Fancy Food Show: Vegan Biscuits, Lentil Meals and Magnolia Bakery Enters Costco

Mama’s Biscuits Goes After Vegans and C-Store Shoppers

Who doesn’t want a biscuit first thing in the morning? Mama’s Biscuits wants to make sure everyone can have that opportunity, highlighting its latest releases at Fancy Food.

Earlier this year the brand began teasing its clean-ingredient, nitrate-free biscuit sandwiches, which officially launched last month. The sandwich lineup includes a vegan option, made with a Beyond Meat patty, Just egg, almond milk and vegan butter.

Target has already picked up the Blueberry Sunrise sandwich multipack, executives told NOSH at the show, with the product rolling out into 500 stores now.

Meanwhile, at Fancy Food, the brand launched single-serve, frozen biscuits sandwiches that can be heated directly in plastic sleeves. While 4-packs retail for $9.99 to $10.99, the singles (once on the market) will likely be $3.50 to $3.99. Executives said the new product format will target c-stores and foodservice operators.

Brewer’s Foods Launches Take on Pretzels, Plans for ‘Slow and Steady’ Growth

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Brewer’s Crackers rebranded to Brewer’s Foods, with hopes to expand into new categories. The upcycled food company is putting that plan into action, at Fancy Food this year, highlighting its new take on pretzels.

“I just wanted to make something that is more approachable to everyone,” Brewer’s founder and sole employee Kyle Fiasconaro told NOSH. “Pretzels just hit people differently.”

For Fiasconaro, innovation offers the brand new ways to highlight upcycling and how spent brewer’s grain can be repurposed into better-for-the-planet snacks. Currently the company has distribution in Northeast and North Atlantic Whole Foods Market stores, with “coast-to-coast” placement in independent retailers. Brewer’s Foods does particularly well in specialty cheese counters where consumers are willing “to spend $7 on a box of crackers,” Fiasconaro said.

While Brewer’s wants to reach as many people as possible, Fiasconaro wants to take his time proving the concept. Not having investors, he said, makes that an option.

“Let’s build trust and let’s build products that people can eat,” he said. “It might take 40 years. But if you have no rush, then I’m just sitting in the driver’s seat. I can do whatever I want.”

Incubator Alley Highlights: Lentil-Based Meals and Cognitive Protein Powders

Cheezy cookie crackers, plant-based meals and brain-boosting protein powders were among the innovations showcased by up-and-coming brands at the Summer Fancy Foods Show 2023’s Incubator Alley.

In attendance was functional food brand Leto Foods, which unveiled their protein powder and chai latte mixes designed to support mood, memory and focus. The brand was initially developed by founder Amanda Gorter as a smoothie mix for pregnant and postpartum women, and while the powders are still “prenatal-friendly,” they now have wider use cases and can be used by a larger demographic of customers.

Meanwhile, Lentiful, which makes heat-and-eat meals made with lentils, debuted its Homestyle Chili and Pineapple “Chorizo” cups. Founder Ben Bacon, who has previously worked with CPG brands including Red Clay and Flapjacked, told NOSH that though the brand has a Cinnamon Apple flavor, he’s decided to focus on savory options moving forward.

Bacon also teased that Letiful will be sold in a major natural products retailer starting this Fall.

Magnolia Bakery Breaks Into Costco

Just three months after hitting shelves, Magnolia Bakery is expanding its line of banana pudding cookies into a new channel, showing off their new club pack at Fancy Food. Debuting in 96 Costco stores on the East Coast, the 18-count box contains nine Vanilla flavored cookies and nine Confetti cookies. Scheduled for an eight to ten week rotation, the club pack will retail for $16.49.

Sold in retailers including The Fresh Market, ShopRite, King Cullen and Harris Teeter, the brand’s four-count boxes recently hit the West Coast via placement in Gelson’s. For now, CMO Eddie Revis said, Magnolia plans to focus on the West and East coasts, where it has the most brand awareness.

The brand doesn’t plan to dive into new flavors or new products too quickly, Magnolia CEO Bobbie Lloyd said, but is working on launching a single serve cookie to drive trial.