CPG Week Podcast

This week, NOSH editor Carol Ortenberg, editor-in-chief Jeff Klineman and reporters Brad Avery and Lukas Southard discuss the team’s thoughts on eating breakfast cereal as adults. The group goes on to discuss the success of Asian-American, Pacific Islander CPG food brands. In the featured interview, Lukas gathered Wildtype CEO and co-founder Justin Kolbeck, journalist Michael Grunwald and Steve Molino of Clear Current Capital to discuss what’s happening in cell-cultivated proteins. Show Highlights: 00:45 – Carol asks Lukas about his cereal-eating habits leading to the team’s discussion about eating the breakfast staple as an adult, what constitutes “sugar” cereal and is there really a market for functional products in the category. 10:45 – Brad talks about his recent story highlighting some of the recent successes experienced by AAPI food brands and why Americans are craving more authentic, regional varieties of Asian foods. 16:15 – In the wake of the FDA granting Upside Foods regulatory approval of its cultivated meat product, Lukas talked to Justin Kolbeck, Michael Grunwald and Steve Molino about where the cell-cultivated meat industry is going in 2023. The panel discusses the role of intellectual property in the industry, the pace of regulatory approval and what the future might hold for the nascent food tech category. “We all need to think very creatively about how we move faster, because the competition isn’t (conventional) meat and seafood companies. It’s not other cultivated companies. It’s not plant based. It’s climate change.” -Justin Kolbeck, CEO and co-founder of Wildtype About the NOSH Podcast The staff of NOSH.com takes listeners inside the business of natural, organic, sustainable and healthy food during the NOSH Podcast. Using interviews and discussion, the team illuminates the news, brands, people, trends, and money affecting the world of packaged food. New episodes are released every week. Send us comments and suggestions anytime to [email protected]. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

On this week’s show, NOSH editor Carol Ortenberg, editor-in-chief Jeff Klineman and reporters Adrianne DeLuca and Lukas Southard dish out some hot takes on the condiment set and give an update on some recent divestments and sales resulting from supply chain struggles. Later, we hear from Adam Spriggs, founder of The Angel Group, to gain insight from the investor and brand expert on how companies should approach positioning and branding in order to grow and flex throughout their lifecycle. Show Highlights: 02:10: This week’s topics get a bit saucy as the NOSH team shells out some controversial commentary and criticisms as they make their way down the condiment aisle including some lofty accusations against ketchup – is it a universal solvent or one-dimensional sauce? 10:32: The team then discusses the motives behind some recent divestments from big CPG players and how those actions compare to the supply network challenges facing Northeast organic dairy farmers. 19:45: Adam explains the oversight he sees many CPG entrepreneurs fall victim to and why he believes founders need to approach brand positioning with the mainstream consumers always in the back of their mind. 26:51: Later, Adam delves into how he analyzes a brand’s positioning and messaging strategies when assessing potential new investments, explaining that while a brand’s approach may always be rooted where it began, a founder has to be flexible to let that messaging evolve as the brand grows. “Most CPG founders are innovating within echo chambers that are detached from the interests and comfort zones of the majority of shoppers…What we need more CPG entrepreneurs focusing on is just innovating within a sweet spot.” -Adam Spriggs, Founding Partner of The Angel Group About the NOSH Podcast The staff of NOSH.com takes listeners inside the business of natural, organic, sustainable and healthy food during the NOSH Podcast. Using interviews and discussion, the team illuminates the news, brands, people, trends, and money affecting the world of packaged food. New episodes are released every week. Send us comments and suggestions anytime to [email protected]. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

NOSH editor Carol Ortenberg, BevNET Editor-in-Chief Jeff Klineman and reporters Adrianne DeLuca and Lukas Southard took some time to discuss the uproar in the plant-based meat industry over the last week. In the wake of Bloomberg’s in-depth story “Fake Meat Was Supposed to Save the World. It Became Just Another Fad,” the NOSH team discusses why it has put big name brands like Impossible Foods on the defensive and has caused the industry to take a hard look at the successes, failures and what the future holds for the plant-based meat industry. About the NOSH Podcast The staff of NOSH.com takes listeners inside the business of natural, organic, sustainable and healthy food during the NOSH Podcast. Using interviews and discussion, the team illuminates the news, brands, people, trends, and money affecting the world of packaged food. New episodes are released every week. Send us comments and suggestions anytime to [email protected]. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

