Carol Ortenberg

Plant-based frozen foods brand Alpha Foods announced today the close of a $7 million round of capital. Co-founder and CFO/COO Cole Orobetz and co-founder and CEO Loren Wallis told NOSH that, for now, they have chosen to raise smaller rounds more frequently rather than a single large round.

After a weekend that saw a social media post about its demise go viral, food and beverage crowdfunding platform PieShell announced that it is shutting down. Founder and CEO Cheryl Clements told NOSH that she plans to close the company at the end of March unless a “Hail Mary” investor appears.

This month brands in the snack, seafood, ice cream and meal solution sets all added new retailers to their distribution networks.

With only seconds to capture consumers’ eyes on shelf, a product’s packaging is vitally important. At this year’s Natural Products Expo West brands rolled out new packaging, logos and branding that emphasized product attributes such as better ingredients, taste and heritage.

This year’s annual Natural Products Expo West drew over 85,000 attendees to view the latest products and innovations in natural food. In this video, BevNET editor-in-chief Jeff Klineman and NOSH editor Carol Ortenberg go beyond new products to discuss some of the key themes that could be deduced from the show floor; they talk about the move of CBD into food, the uptake of a variety of plant-based products, and where the ketogenic diet is taking new product development.

While there were plenty of buzzy, ketogenic, CBD-enhanced, cauliflower-based products lurking in Expo booths, if you looked deeper, several larger themes within the natural food industry emerged — including retail channel strategies, the effects of integrated sets and sleepy categories seeing new attention.

Despite the already wide array of choices in the set, the bar category continues to see new entrants thanks to growing sales. To learn more about some of the bar launches, redesigns and new flavors seen on the Expo West show floor, view the gallery below.

Last year CPG giant Mondelēz tasked its innovation and venture arm SnackFutures with the goal of generating $100 million dollars in growth by 2022. At Expo West 2019 NOSH Editor Carol Ortenberg sat down with SnackFutures’ head of innovation Brigette Wolf to discuss the group’s mandate and how it hopes to achieve that goal.

Last fall cookie manufacturer Lenny and Larry agreed to settle a suit that alleged it’s protein-enhanced cookies only had 4 to 9 grams of protein, versus the 16 grams of protein stated on the nutrition facts panel. Although the settlement had moved forward, with a fairness hearing scheduled for this month, last month the U.S. Department of Justice’ Consumer Protection Branch urged the courts to reject the reject the settlement deal.

It can take a little ingenuity to get consumers to buy a new product. Over the past decade, that’s the (sometimes hard) lesson Jonathan Wolfson and Mark Brooks, have learned. Last week the duo launched their new brain health-focused company, Ingenuity Brands, and its first product line, Brainiac Kids.