Carol Ortenberg

Chef Ming Tsai may be best known for his Emmy award-winning television program, high-end restaurants or even for landing on People’s 50 Most Beautiful People list, but now he wants to be known for something else: creating an affordable alternative to the Hot Pocket. And he’s on his way — roughly a year after launching his new CPG endeavor, MingsBings, Tsai’s plant-based, frozen bings are sold in five flavors at stores across the East Coast, and are now targeting national distribution.

NOSH is featuring innovative condiment brands during the Product Showcase portion of this month’s Category Close-Up, examining the trends and news that are currently shaping the category. This video features Red Clay Hot Sauce, Brooklyn Delhi, Halo and Cleaver, Bushwick Kitchen and Bachan’s.

San Francisco-based office food service provider and snack delivery service garten today announced its acquisition of East Coast sister companies LeanBox, a provider of healthy fresh food kiosks, and Grind Coffee, an office provider of coffee kegs and beans. The deal gives West Coast-focused garten access to LeanBox’s East Coast accounts.

Meat Snacks brand Country Archer is making moves from grass-fed beef to mushrooms, announcing today the launch of a new line of plant-based jerky. The launch comes after the company also added new CPG leaders to its executive team in preparation for its next phase of growth.

In this month’s Category Closeup Condiments: Expert Analysis, we’ll hear from a group of industry leaders about the tactics, trends, and efforts successful condiment brands must embrace. We’ll explore both the unique dynamics of the set, as well as the opportunities for growth and innovation.

On its first quarterly earnings call since going public last month, Stryve Foods reported net sales were up 71.8% to $7.4 million for the quarter and gross profits of $3.6 million in the second quarter, an increase of 148.3%. The company also discussed its ecommerce strategy, its plans to reach Hispanic shoppers and why it decided to enter the nutrition category.

Over the past several weeks, plant-based brands have seen distribution gains with Wholly Veggie and Daring Foods joining the shelves of Whole Foods Markets and Impossible launching its new sausage line in retail.

In an email to customers yesterday distributor UNFI announced that it would shift its Winter Natural Show to a virtual-only format. Mondelez’s investment and innovation group SnackFutures also cancelled a planned showcase for the brands taking part in its accelerator program.

Earlier today, The Specialty Food Association (SFA) cancelled the in-person trade show portion of the Fancy Food Show 2021. Meanwhile, New Hope, and its parent company Informa, announced new Covid-19 related protocols for Natural Products Expo East in response to feedback from attendees and to comply with new health department regulations.

Meat snack brand 4505 Meats has made the jump from salty snacks to meat sticks with the launch of Butcher’s Snacks. The company believes the new line can add incremental sales and increase its D2C business.