Carol Ortenberg

Though Cheetos, Doritos and Gatorade are a big part of PepsiCo’s billion dollar foundation, the global snack and beverage company has shown through various approaches that it believes there’s a need to also focus on nascent categories. The company has spent the last two years retooling The Hive, its latest emerging brands division. Now Hilo, the first brand to emerge from the incubator, is ready to spread its wings, moving into brick and mortar retail and, this week, launching new products.

In this episode of Market Share, host Carol Ortenberg, the editor of NOSH, will speak with Tyler Merrick, CEO and founder of candy company Project 7. The two discuss how the brand has evolved over the years in order to command a more premium price point and better resonate with shoppers.

Earlier this year investors made a $30 million bet that Swedish zero sugar snack and ice cream brand Nick’s can make zero-sugar products that will make American consumers stand up and take notice. Now the company is starting that process, this week announcing it will launch protein bars in the US market.

Mindright wants consumers to “get in a good mood via superfoods” and now it’s got an even bigger megaphone to do so. The snack brand, which was co-founded by former Buff Bake CEO and investor Chris Bernard and athlete Rob Dyrdek (via his venture studio Dyrdek Machine), last week announced it had raised $1.8 million from a star studded slate of investors. It’s just one more step in the brand’s quest to help Americans find their happy place.

Sol Cuisine is heading south of the border, even as it digs financial roots up North. The plant-based Canadian frozen food brand filed this week its letter of intent to go public in Canada with the proceeds from the event used to help the company further expand into the U.S. market.

Despite the past year’s global pandemic, its 15 or so years of investing in consumer brands allows VMG to say things are still business as usual. But the firm will have a lot more capital to keep it moving forward, with yesterday’s announcement that it has raised $850 million for its fifth fund, now known as the Growth Fund.

To further build their customer base, frozen food brand Brazi Bites is looking to breakfast. The company, which produces frozen versions of the classic Brazilian cheese bread Pao de Queijo as well as empanadas will launch gluten-free breakfast sandwiches this Spring in Target.

Prelude Growth Partners, a New York City-based fund, announced last week the close of their second fund at $250 million dollars. The majority of the fund’s limited partners also backed Prelude’s first $85 million fund in 2018, co-founder and partner Neda Daneshzadeh said.

Having tackled confection, Jason Karp is setting his sights on the frozen aisle. Backed by a team of industry veterans, the co-founder of Hu Products, which sold to Mondelez in January, launched today frozen food brand Snow Days under his holding company, HumanCo.

AF Ventures has joined the SPAC club. Together with investment groups Scharf Brothers and Mistral Equity Partners, the CPG venture fund once known as Accel Foods has combined forces with two other firms to launch a publicly traded “blank check” company to target more consumer brands.