Distribution: Seal The Seasons Goes Local; BelliWelli Hits The Bullseye

Seal the Seasons Launches Local Line With Publix

Frozen produce company Seal the Seasons brought a new locally-sourced line to Publix stores across Florida this month. The expansion marks the North Carolina-based brand’s largest retail partner to-date, said founder and CEO, Patrick Mateer, and comes after the brand showed strong sales velocities in Publix’s Greenwise banner during a trial earlier this year.

“Our company is excited to further Publix’s local sourcing and make Florida Grown frozen fruit available to everyone in the Sunshine State,” said Mateer. “Publix is the perfect partner to distribute the best quality frozen fruit at fair prices for Florida’s families.”

The launch also takes the brand’s agricultural impact “to the next level in the Southeast” and increases its door count in the region from 150 to nearly 1,500 stores, “effectively a 10-fold increase to the local food we can source from family farms,” Mateer said. While Seal the Seasons sources from all types of farms, including conventional and organic, the brand also supports farmers utilizing regenerative practices.

The Florida Antioxidant Blend contains a mix of strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and Michigan dark sweet cherries. Each 32 oz. bag retails for $10.99 and will be available at nearly all 1,352 Publix locations. The news follows additional regional distribution gains including launches at Nugget Market, Deirbergs, and Schnuck’s Market.

BelliWelli Hits The Bullseye

Gut-health bar maker BelliWelli expanded its reach to Target stores this month, launching 2 SKUs – a new Crunchy Peanut Butter Chocolate bar and Chocolate Chip flavor – at 1,554 locations across the U.S. The move to Target marks another milestone in the California-based brand’s retail distribution push this past year.

In March, the company announced it raised over $15 million with the hopes of becoming the top-selling, women-focused bar brand in the natural channel. That milestone came less than a year after BelliWelli had locked in its first national distribution deal and began expanding beyond its direct-to-consumer roots through a partnership with Sprouts Farmers Market.

According to a brand spokesperson, it has reached over 1,000 new doors in the past year and is now on shelf at retailers including H-E-B, Kings, Fresh Thyme, HungryRoot and more. Throughout all this growth, BelliWelli has reduced its lineup from eight to now 5-SKUs. The bars are all Low-FODMAP certified, gluten-free and contain probiotic fiber; an 8-count box retails for $26.96.

Laoban Launches With Costco

Washington D.C.-based Laoban is heading up the coast. This week, the chef-driven dumpling maker began to rollout products at 26 Northeast Costco stores spanning from its home base to Boston. The launch will also bring a new Ginger Chicken Soup Dumplings SKU to Laoban’s lineup.

“[The] dumplings are packed with free-range chicken and a super tasty broth, all inside our delicate hand made dough,” said founder Patrick Coyne. “As always, from a recipe from our Culinary Director Chef Tim Ma… using all natural ingredients and no preservatives.”

The new product will be available in a 24 oz. pouch, which is about 30 soup dumplings. Earlier this year, Laoban locked in a national distribution deal with Whole Foods and developed its Mala Beef dumpling exclusively for the retailer. Laoban has steadily expanded its retail footprint since launching in 2021 and is now on shelf at over 2,000 retailers.

ZENB Pasta Stocked On Sprouts Shelves

Chicago-based yellow pea pasta brand ZENB is bringing its single-ingredient noodles to all 381 Sprouts Farmers Markets nationwide. As part of the new distribution partnership, ZENB will be offering tastes of its legume-based pasta this fall with a mobile food-truck experience called the ZENB Pasta Lounge Tour.

ZENB is bringing its full-line of pasta to Sprouts stores with prices ranging between $3.49 and $4.99. The brand touts 20 grams of protein and 13 grams of fiber per 3.5 ounce serving and comes in a variety of shapes including elbow, penne, rotini and spaghetti as well as flavored, on-the-go Agile Bowls (Tomato Basil Pesto, Mexican Street Corn, Red Pepper Harissa and Zesty Garlic Spinach).

The brand is currently available in over 500 retail locations including Central Markets in Texas, Green Acres Market stores in Oklahoma and it is readying a launch in the Chicagoland area with a partnership with Jewel-Osco in the fall. The company was named a partner of the Chicago Cubs for the 2023-24 season.

Do Good Chicken Brings Sustainably-Grown Poultry To Target

Do Good Chicken is now going to be available in Target locations nationwide as it aims to bring its message of sustainable poultry production to the masses. The company’s products are also available at Acme, ShopRite and Safeway stores primarily in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. The brand sells both whole birds and chicken parts.

Do Good has built its platform on diverting grocery food scraps to feed its feathered friends as opposed to soy and corn-based chicken feed. The company claims to have diverted over 35 million pounds of food waste with every bird preventing 3 lbs. of greenhouse gasses from entering the atmosphere due to its unique feed regime.