Headlines

Hemp chips might cure your munchies if brothers Gary and Greg Avetisyan have their way. The duo recently launched Heaven’s Lettuce, a line of crispy vegetable chips made from hemp leaves, with the intention of usurping kale’s throne as America’s favorite cabbage cultivar.

In this week’s Checkout, The Hershey Company reports U.S. sales growth in Q2, Bogopa acquires two Fairway Market stores and retailers help launch new initiative to fight plastic waste.

Grocery delivery service Misfits Market announced yesterday the close of an $85 million round of capital led by Valor Equity Partners. Additional investors included Greenoaks Capital, Third Kind Venture Capital, and Sound Ventures. The funding will go, in part, towards helping the brand expand further into offering more center store offerings.

This week we’re sharing episode three of SprintToSuccess, a video series focused on demystifying the branding process for entrepreneurs in the food and beverage space. In this episode, we are turning the corner from strategy to creative.

Though the paleo diet has gained traction in categories such as sauces and snacks, there’s still space for convenient, clean meal options. Kevin’s Natural Foods wants to help fill that need to via a line of ready-to-eat, refrigerated paleo meals.

The eighteenth round of Elevator Talk Livestream features leaders from Quokka Brew, RIND Snacks, 3 Mountains Tea, Good Dee’s and Paleo Pro. This week’s special co-host is Trent Moffat, the owner of Gotham Brand Managers.

For Ben Pasternak, CEO and founder of plant-based chicken nugget brand NUGGS, the philosophy for launching a new brand is simple: “Whatever everyone else is doing, we should do the opposite.”

With Chobani Probiotic, a fermented plant-based drink, and Chobani Complete, a sub-line of protein-enhanced Greek yogurts and shakes, the Norwich, New York-based company is leveraging its brand equity to meet consumer demand for functional products, in this case gut health and on-the-go nutrition.

Gabrielle Union, Maggie Patton and Alex Buckley, co-founders of better-for-you kid’s snack brand Bitsy’s, spoke about the company’s mission to make nutritious snacks accessible to all families, communicating the brand’s healthy halo to children and parents, why asking for help has to be a priority for entrepreneurs and how the food industry can work together to mainstream healthy food for kids.

On this week’s Office Hours, NOSH editor Carol Ortenberg is joined by Chris Moe, co-founder & COO at ecommerce agency Cartograph, and Cambria Copeland, senior director of business management at online sales manager Beekeeper Marketing, for a discussion exploring how successful food and beverage companies can utilize retailing giant Amazon.