Adrianne DeLuca

ADM is digging deeper into the animal-free dairy market through a new partnership with Bay Area-based food tech company New Culture. The alliance will accelerate development and commercialization of New Culture’s animal-free dairy products, beginning with a mozzarella variety.

Private equity firm Butterfly announced today it has closed its sophomore fund, securing commitments from an undisclosed number of institutional investors, family offices, entrepreneurs, and food investors to invest a total of $1 billion in “seed to fork” food-focused entities.

Plant-based meat sales continue to trend downward for Beyond Meat during the second quarter, with revenue declining 1.6%. As a result , the company has cut back manufacturing costs and laid off approximately 4% of its workforce.

In this week’s Checkout: Whole Foods settles breach of contract suit with former dairy supplier with $15M payout, Del Monte acquires Kitchen Basics brand amid heightened soup sales, Naturally Network and NielsenIQ launch national fellowship to support minority CPG entrepreneurs and Tabasco and Instacart foray into fashion with new swag.

Vegan cheese has long been associated with highly-processed, non-fermented oil-starch-flavor concoctions. While artisan iterations have emerged within the category, they face a conundrum. What’s the role of these products, given that slices and shreds still lead sales in the category?

Despite a rising consumer interest (+40%) in meat, dairy and seafood alternatives, a new report released by the Food Industry Association (FMI) last week – titled The Power of Plant-based Food and Beverage – revealed that shoppers are still confused about what products are considered plant-based.

In this week’s Checkout: Giant Foods brings with circular waste platform Loop to D.C.-area stores; Stone’s Throw Foods announces its acquisition of Swapples; Morningstar Farms factory workers file to unionize; Shinsegae Foods invests $6 million into U.S. subsidiary Better Foods; and Ginkgo Bioworks and Bayer expand AgBio partnership.

Global food giant Kraft Heinz reported a 10% increase in organic net sales this quarter, despite retail volumes decreasing approximately 4%. During a call with investors this morning, CEO Miguel Patrico attributed the performance to three core pillars – GROW brands, Foodservice and Emerging Markets – “hitting on all cylinders.”

The protein-packed legume has roots that date back thousands of years and served as a key protein source for indigenous populations spanning from ancient Egypt to the Andes Mountains. So why is the CPG world now giving this ancient legume a second look?

Plant-based cheese maker formerly known as Conscious Cultures announced today it has dropped its former moniker in favor of the more “playful” name Bandit, in an attempt to better highlight its scrappy origin, said founder and CEO Bo Babaki.