Expo West: Cali’Foods Buys Mikey’s; Schinner Shares Her Side; MeliBio Launches CPG Arm

Cali’Foods Acquires Mikey’s, Plans for Expansion Under New Brand

Cali’foods (formerly Cali’flour) unveiled a plan to expand into new categories and ingredient profiles, beginning with the acquisition of gluten-free frozen brand, Mikey’s.

Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed. Mikey’s former majority shareholder, The Factory, is now an equity partner in Cali’foods.

Cali’flour, founded in 2016 by Amy Lacey, produces cauliflower-based pizzas, frozen entrees, flatbreads and crackers. Boulder-based equity firm Sunrise Strategic Partners took a controlling stake in the business in 2019, helping the company acquire its copacker in 2020, with 100 Million Mastermind founders Joel Marion and Dan Fleyshman subsequently joining as investors in 2022.

Founded in 2015, plant-based, frozen food maker Mikey’s was previously sold to innovation lab and private equity firm The Factory in 2018. Though the brand produces an array of gluten-free items, according to a sales sheet handed out at the company’s booth, under Cali’flour it will focus on the pocket business.

Speaking with NOSH at the show, Sunrise managing partner Peter Burns said that Mikey’s will be accretive to the business and offers Cali’foods an opportunity to further utilize its own plant.

“We have the ability to do a variety of different things in baking and frozen entrees,” Burns said. “We’re going to try now to go after other assets that we can combine.”

The deal, in part, was what spurred the name change from Cali’flour to Cali’foods, Burns added, as previously all of the brand’s products had a base of cauliflower. However Mikey’s uses a variety of other ingredients in its SKUs, which include newly launched almond-flour crackers and coconut-flour based breakfast sandwiches.

Both the cracker and sandwich line were shared for the first time at Expo West, with the latter set to enter into two unnamed mass and natural retailers this Spring.

“I didn’t want to be a single-ingredient brand,” Burns said. “So we changed it to Cali’foods and now we can do zucchini, we can do carrots, We can do anything.”

Miyoko Schinner: “They Sued the Wrong Person”

Just weeks after claiming she was forced to step down as CEO of her vegan dairy brand last June and being hit with a lawsuit, Miyoko Schinner sat down with public health lawyer Michele Simon for an intimate conversation at Expo West entitled, “Navigating Challenges Women Face in Leadership Roles in Natural Foods.”

Telling the audience “[the company] sued the wrong person,” Schinner explained she will use the developing situation as a vehicle for discussing the challenges female leaders face in the industry and how to chart a better path moving forward – a path that starts with women supporting other women.

Men and women will never be equal in the industry, she said, if women aren’t properly supporting other women. Evident in the conversation, which was opened up to the public, was the fact that females are often conditioned to self-doubt, especially when people typically associate the role of a CEO with a man and women “are judged more harshly.”

Schinner shared that she herself suffered from imposter syndrome for years and, just when she was finally gaining confidence, she was ousted from the company and the cycle of self-doubt began all over again. Moving forward, she plans to use her voice (to the extent she can amid the lawsuit and countersuit) to help make a change in the industry, one where everyone is accepted and viewed as equally capable.

MeliBio Launches CPG Brand Arm, Mellody

San Francisco-based food technology company MeliBio unveiled its new CPG arm, Mellody, at Expo West this week, with the aim of helping it expand the customer base for its plant-based honey from primarily foodservice accounts to grocery stores.

Founder Darko Mandich said now the company believes it is well positioned to drive global growth through a three-pronged approach: B2B ingredients, foodservice and Mellody. He said in terms of brand growth, Mellody intends to only focus on honey for the time being and cite the broad opportunity to drive brand recognition in the fairly nascent category.

MeliBio has raised $7.22 million since its inception in 2020. A $2.2 million raise last year will go towards scaling its R&D and manufacturing processes, the company said at the time. Alongside that announcement, the company announced a new partnership in Europe that brought its alt-honey to 75,000 stores across the continent under Narayan Foods’ Better Foodie brand.

Pocket Latte Rebrands as Pocket’s Chocolates, Positions Itself for Long-Term Growth

On the second floor of North Hall, Los Angeles-based oat milk chocolate snack maker Pocket Latte debuted its rebranded lineup as Pocket’s Chocolates.

According to founder and CEO Chris Young, the move reflects the brand’s expansion beyond coffee chocolate bars and positions it for long-term growth and innovation. In May, Pocket’s Chocolates (then Pocket Latte) made its first foray outside of coffee chocolate bars with the introduction of chocolate-coated almonds in four Asian-inspired flavors: Vietnamese Coffee, Black Sesame, Mango Yuzu and Matcha.

