in the plant-based meat set in mid-April with the OZO brand before a certain pandemic threw a...
Strong Roots – the fastest growing frozen food brand in the UK, founded in 2015 – is entering 2,000+ Walmart stores in the US as part of its mission to “fix the freezer aisle,” says founder Samuel Dennigan.
As the number of Americans dependent on what was once known as food stamps swells to 13% of the population due in large part to an unemployment spike related to the pandemic, they have become an increasingly important demographic for CPG retailers, according...
PepsiCo is launching Driftwell: a functional beverage containing L-theanine to promote relaxation. Representing PepsiCo’s fastest beverage brand ever to market, it was created through an internal idea pitch competition for employees.
Israeli fermentation-based technology firm Phytolon has secured $4.1m in funding from Millennium Food-Tech, EIT Food, Consensus Business Group (CBG), The Trendlines Group, Yossi Ackerman (former President and CEO of Elbit Systems), and the Israel Innovation...
'The spike in searches for immunity, stress relief, and sleep are off the charts'
Bulletproof has closed a $13m capital raise led by new investors, Beliv and Rocana Ventures, and existing investors, CAVU Venture Partners and Trinity Ventures, to fuel the brand's omnichannel vision of "being present where the consumer finds...
Higher income shoppers are frequenting discount retailer Dollar General more often than they did before the coronavirus pandemic, but it isn’t because they are avoiding crowds at higher end retailers or desperately searching for items out of stock at...
While hiring an experienced executive can help scaling companies avoid common pitfalls, a master career coach with Shields Meneley Partners warns that they aren’t a panacea, and founders should be prepared for ongoing and significant challenges – especially...
As part of a highly-anticipated plan to re-engineer its portfolio and pay down debt, Kraft Heinz has unveiled plans to sell a mix of cheese brands to Lactalis in a $3.2bn deal, and find $2bn of cost savings through 2024 from efficiencies in procurement,...
Lavva – best-known for its pili nut and plaintain-fueled plant-based yogurts – has moved into the plant-based milk category with a higher-fat product made with three ingredients: organic coconut water, filtered water, and pili nuts; with no added sugar,...
Based in Massachusetts, Little Leaf Farms has doubled its hydroponic greenhouse-growing capacity to 10 acres of fields under glass capable of producing more than two million packages of lettuce each month, which will broaden the company's distribution...
For innovations to succeed they do not need to be perfect out of the gate, but they do need to offer a real benefit to companies, their consumers and their retailer and business partners at a scale that justifies the investment and risk, top executives...
Consumers have grown accustomed to eating and cooking more meals at home due to the pandemic and will continue this behavior well into 2021, said Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen during the company's Q2 2020 earnings call.
Direct to consumer meal delivery service Freshly is aggressively ramping up capacity to meet demand and expects sales to grow by more than 50% this year as consumers embrace the convenience of having fresh prepared meals delivered to their door.
Supplement giant GNC has canceled its bankruptcy auction and will move ahead to be acquired by Harbin Pharmaceutical Group Co., the company announced this morning.
Last Friday marked six months since the coronavirus pandemic was declared, which for many Americans means six months of either risking exposure to go to work as essential employees or six months of working remotely from a repurposed kitchen table or other...
Meat giant Smithfield Foods – the recipient of a citation from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for failing to protect employees from exposure to the coronavirus – says it is “wholly without merit and we plan to contest it.”
Mars Inc. has hired Dr. Maria Velissariou as its new vice president of global corporate research & development and chief science officer to lead the company's quality and food safety, scientific & regulatory affairs and R&D strategy.
CHOMPS – known for its brightly-colored meat sticks and miniature CHOMPLINGS products – is seeking to capture a 'significant share' of the meat snacks category by focusing on the "metrics that really matter," says co-founder and CEO...
Nestlé is ready to be “much more acquisitive” now after 18 months of aggressively selling underperforming businesses and brands that did not tidily fit into the company’s new image of itself as a primarily nutrition, health and wellness business, according...
While economic stimulus spending has helped drive up Walmart’s market share in general merchandising in recent months, it may have taken an unexpected toll on the retailer’s grocery business when paired with other pandemic-related operational changes,...
Driven by shifting shopper attitudes toward COVID-19, overall grocery delivery and pickup sales for August were down to $5.7bn from June’s peak of $7.2bn. However, some key performance indicators including average order value and intent to make a repeat...
Canola is the third largest oilseed crop after soybeans and cottonseed, with an established supply chain (for oil crushing) featuring protein with a highly attractive nutritional profile and great functional properties. So why has taken so long for canola...
As record high sales from the early days of the coronavirus pandemic level out at rates significantly lower than March and April but still higher than last year, CPG companies are trying to reassure investors that they can hold on to new customers and...
Santiago-based food tech company NotCo has closed an $85m Series C funding round co-led by Future Positive and L Catterton,* and is gearing up for a move into the US market in late 2020 or early 2021.
Beyond Meat (Jiaxing) Food Co., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Beyond Meat, Inc., has signed an agreement with Jiaxing Economic & Technological Development Zone (JXEDZ) to manufacture plant-based meat products including beef, pork, and chicken under...
Retailers interested in attracting more Black shoppers, who Nielsen reports wield an annual buying power of $1.5 trillion and make more grocery trips per year than all other racial groups, need to stock and prominently highlight more products by Black-owned...
Australian research claims consumers aged between 18 and 25 view cultured meat “with disgust”, despite concerns about the environment and animal welfare being rife within the cohort.
While most entrepreneurs expect to carry a heavy load the first few years after a company or brand launches, many underestimate the difficulty of eventually letting go of responsibility as the business scales – no matter how exhausted or desperate for...
Consumers’ attitudes, priorities and behaviors are shifting significantly as a result of the global health pandemic, and ADM has identified six emerging behavioral changes highlighting consumers' prioritization of health and wellness.
Responding to “overwhelming demand” in Canada, the Impossible Burger will be available this year in a wider variety of restaurants and grocery stores throughout the country.
Under normal circumstances the Campbell Soup Co.’s 12% organic sales increase, 13% operating profit increase and strong double-digit consumption growth across all core brands in the fourth quarter would be lauded as great – but during the pandemic, when...
Launched in September 2019, Target’s newest private label line Good & Gather has generated more than $1bn in sales and will nearly double its line with 600 new items this fall.
Walmart+, a new membership program launched by Walmart this month, clearly illustrates the retailer’s online grocery ambitions as it goes toe-to-toe with Amazon Prime. Concurrently, the move also signals Walmart’s ambitions of becoming more than a leading...
Once considered a top priority for a food or beverage brand’s success, ‘winning at shelf’ is now only “somewhat important” as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic reshapes how consumers plan and shop for groceries and how manufacturers and retailers engage...
Honey Mama's, a brand of truffle-like chocolate wellness bars made with whole foods merchandized in the burgeoning refrigerated bar set, has closed a $4.5m Series A round led by Amberstone Ventures, to fast track the brand to mainstream consumer...
For many consumers, shelf-table tuna has long been a back-of-pantry fall back to tie together slim pickings or disparate ingredients, but a new playful ad campaign from Bumble Bee Seafoods seeks to reposition it as a front-of-pantry solution with diverse...
