CPG Week Podcast: Inside The New Dietary Guidelines. Plus, Lemon Perfect Sours

[00:00:05] Monica Watrous: Welcome to the CPG Week podcast by BevNET and Nosh. I'm Monica Watrous, here with my co-host Lukas Southard. Here is the latest in food and beverage industry news. The Trump administration has released the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which overturn the traditional food pyramid and prioritize consumption of meat and dairy, healthy fats, fruits and vegetables. The guidelines also recommend two to four daily servings of whole grains while removing refined grains altogether. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans were first established in 1980 and have been updated by an independent panel of nutrition experts every five years since then. This iteration, however, marks the first time the document has tackled the topic of ultra-processed foods. The guidance claims that to make America healthy again, quote, we must return to the basics, and places a consistent emphasis on the consumption of whole nutrient-dense foods for all demographics. It prescribes a dramatic reduced consumption of highly processed foods, which it claims are, quote, laden with refined carbohydrates, added sugars, excess sodium, unhealthy fats, and chemical additives. The new guidelines claim to restore common sense, scientific integrity, and accountability to dietary recommendations. The document recommends between 1.2 to 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, an avoidance of saturated fats, which is said should not exceed 10% of total daily calories, and believes no amount of added sugars should be consumed. But if they are, should be limited to 10 grams per meal. While the changes were welcomed by meat, poultry, seafood, and dairy trade groups, other industry stakeholders raised concerns, pointing to a lack of clarity and noting potential conflicts of interest in the development of the recommendations.

[00:02:08] Lukas Southard: All is not well at Lemon Perfect the surface, it might appear that the brand was making gains when it filed a Securities and Exchange Commission Form D at the end of December, announcing nearly $10 million in fresh funding. Yet it appears that the mix of debt and other securities was established to float the brand as it restructures and sheds leadership as it attempts to right the ship. BevNET editor-in-chief Jeffrey Klineman reported this week Lemon Perfect has lost its CEO Jeff Popkin and its CMO Mari Lee, who both came on board to the company in the last two years. While founder Yanni Hufnagel remains the company's board chair, he will not serve in any operational role moving forward. So what's happening to this fast-moving drink brand that had backing from big name investor, Beyonce Knowles Carter, and a slew of high impact VCs like Goat Rodeo Capital and Miletus Ventures. Momentum stalled for the enhanced water brand when it switched co-packers in late 2023. The shift to a reformulated larger bottle resulted in a formula that lacked critical gas scavengers, causing oxidation and rapid taste degradation on shelf. Lemon Perfect's production slowed to a trickle over the next several months as it reformulated as it tried to get the off-tasting drinks out of stores. Even after another reformulation, as well as a splashy package and label redesign in March 2025, sales failed to reignite, putting the brand in its current position, where more layoffs are expected and Lemon Perfect tries to cut costs.

[00:03:52] Monica Watrous: The Good Crisp Company has been acquired by M. Pearlrock, an investment group formed by MidOcean Partners, Kroger, and its data analytics platform, 8451. Financial terms were not disclosed. Founded in 2015, The Good Crisp Company produces a salty snack portfolio that includes canister chips, cheese balls, and crinkle cut chips, all of which are gluten-free, non-GMO, and free from artificial flavors and ingredients. Founder Matthew Perry, not that Matthew Perry, said in a statement that M. Pearlrock's support, resources, and collaborative approach will help The Good Crisp Company to accelerate growth, expand its reach, and optimize its manufacturing footprint. In 2021, the brand closed its largest funding round to date. to make the jump from natural retailers into conventional retail with a launch into 1,500 Kroger doors. Two years later, the company took on a debt investment from SG Credit Partners. The company's past investors include Stonyfield founder Gary Hirshberg, Orgain founder Andrew Abram, Lotus Bakeries venture arm FF2032, Vitality Capital, Goat Rodeo, RCV Frontline, Native founder Moiz Ali, and Thrive Market founder Nick Green. Today, The Good Crisp Company is available in over 20,000 retail doors across the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK.

[00:05:22] Lukas Southard: More protein and more fiber is the name of the game in soda these days. Koya is the latest brand to enter the modern soda set. Koya's Pop Protein Launch mixes the two trends in a carbonated soft drink with clear protein and prebiotic fiber available in a four-skew line of 12-ounce cans. Koya is following a series of other big beverage brands, from Sparkling Ice's parent company, Talking Rain, to Pepsi, who have leaned into gut health beverages. Pop Protein also rides Koya's brand identity as a protein smoothie maker. Koya founder Chris Hunter told BevNET that after talking to its consumers, Koya realized that it, quote, had permission and maybe even a request to get into the protein soda category. Taking a differentiated launch approach, Koya's new line is available exclusively for now on TikTok Shop. It is leaning into the virality of the brand's appeal online and will follow that launch with Amazon and retail partnerships later this year.

