Headlines

Beyond Meat has settled a lawsuit, filed by a group of its stockholders in March 2020 alleging the company’s senior management team, including co-founder and CEO Ethan Brown, former executive chairman Seth Goldman and former CFO Mark Nelson, “breached their fiduciary duties.” The litigation was a derivative action related to an ongoing legal dispute brought against the company by its former co-packer, Don Lee Farms.

Mikuna Foods is looking to introduce Americans to Ecuadorian plant-protein ingredient chocho, announcing today the closing of a $5.6 million seed funding round backed by a “mission-aligned collective of private individuals.” The California-based company plans to use the capital to scale operations, expand its supply network and drive brand awareness.

In this People Moves: Laird Superfood names new COO and SVP of Sales; Nutiva and Coconut Secret Brings on New CEO; Petit Pot Promotes Eric Lallart to CEO and Lonna Borden joins Monogram Capital Partners.

Frozen sweets brand Yasso is going deeper in the novelty set with the launch of new Greek yogurt filled mochi, the second product to be released under the company’s new “incubator” model introduced last year.

Female PoC-owned sparkling water brand Droplet activated a crowdfunding campaign this month on NuAMP, a new platform dedicated to connecting PoC founders with various forms of capital. Created in collaboration with community fundraising platform NuMarket and AMP, a tech company connecting PoC founders with funding resources, the NuAMP program debuted with seven active crowdfunding campaigns to support diverse founders across the country

Brad Kintzer, Chief Chocolate Maker at TCHO, discussed the company’s emphasis on sustainable and ethical sourcing as a key metric of quality, how it defines “better” when evaluating progress, how he’s been inspired by winemaking and why, despite TCHO’s cachet, the brand recently introduced massive changes in its formulation and branding.

The co-founders of plant-based food brand The Very Good Food Company were dismissed from the company last week as its board of directors seeks to reverse stock price declines.

The International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems released a new report last week challenging the “silver bullet” sustainability solutions often touted by leading alternative-protein companies. The comprehensive 104-page report, titled “The Politics of Protein,” aims to contextualize eight of the “most contested” and “potentially misleading” sustainability problem and solution-related claims, into the broad realm of the global food system.

This week’s new food launches saw brands creating better-for-you iterations of classic sweet treats. Check out this gallery for this week’s notable new items, including GoodPop Chocolate Vanilla Sandwiches, Enlightened Greek Yogurt Cheesecakes and SweetLeaf Salted Caramel Stevia Syrup.

In this week’s Checkout: market research firms IRI and NPD merge, Rao’s Homemade activates its first popup marketplace in NYC, All Y’all’s Foods supports a Texas Ranch turned vegan sanctuary and Kroger Dallas launches Restaurant Supply program.