Carol Ortenberg

Plant-based ice cream is a rising category and HumanCo wants to take a scoop. The holding company announced today that it had acquired the majority of plant-based ice cream company Coconut Bliss.

Moving from supplying brands to also helping create them, vegan “dairy” ingredient supplier Perfect Day announced an agreement in which it is investing in new brand The Urgent Company.

To convince consumers to switch to plant-based foods, you have to make the move sacrifice-free, according to Outstanding Foods CEO and founder Bill Glaser. He believes that’s been the key to the success of competitor brands Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, and with an additional $5 million in funding and a new product line, Glaser believes it’s Outstanding Foods’ time to step on the gas and achieve similar goals in the snack aisle.

Ethical food company Vital Farms filed paperwork yesterday to raise up to $100 million in an initial public offering (IPO). The Austin-based company plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol VITL.

Today incubator and investment firm Sonoma Brands announced the acquisition of premium jerky brand Chef’s Cut. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Jason Karp wants to change what people eat, drink, clean with and put on their bodies. The venture capitalist and co-founder of snack brand Hu Kitchen is pulling back the curtain on his new venture, HumanCo, with last week’s announcement of Amplify executive Will Lisman as the company’s new COO and chief commercial officer.

Americans are eating a lot of snacks, and Sesajal S.A. de C.V. wants a bite. The ingredient processor and owner of condiment brand Chosen Foods announced last week the closing of a minority investment in produce-focused snack brand Rhythm Superfoods.

Refrigerated chocolate bar brand Honey Mama’s announced this week it has closed a $5.8 million round of funding that will go towards supporting the brand’s expansion beyond the natural channel via sales, marketing and innovation efforts.

Citing the “continued impact of the COVID-19 crisis on events and travel,” New Hope this afternoon cancelled Natural Products Expo East 2020, which was to be held September 23-26 in Philadelphia. The decision marks the second pandemic-related cancellation for New Hope this year, having pulled the plug on Natural Products Expo West 2020 in March.

Nestlé Health Science (NHSc) announced yesterday that it had acquired the majority of collagen-focused function food and supplement brand Vital Proteins. Part of the motivation to explore a sale the company said, was to support further expansion into new channels and geographies — particularly Asia and Europe.