Headlines

After having to make the hard choice to discontinue its Drinkable Veggies beverage line last year, today Bonafide Provisions announced the launch of a line of Keto Broth Cups, which are frozen, heat-and-drink cups of bone broth and MCT oil. The cups come as the company also unveils a new rebrand.

In this episode, we spoke with Michele Simon, the founder and executive director of the Plant Based Food Association, about the changing landscape for plant-based foods.

Plant-based protein company Beyond Meat and cereal and gardening company Back to the Roots both announced new investors this week.

Jasmine Singh is the co-founder of Nomad Eats, a company that is focused on creating plant-based whole food products that taste like “liquid gold”. The brand has developed vegan nacho and mac and cheese sauces aimed to change consumers’ minds about how healthy vegan products taste.

Compass Diversified Holdings (CODI) announced yesterday it has reached an agreement to sell hemp food manufacturer Manitoba Harvest to Canadian cannabis company Tilray for C$419 million.

CytoSport, founded in 1998, was acquired by Hormel in a deal valued at $450 million in 2014. The company markets a variety of protein-focused sports nutrition products under the Muscle Milk brand, including powders, ready-to-drink beverages and bars.

The bar set is ever growing, and even familiar brands are looking to change up their looks in order to stay competitive. Today snack company PROBAR announced an outdoor-inspired rebrand of its packaging — one of the first major changes by the company’s new president and investor, Matt Fuller.

The rice category is starting to stretch with even more ingredients trying to define the staple. Today Banza, which is known for its chickpea pastas, announced it will expand into the category with its own line of rice — the company’s first major new product since introducing a line of macaroni and cheese in 2016.

Chickpea snacking brand Biena is ready to stretch out. The company is about to launch a new line of chickpea-based puffs and has made over its packaging to unify the portfolio. To support both initiatives, Biena closed a $2.35 million round in April 2018 and a second internal round of financing later in the year.

In 2007 snack innovator Keith Belling felt guilty eating potato chips and decided to do something about it. The result, which spawned a slew of imitators and helped revolutionize the snack set, was Popchips.