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

South African plant-based nutrition brand Smul is adding four RTD functional drink lines and heat-and-eat meals to its portfolio.

The growing backlash against processed seed oils has fueled a resurgence in traditional cooking fats. Fatworks, a family-owned operation in Colorado and longtime defender of rendered fat, has been waiting for this for well over a decade.

Single-serve, fully-cooked seasoned chicken breast purveyor Korkio has rebranded as Juicybite, a name intended to better appeal to mainstream consumers and communicate the brand’s positioning.

Lorissa’s Organic Snacks, the producer of the first top nine allergen-free meat snack and a subsidiary of Jack Link’s parent company Link Snacks, has expanded beyond that fast-growing, crowded category for the first time.

Banza has expanded beyond the gluten-free space for the first time in the company’s 12-year history, introducing a new line of Protein Pasta made with wheat flour, semolina flour and its hero chickpea.

Attendees at Natural Products Expo West spotted white box trucks encircling the Anaheim Convention Center on Tuesday featuring the protein bar purveyor’s branding and a cartoonishly muscular cow alongside an image of an ice cream pint and its nutritional highlights: 30 grams of protein, 260 calories and 2 grams of sugar. (Unclear if that’s for the pint or one serving.)

Ultraprocessed foods – and how to avoid them – may be the talk of Anaheim during this year’s Natural Products Expo West.

Canadian high-protein pasta brand Chickapea is deepening its presence in the U.S. with an exclusive limited-time offering at Costco stores across the Los Angeles region and Hawaii.

Xochitl is transitioning its full portfolio of thin and crispy tortilla chips to be made with avocado oil amid rising demand for seed oil-free foods. The brand, owned by private equity firm Forward Consumer Partners, is marking the reformulation with redesigned packaging that features new color blocking to better stand out on shelf.

When Cravings by Chrissy Teigen first sold out its banana bread mix online in 2021, it was easy to credit celebrity power. But behind the scenes, CFO Haley Ludwigson was quietly building out margins, supply chains and retail relationships.

Sweet Loren’s is updating its look as it extends into new eating occasions with a trio of refrigerated, ready-to-bake, top nine allergen-free innovations.

Harken Sweets, armed with new capital from Selva Ventures, is readying a major retail expansion with Kroger, adding roughly 2,000 doors and bringing its total retail footprint to around 7,500 stores.

This week on the podcast, Nosh managing editor Monica Watrous and senior reporters Brad Avery and Lukas Southard gear up for the annual trek to Anaheim for Natural Products Expo West. Listen in to learn about the brands, products and trends on our radar this year.

Protein bar maker Mezcla has closed a $9.5 million Series B funding round led by Bluestein Ventures, with participation from Santatera Capital, Grupo DMI, Lever VC, Habitat Partners, Tonic Ventures and Steve Platt, former chief executive of BrightFarms and Icelandic Provisions.