On this week’s show, NOSH editor Carol Ortenberg, editor-in-chief Jeff Klineman and reporter Adrianne DeLuca discuss the ‘Pie-pline’ of Hubigs from New Orleans, elsewhere, and the changing climate around keto-branded foods. Later, we hear from John Johnson, senior counsel at law firm Shook, Hardy and Bacon, to delve into a recent report from the Reagan Udall Foundation, its implications on the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and potential solutions to systemic issues within the federal agency’s human food program. Show Highlights: 01:15: The NOSH team discusses Jeff’s favorite New Orleans delicacy, complete with a history lesson. Then the team gets into the recent sale of baking mix brand Birch Benders and what the move may mean for keto-claiming companies. 14:20: John explains that while the report highlighted many systemic issues the FDA has been grappling with for nearly a century, it failed to delineate between the two modes the agency operates within: day-to-day operations and crisis management. He suggests that if the agency wants to increase consumer confidence, it might be best to review its external communication plans. 19:44: Later, John aims to correct the narrative around the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act, which many claim was supposed to lead the agency toward preventative operations rather than reactionary when it came to food safety actions like recalls. “The deeper question [from the report] is how does the FDA effectively do its job, which gets to this metaphysical question of how does FDA know it’s doing a good job in the food space? And the answer is an elusive concept of consumer confidence.” – John Johnson, Shook, Hardy and Bacon About the NOSH Podcast The staff of NOSH.com takes listeners inside the business of natural, organic, sustainable and healthy food during the NOSH Podcast. Using interviews and discussion, the team illuminates the news, brands, people, trends, and money affecting the world of packaged food. New episodes are released every week. Send us comments and suggestions anytime to [email protected]. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

NOSH editor Carol Ortenberg, BevNET Editor-in-Chief Jeff Klineman and reporter Lukas Southard debate what is considered what food products should truly be called food technology, while others are perhaps just innovation. Jeff explains why the recent news of Oatly’s decision to move into a hybrid manufacturing structure with co-packer Ya YA foods is driving a discussion on social media over the merits of vertically- integrated production models. Later, Lukas interviewed Elohi Strategic Advisors founder Stephanie Lind to discuss the successes and failures of plant-based brands in foodservice. In this episode: 1:00 – The NOSH team talks about their weekends and then unpacks what the term “food tech” actually means these days. They debate if the food tech industry is over-promising and under-delivering on innovation or if there is a need to set realistic expectations for its role in the greater CPG food space. 14:20 – Jeff discusses how Oatly’s move into a hybrid production model is creating a stir among industry leaders over vertically integrated versus horizontally integrated manufacturing. 17:35 – In this week’s interview, Lukas talks to Stephanie Lind about how foodservice could be a big winner (or pitfall) for emerging plant-based brands. About the NOSH Podcast The staff of NOSH.com takes listeners inside the business of natural, organic, sustainable and healthy food during the NOSH Podcast. Using interviews and discussion, the team illuminates the news, brands, people, trends, and money affecting the world of packaged food. New episodes are released every week. Send us comments and suggestions anytime to [email protected]. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

NOSH editor Carol Ortenberg and reporter Lukas Southard discuss spending time and eating with family over the holidays. They then look back on the big stories of 2022 and how macro trends over the past year may provide insight as to what to expect in 2023. In this week’s interview, Carol talked to Coefficient Capital investor Natalie Borowski and Editor-in-Chief of The New Consumer Dan Frommer to discuss the most recent release of their ongoing Consumer Trends report. In this episode: 0:50 – Carol and Lukas talk about celebrating with family and their respective holiday eating traditions. 5:45 – Lukas makes some predictions about the future of plant-based meats in the year to come. 9:00 – Carol discusses how the investment landscape is expected to tighten this year but the opportunity it could provide for innovative brands. 14:40 – Carol talks with Coefficient Capital investor Natalie Borowski and Editor-in-Chief of The New Consumer Dan Frommer about their fourth quarter Consumer Trends report, which examined consumer spending, perspectives and media habits in 2022 and how brands can use this data to plan for 2023.   About the NOSH Podcast The staff of NOSH.com takes listeners inside the business of natural, organic, sustainable and healthy food during the NOSH Podcast. Using interviews and discussion, the team illuminates the news, brands, people, trends, and money affecting the world of packaged food. New episodes are released every week. Send us comments and suggestions anytime to [email protected]. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

On this week’s show, NOSH editor Carol Ortenberg and reporter Adrianne DeLuca run down NOSH Live Winter 2022, highlighting key themes and trends threaded through the discussions with industry experts. Later, we hear Carol’s NOSH Live discussion with Holly Adrien, Natural and Organic Innovation and Strategy Manager at Kroger, to learn how emerging natural product brands can strategize for success when pitching the grocery giant. Show Highlights: 01:28: The NOSH team breaks down discussions from the conference including the various approaches to brand building and community, the shifting demands of natural and organic shoppers, and what categories are seeing a spike in better-for-you innovation. 19:30: Adrien kicks off the discussion with a look into how grocery buyers work to understand consumers at every level, when they harness both internal and external data for new in-store activations, and how they view the space for natural, organic and sustainable food. 28:08: Be realistic about distribution and have a plan to drive consumers into the store. Those aspects are key for a founder to differentiate its brand from everyone else on the shelf, according to Adrien. She said that strategy starts with how it pitches the brand to buyers, “I’ve been having a lot more conversations with [brands saying] – ‘we don’t have to go everywhere.’ It is important to have someone that is that honest with themselves [and willing] to start small.” – Holly Adrien