Brad Avery

Ketogenic meal shake startup Bear Squeeze has raised $715,000 in a pre-seed round led by AccelFoods, giving the brand a financial edge as it prepares to launch via ecommerce this spring.

The California-based company brand of frozen, grassfed and finished beef and chicken patties won the third annual Pitch Slam based on what judges said were strong flavors and intuitive packaging design that served as a “road map for the mind.”

The brand will launch turmeric versions of their existing products, including its syrups, spreads, cooking sauces and gin-gins candies. Ginger People will also launch a new powdered turmeric latte mix.

Private equity firm TSG Consumer Partners has acquired a minority stake in Nuun, a Seattle-based brand of hydration tablets and powders, for an undisclosed sum.

Last week, the 18-month-old Plant Based Foods Association (PBFA), in collaboration with the Soyfoods Association and Good Food Institute, hosted its first fly-in lobbying week in Washington, D.C. Representatives from dairy alternative producers including MALK, Good Karma Foods, New Barn and Oatly traveled to Washington to meet on Wednesday.

Juice Press’s Almond Cacao Energy Bar and Mint Chip Energy Bar are now available in LaGuardia, John F. Kennedy, and Newark Liberty International airports.

President Donald Trump’s Strategic and Policy Forum and Manufacturing Council formally disbanded Wednesday after business leaders opted to leave the panels following controversial comments from the President regarding riots in Charlottesville, Va. last weekend.

Speculation that Amazon’s purchase of Whole Foods Market might spark legal backlash came to fruition this week as U.S. Representative David Cicilline (D-RI), the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee’s antitrust panel, called for the subcommittee to hold a hearing on the online retail giant’s latest acquisition.

As consumers continue to seek convenience, nutrition, and satiation from their beverages, drinkable soup and yogurt brands are seeing opportunity in marketing their products as meal replacement drinks or in-between meal snacks.

In a deal that’s shaking the shopping experience for consumers, retailers, and food and beverage companies, Amazon’s scooping up of Whole Foods for $13.7 billion on Friday has hardened talk of large-scale disruption in the way consumers buy their groceries. The deal is the largest U.S. grocery transaction since a $17.4 billion takeover of Albertsons, according to Mergermarket. Here’s an in-depth look into the acquisition and its implications for the retailers and beyond.