Food Industry News, Insights, and Education for the CPG Community

This week on the podcast, Nosh managing editor Monica Watrous and senior reporters Brad Avery and Lukas Southard reflect on the top stories of the year, including the rising influence of the Make America Healthy Again movement on the food and beverage industry, the biggest merger moments, and notable highlights of hemp’s uncertain future.

Collaborations have become an essential growth lever for emerging brands this year, but planning and execution make or break whether they have a tangible impact.

In 2025, food companies, both big and small, restructured and acquired new brands to stay competitive amid a reframing of priorities.

At Nosh Live 2025, Brian Bernstein of Rich Products Ventures and Axel Malbrain of FF2032 – both backed by large, established food companies – outlined how their funds operate with a financial-return-first mindset, despite common assumptions about corporate venture capital.

Roughly seven months after its acquisition by Chobani, Daily Harvest is relaunching its direct-to-consumer business with a new collection of smoothies, elixirs and oat bowls, and eliminating its subscription requirement.

At Nosh Live, incoming Justin’s CEO Peter Burns discussed the brand’s future growth plans, which include rebuilding the entrepreneurial culture, bringing back key team members and focusing on product innovation

The past year saw a number of high-profile legal battles begin, including an antitrust lawsuit levied against Peter Rahal’s David, a trademark infringement case between Smucker’s and Trader Joe’s, and the neverending battle between Prime and Más+ by Messi.

With a fresh $4 million, Hoboken Farms is building a veteran team of Italian food operators to help guide it deeper in retail grocery.

This week, we’re decoding the data with SPINS at Nosh Live 2025, joining the mile high club, rounding up the juiciest quotes of the year and digging into a leaning tower of hot dogs. Hey, what more could you ask for?

In this presentation from Nosh Live, Insignia International CEO Jason Parasco breaks down the process, from identifying when a brand is ready to make the leap to the tried and true execution tactics to make it happen.

Plant-based seafood brand Konscious Foods has shuttered its business, citing “unforeseen changes in U.S.-Canada trade relations and headwinds in the plant-based food sector.”

Righteous Felon prepares for its next phase of growth as the strategic partnership with GroundForce Capital takes effect.

This week on the podcast, Nosh managing editor Monica Watrous and senior reporter Brad Avery discuss a spate of funding news for a hot sauce brand, a hummus startup and a functional beverage company. The hosts also chat about what an executive order to reschedule cannabis could mean for the hemp drink market.

This year will go down in the history books as one marked by an unprecedented federal focus on the food industry, sparking strategic overhauls of, and a bit of panic within, Big Food operations; a flurry of state-level action against a plethora of synthetic ingredients; and the adoption of some new acronyms – UPFs and MAHA, just to name a few.