Adrianne DeLuca

In this week’s Checkout: Conagra reports Q4 earnings, Flower Foods invests in Base Culture, Amazon automates an MA Whole Foods Store with Dash Cart, The Fresh Market scraps its IPO plans and Motif Foodworks restructures with layoffs.

Soon-to-expire snacks, surplus single-serve beverages and excess energy bars are the types of products that are now being donated to food insecure families through nonprofit organization Wellfare’s Better Box. The program currently distributes boxes of better-for-you grocery items nearly 800 recipient families at no cost.

ISH is taking a “whole system” approach to drive improvements in its three core pillars – human health, ecological health, and community health – and believes innovative, sustainable and healthy plant-based products are the way to accomplish that feat.

In this week’s Checkout: The Bel Group and Superbrewed team up on biomass fermented proteins; a new report from Boston Consulting Group emphasizes the positives of alt-protein investments; Siete Foods opens round two of its Juntos Fund; and Smithfield settles another price-fixing lawsuit.

Ben & Jerry’s filed an injunction in U.S. District Court in Manhattan yesterday, aiming to block Unilever’s sale of its Israeli business to its licensee American Quality Products Ltd, claiming the sale violates “the Essential Integrity of the Brand.”

In this week’s Checkout: NotCo secures AI patents to develop emotion evoking plant-based flavors; Daily Harvest served with class action suit for alt-protein crumble illnesses; and Hormel invests in regenerative agriculture and renewable energy projects.

After a successful first year of operation, refugee-employment initiative UNSTUCK has announced a slew of new partnerships and co-branded SKUs to support its growing supplier network which is composed of companies committed to hiring refugees, helping them economically integrate into their new host community.

After debuting its flagship, sushi-grade plant-based tuna products earlier this year, alt-seafood maker Current Foods is set to accelerate distribution efforts and expand its product range after closing an $18 million seed funding round.

Mondelēz International announced that it will buy The Clif Bar Company for at least $2.9 billion last week. While the move marks a significant step in the company’s plan to reshape its portfolio, it also aligns the strategic with one of the oldest and largest brands in the crowded bar space. Once it closes, the eight leading nutrition bars brands in the U.S. will be owned by large CPG conglomerates.

The Clif Bar Company announced Friday it has reached a $10.5 million settlement agreement in a class action case alleging the brand misleadingly labeled its Clif Kid ZBars and “Classic” Clif Bars to convey messages of health and wellness, even though 37% of the calories in the product come from added sugar.