Brad Avery

A pair of major plant-based ingredient manufacturers are recalibrating their respective growth strategies this week, but not in the same direction. First, declines in plant-based product sales has led Canadian manufacturer Maple Leaf Foods to close two of its U.S. plant protein production facilities, consolidating all of its production into a single site in Indianapolis, Ind.

Online grocery competitors Instacart and Gopuff are joining forces, as the companies announced today that Gopuff will join the Instacart Marketplace and utilize the Instacart Carrots Ads platform to power advertising on its own app in the U.S.

Clean-label food brand Eat Happy Kitchen is going deeper into retail, expanding its flagship pasta sauce line in California and bringing its high protein Cheese Bites snacks to brick-and-mortar accounts for the first time with a rollout into HomeGoods stores nationwide.

Consumers are starting to get fed up with being told what they need, rather than offered what they want, according to Tastewise’s 2027 Food and Beverage Forecast. The annual webinar claimed that the “Health Promise” made by food and beverage brands is fading from relevance and in some cases is becoming a turnoff.

The Chicago-based protein bar brand’s comprehensive brand refresh includes redesigned packaging and reformulated bars that cut each serving from 220-240 calories down to 190, while also upping the protein content from 17 grams to 20 grams and increasing fiber to 7 grams per bar.

The Hain Celestial Group is exiting the global market as the New Jersey-based conglomerate announced today it is selling its international business to private equity firm Aurelius for approximately $323 million.

Flavor company Watkins has entered a definitive agreement to acquire Sauer Brands’ spice business, including the recently-purchased Kernel Season’s and Spicer Hunter brands, along with Sauer’s own branded spices and seasonings, the companies announced today. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

David Protein is facing a proposed class action lawsuit taking aim at its claim of containing zero sugar despite its use of allulose. The case comes as Liquid Death is also facing two proposed class action lawsuits surrounding its energy drinks claiming “0g sugar” while use allulose, a sweetener that has been classified by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a sugar.

California-based school meal provider Revolution Foods has acquired Ardella’s, a five decade-old maker of pizzas and burritos primarily sold to K-12 schools. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.