Carol Ortenberg

With Halloween less then a week away, candy manufacturers are ready for their busiest season. According to new research, Halloween sales in particular should be fairly sweet for producers. And while “clean” products may be the future of the meat category, this week government officials and innovators gathered together to discuss how this emerging category should be regulated. Here’s the news you need to know from this week.

Yesterday’s model for CPG brands is no longer effective. Today they must consider the caliber and sourcing of the ingredients they use, what their investors want, and the myriad ways consumers are shopping for products. In a new report, investment research firm CB Insights outlined ideas for what brands must do in order to stay top of mind.

Over the last year, direct-to-consumer frozen food subscription services/providers such as Daily Harvest and Raised Real have reinvigorated consumers’ excitement about frozen food options. However, the frozen aisle itself has remained somewhat untouched with legacy brands abound, save for new cauliflower-based innovations scattered throughout. Imperial Frozen Foods wants to change the dialogue — both about the category as a whole and about their offerings — through product innovation and acquisitions.

Bantam Bagels announced today that it has been acquired for $34 million by T. Marzetti Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lancaster Colony Corporation. Co-founder Elyse Oleksak told NOSH that the company’s rapid growth over the last five years left the brand at “an inflection point.”

Things are hatching in the CPG space as one rising plant-based startup finds itself with a new partner for distribution while another considers going public. Here’s the news you need to know from this week.

While plant-based milks are bringing in hundred of millions of dollars per year and plant-based meats such as Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat are the darlings of the burger crowd, plant-based yogurt and cheese have yet to generate the same buzz. But the CEO of plant-based dairy brand Kite Hill — and its investors — are betting that’s about to change, and financed that bet with a $40 million round that will close at the end of the month.

CPG veteran Scott Lerner will take over as CEO of fermented food brand Farmhouse Culture starting Nov. 1, he told NOSH in an interview. Lerner told NOSH he was “really excited about working on a brand that was on-trend, perimeter-based and rooted in [the natural] channel.”

The interest in bone broth brand Kettle & Fire has reached a boil. The line of shelf stable broths and soups has received an additional $8 million, less than two months after announcing a previous $8 million round of funding in August.

Once a rising business with major investors, “distributed kitchen” startup brand incubator Pilotworks abruptly ceased operations this weekend. As a result, hundreds of food and beverage businesses — which have been left without production and storage facilities or distribution to retail outlets — were left wondering today, “What Next?”

While the air might be cooling down, the market for investments and acquisitions is red hot this week. From a restauranteur investing in a new food marketplace to meal solutions for crossfitters, there was plenty capital deployed this week. Here’s the news you need to know from the week.