With the launch of the almonds, Young said one of the biggest hurdles was that retailers often mistakenly believed the snack contained coffee due to the name Pocket Latte. Now, as Pocket’s Chocolate’s, it will be clear the brand offers a wide range of products.

The brand’s new tagline, “Kindly Sweet. Seriously Fun,” is a reminder that it’s okay to treat yourself with balanced amounts of sugar, explained Young. At first, the brand was leery of including the word ‘chocolate’ in its name but now it is “embracing authenticity” and positioning itself as a reduced-sugar alternative in a space saturated with no- or full-sugar products.

Alec’s Ice Cream Launches Nationwide with Sprouts

Alec’s Ice Cream has inked a nationwide distribution deal with Sprouts and Natural Grocers, expanding the retail presence of its regenerative ice creams.

Founded in 2018 by Alec Jaffe, Alec’s Ice Cream produces a line of ice cream made with Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) and USDA-certified organic ice cream, with 98% of its base ingredients being certified and verified regenerative organic.

The retail win marks a major step for the brand and its goal to help reverse climate change by creating a better food system. Aside from all 392 Sprouts stores, Alec’s Ice Cream can also be found at 166 Natural Grocers locations across the country.

On the heels of the Sprouts rollout, Alec’s announced the debut of its seventh flavor, Peanut Butter Fudge Honeycomb. Taking inspiration from its founder’s favorite childhood candy, Butterfinger, the frozen treat features a peanut butter base with swirls of fudge and chocolate-covered “honeycomb toffee” pieces.

Rick’s Picks Launches New Pee Wees Line

Pickled food company Rick’s Picks is testing launching a new 7.4 oz jar format – dubbed Pee Wees – at 1,000 Kroger stores starting this Spring

CEO and founder Rick Field told NOSH the smaller size – available in Cauliflower, Carrot and Snap Pea varieties– – allows the brand to gain more facings on shelf and also pursue cross merchandising in the cheese, charcuterie or cocktail ingredients sets.

Despite also selling more traditional cucumber-based pickles, Field said Rick’s pickled vegetables are what has differentiated the company from other pickle brands. With more traditional flavor profiles and a lower price point, Field believes the Pee Wees could offer a gateway to its wider portfolio of pickled vegetables, which includes Mean Beans and Phat Beets, while the milder taste also may be more appealing to children.

Global Flavors Find New Frozen Formats

CPG brands are continuing to embrace global flavors, with particular focus on the freezer aisle at Expo West.

West African food brand Ayo Foods is looking to take on the frozen appetizer set with the launch of a new format, Mini Pie, which is similar to its Puff Puffs, but filled with Veggies, Beef, Fish or Cheese. Perteet Spencer, Ayo’s co-founder and CEO, said the new line was a fairly simple way to expand the brand’s reach in the frozen set as it is manufactured in a very similar process to its Puff Puff line.

She said the brand saw a flavor gap in the frozen appetizer market and believes it is an important category for the growth of West African flavors stating that, for consumers, it is a low-risk way to try new flavors.

Elsewhere on the floor, ice cream maker Marco’s Sweets and Spices teased a potential new product: a four-SKU line of frozen novelty ice cream sandwiches. After working through numerous challenges throughout the past year including co-packing facility closure and stalled product transportation, the brand said it is ready to drive retail growth of its 6-SKU pint line, but that the sandwiches will only come to market if it can find a big enough retail launch partner.

Moringa (Still) On The Rise

Moringa-focused food brand Kuli Kuli introduced a new line of functional powder shake mixes at the show in Mood Magic, Green Power and Gut Bliss varieties; the former is notable as its first product that does not contain its hero ingredient. The powders feature a blend of other superfood ingredients like Baobab, Cacao and Ginger and can be added to smoothies, meals for added nutrients. All three Blends will launch in Sprouts and Whole Foods Market nationwide this month.

Elsewhere, WhatIf Foods also sampled its Moringa Noodle line alongside its non-dairy milk, both of which are made from Bambara nuts, also known as BAMnuts. The company was formed out of a Singapore food accelerator program that tested new ingredient applications in emerging plant-based categories. The products debuted in Singapore in 2020, expanding to the U.S. in 2022.

Currently WhatIf only sells a five-pack of the noodles, but previewed a new single serve option at the show.

According to the brand’s Director of Commercial Strategy, Michael Ferrari, these two products were top performers in the program, but the brand sees a greater opportunity to drive growth with the BAMnut milk in both retail and foodservice accounts.