Jeff Klineman

To suppliers, the end of the Whole Foods relationship isn’t a binary anymore, where they’re either in Whole Foods or they aren’t really in the natural channel at all.

Try even as the most hard-core carnivore might, it’s hard not to buy into the world-changing vibe at Beyond Meat. A visit with Goldman, the organic tea crusader who is currently the company’s board chair, finds him excitedly pointing out the massive expansion that’s about to take place.

They’ve been biding their time, but a fast-growing specialty pickle company is preparing to launch a brine-driven assault on Natural Products Expo West this week powered by a new, $4 million minority investment.

Project NOSH Editor-in-Chief Jeff Klineman talks about his involvement with a local community-based food business incubator and his role mentoring a small beverage company, Boston Chai Party.

The food world was rocked Monday by two deals that carried a combined $6.5 billion in value, both designed to allow companies with declining core business areas rearrange their portfolios around growing premium snack lines.

A panel early on during last week’s BevNET Live in Manhattan discussed e-marketing and a lot of the time was spent on the Amazon effect: In terms of setting up direct-to-consumer marketplaces, creating “full basket” solutions with Amazon Fresh, and simply providing a place for customers to search by keywords for specific products, the e-commerce titan has begun to exert an outsized influence in the ways consumers shop.

In a deal that’s shaking the shopping experience for consumers, retailers, and food and beverage companies, Amazon’s scooping up of Whole Foods for $13.7 billion on Friday has hardened talk of large-scale disruption in the way consumers buy their groceries. The deal is the largest U.S. grocery transaction since a $17.4 billion takeover of Albertsons, according to Mergermarket. Here’s an in-depth look into the acquisition and its implications for the retailers and beyond.

In this video from Natural Products Expo West, Nardone explains the delicate process of creating a brand around a known quantity like PopCorners and the steps other companies should consider when re-thinking the limitations of their own branded products. He also discusses the progress of Our Little Rebellion overall.

Several notable natural food brands accepted investment to help secure its place in the future of the food. This month, Wild Friends, Chia Viva! and Incredible Foods announced investment from industry legends to help scale each of its own products and growth.

Two generations of food company executives have come together in a new fund whose purpose is to help build the next set of natural food brands.