The Checkout: Ripple CEO Talks New Funding; Tofurky to Launch Algae-Based Meat Products

Welcome to The Checkout: an express lane for the weekly news you need to know, always 10 items or less.

Ripple CEO Laura Flanagan Talks $60M Funding Round

Speaking to NOSH yesterday following the company’s $60 million funding round announced on Tuesday, Ripple CEO Laura Flanagan said the plant-based food and beverage maker is “well-positioned for explosive growth in the chapter ahead.”

Flanagan said the company plans to use the funding to accelerate innovation and expand into new categories, which will include the debut of a non-dairy soft serve ice cream line that it is aiming to debut in retail and foodservice in the coming months. The company will face competition from Elmhurst 1925 and Oatly, who have both recently debuted plant-based soft serve innovations in foodservice.

The soft serve launch will be part of Ripple’s push into new channels, Flanagan said. Beyond foodservice, the company has also grown its ecommerce business through its own site, Amazon and other platforms tenfold over the last year, she said, and it will continue to invest in growing in this channel as well.

Ripple’s current retail footprint in the U.S. and Canada which now totals over 20,000 retailers, but the brand has also set its sights set on global expansion. Flanagan said specific locations the company is targeting will be announced in the coming months.

“Both the need and the desire for plant-based dairy free products is even higher outside the United States than it is inside the United States,” she said. “Whether it’s the prevalence of dairy sensitivities, or lactose intolerance, or even flexitarians, consumers who are looking to infuse more plant based foods in their diet, so we are taking advantage of that by expanding globally.”

The company will also be investing in new marketing initiatives across digital and social that will specifically be targeting millennial families, Flanagan said, and has plans to debut its first-ever TV spot.

Tofurky and Triton Algae Innovations Announce Partnership

Plant-based meat company Tofurky announced this week a new partnership with food startup Triton Algae Innovations to launch a new line of co-branded algae-based meat products set to roll out in retail in the first quarter of 2022. The companies did not disclose the types of alt-proteins they plan to produce.

Aiming to “unleash the potential of algae” as an alternative protein source, San Diego-based Triton has developed a process that selects and cultivates Essential Red algae to grow varieties with protein, iron and Omega-3 amino acids ideal for plant-based meats. The use of this algae in plant-based meats “achieves the raw to cooked experience desired by many,” the company said. Founded in 2013, Triton has focused primarily on its B2B business to-date. This partnership presents an opportunity to introduce “algae elements in a finished product directly to the consumer market,” Triton CEO Xun Wang said.

“This is a unique and timely opportunity for us to combine our knowledge and understanding of the plant-based market with the nutrition and one-of-a-kind natural supply-chain technology created by Triton’s algae,” Tofurky president and CEO Jaime Athos said in a press release. “While we can’t share what it is just yet, the result will entail products that resonate with our core audience, and also be attractive to the rapidly growing segment of new flexitarians increasingly drawn to plant-based foods.”

Banza Debuts Pizzas With Beyond Meat, Follow Your Heart

Chickpea-based food brand Banza unveiled several new partnerships this week. The company debuted two new chickpea pizza products: a Supreme sausage variety featuring Beyond Meat’s Italian Sausage Crumbles, and a Plant-Based Cheese flavor made with Follow Your Heart’s dairy-free cheese. Both products are slated to hit retailers nationwide this month.

“Since launching our crust, we’ve hoped to create a vegan cheese pizza,” Banza CEO and co-founder Brian Rudolph said. “Consumer research echoed that sentiment, along with an interest in supreme. While we aren’t comfortable using meat, we’re filling the void using a plant-based option.”

Banza’s frozen pizza line debuted in retailers in October 2020 with four varieties: Four Cheese, Margherita, Roasted Veggie and Plain Crust. The company expanded distribution of the line to Walmart stores nationwide last month. Its chickpea crusts are also currently available at Oath Pizza in New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Virginia locations. The partnerships with Beyond Meat and Follow Your Heart follow a co-branding deal with Life Cuisine earlier this year, using Banza’s chickpea pasta in two frozen meal offerings.

To celebrate the new products, Banza also debuted a collaboration with designer Susan Alexandra on a pizza-themed bead kit. Available on the designer’s website for $50, the kit includes colorful beads matching colors featured on Banza pizza.

Mondelez Nabisco Strike Ends

The strike at Mondelez’s Nabisco manufacturing and distribution facilities across five states that began last month over concerns about overtime pay, pensions, and recent factory closures came to an end this week. The company announced on Monday the ratification of new contracts for employees represented by the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) across all bakeries and facilities involved in the strike.

The new four-year contracts “ensure competitive benefits” for employees, according to Mondelez, offering a ratification bonus, yearly wage increases, flexible scheduling and increased company matched 401(k) contributions.

“We have a bright future as a snacking leader here in the United States, and our employees at these bakeries and distribution sites play an important part in that future,” said Glen Walter, EVP and president, North America, Mondelēz International, in a press release. “We look forward to welcoming back our BCTGM-represented colleagues and returning to normal production and distribution to customers and consumers.”

In a statement on the union’s website, BCTGM International president Anthony Shelton called the strike “a long and difficult fight.”

“The BCTGM’s striking members made enormous sacrifices in order to achieve a quality contract that preserves our Union’s high standards for wages, hours and benefits for current and future Nabisco workers,” he wrote. “Their sacrifice will benefit all BCTGM members and working people around the country for years to come.”

General Mills Reports Fiscal 2022 Q1 Results

On an earnings call this week, General Mills CEO Jeff Harmening said the company’s Q2 fiscal performance was “above experactions,” as net sales increased 4% to $4.5 billion, with organic net sales up 2%.

Organic net sales in the North American retail segment were down 3%. U.S. Meals and Baking and U.S. Cereal saw sales declines, which the company attributed to lower at-home demand, while U.S. Snacks and its Canada segment had an increase in sales. Its convenience store and foodservice organic set sales saw a 23% bump as away-from-home channels, particularly schools, restaurants and lodging begin to recover.

As the company weathers the storm of inflation and labor shortages, Harmening said the company is also focused on reshaping its portfolio. In August, the company signed a definitive agreement with Sodiaal to formalize the terms of the divestiture of its interest in its European Yoplait operations. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2021.

“We remain focused on competing effectively, successfully navigating the challenging supply chain environment, and executing our portfolio and organization reshaping actions without disruption,” Harmening said. “I’m proud of the way the General Mills team is competing, leveraging the strength of our brands and our advantaged supply chain and sales capabilities to meet customer and consumer needs as well or better than our competition.”