[00:06:32] Monica Watrous: Of course, this is not Chris Hunter's first foray into the carbonated beverage set. He founded 4Loko before he got into Koya.

[00:06:42] Lukas Southard: Four Loko had slightly different functional benefits, more just like making you jittery and drunk. But I will say I was a big fan of Four Loko when I was 19 to 25 years old and drank my fair share of those drinks.

[00:07:04] Monica Watrous: I still am a fan. On a lighter note, if Lucas and I sound a little jet lagged, it's because we just came back from San Diego for the inaugural Winter Fancy Fair, which is the Specialty Food Association's replacement to the Winter Fancy Food Show. Although it seemed to be pretty similar to the earlier iteration of that event.

[00:07:27] Lukas Southard: I actually don't know if I've ever been to Winter Fancy Foods, but I've been to Summer Fancy Foods and seemed very similar to the New York Summer event. that the Specialty Food Association hosts. So not that that's a bad thing. There was a lot going on there, a lot of great conversations I had, kind of playing off that news of Koya getting into protein soda. There wasn't a ton of beverage brands there, but I did talk to a couple new entrants into gut health or modern soda set. All three of them actually that I highlighted in a story this week were from Texas. One was called Fermentaria, which makes a water kefir and they are actually trying to launch a energy water kefir later this year. Really tasty stuff, some nice fun flavors. I also talked to Lady Bird Soda Company, which previously was a mixer brand that has expanded their portfolio into prebiotic sodas. And then finally, there was PopFizz, another Texas-based brand that is opting for prebiotics and postbiotics and really leaning into the benefits of postbiotics and how it helps your metabolic system and gut health in general.

[00:08:53] Monica Watrous: Well, I would say one of the better things that I tasted at the show is actually a forthcoming launch by our friends at Mochi Love. They will be venturing into shelf-stable territory with their signature mochi-wrapped treats. And I got a little sneak peek, and I have to say, it is quite good. I enjoy talking to the startups in the Hawaiian incubator area. There's some really tasty products there, including ube chocolate, some seaweed crackers, the churros, you and I talked about those, the poi churros, and some pate and mousse made out of venison, which is an invasive species.

[00:09:40] Lukas Southard: And yeah, go kill all those deer Hawaiians. Just kill them and make them into pate. I'm all for it.

[00:09:47] Monica Watrous: It's tasty. One of the other things that I tried that really stood out to me on the show floor was from a brand called Beast Snacks, B-E-E-S-T, making a crunchy jerky.

[00:10:00] Lukas Southard: I was going to bring them up myself. Yeah.

[00:10:03] Monica Watrous: I beat you to it. They had a charcuterie inspired trail mix that featured their crunchy beef jerky chips with cheese crisps and roasted almonds. And I thought that was so delightful and so tasty and pretty innovative.

[00:10:20] Lukas Southard: I also talked to a Bay Area brand, shout out to my people San Francisco Bay area called brisket Crisp Company. They made a somewhat similar to what beast is doing a meat snack, but in a kind of thin crispy chip format and super tasty, really nice flavors, uh, somewhat Asian inspired skews, but, um, a really unique. flavor mix with texture because it was so light once you actually kind of like it's crispy when you put it in your mouth, but it kind of melts in your mouth. Um, so very good. Really looking forward to seeing more from that company. And also to go along with that, there was another Bay area brand called Bond jerk that was making. really, really interesting Asian-inspired flavors of pork jerky. And they were founded by a whole animal butcher, and she was using some really, really nice flavor combinations like char soy to make the pork jerky that I thought was incredibly tasty. So, nice to see some meat snack innovation outside of the stick category, and also something new and different that I hadn't tried before.

[00:11:35] Monica Watrous: Yeah, well, we'll be continuing to cover our takes and trends from the Winter Fancy Fair at BevNET and Nosh. Here are some other notable bits of news from the week. Meal delivery service Factor has entered retail with Target as the outlet ramps up its wellness assortment by nearly 30% across numerous categories. Organic seed snacks maker Go Raw has sold to family office USK Capital for an undisclosed sum. And finally, cold brew specialist Explorer has acquired decaf exclusive roaster Savorista. For these stories and more, become an insider at BevNET and Nosh. And if you're enjoying the show, please subscribe on your listening platform of choice. That wraps up this edition of CPG Week by BevNET and Nosh. Thank you to our audio engineer, Joshua Pratt, our director is Mike Schneider, and our designer is Aaron Willette. If you enjoyed the podcast, please subscribe on your listening platform of choice, and we will see you next time.