News

This week private equity firm VMG Partners and algae-based food maker TerraVia (formerly Solazyme, Inc) announced the formation of a new venture, TerraBrands. The new group, which will function as a part of TerraVia, will acquire or invest in leading food and beverage companies that would like to incorporate TerraVia’s algae-based ingredients into their products.

Last week, Acosta, one of the largest grocery brokers in the world, announced that it had acquired Ignite Sales & Marketing, following a sales process run by Whipstitch capital. The purchase brings a high-touch set of account managers who foster the growth of mid-sized businesses into a brokerage and sales strategy firm that deals with the largest companies in the world.

Fresh off a year of retail growth, moringa company Kuli Kuli has closed a $1 million round of funding. Investors in the round include noted tech luminaries Brad Feld of the Foundry Group and venture capitalist Derek Proudian, as well as food entrepreneur Mary Walder.

Reading Steve Hughes’ biography is like walking down the aisle of a grocery store — you’ll see plenty of familiar brands along the way, from Healthy Choice, to Smart Balance and Evol, to any number of the products he oversaw as CEO of Celestial Seasonings. In this interview with Project NOSH, Hughes discusses his newest venture, Sunrise Strategic partners.

To meet the increasing consumer and retailer demand for their products on a national scale, Good! Greens, the all-natural line of wellness snacks, recently added new talent to the team and is expanding its line of health and wellness products.

Over the past year, the meat-based snacking category has continued to grow with new innovations, new brands and lots of investments. While the meat may be, the category itself is far from dried up. In fact, it’s still smoking.

Proceeds from the round, which was raised on equity crowdfunding platform CircleUp, will go toward new sales and marketing initiatives designed to expand placement and awareness of Tio Gazpacho’s high pressure processed, ready-to-drink soups.

The Wine RayZyn Company announced that they’ve raised over $1 million to help develop the next superfood snack product. The company has a patented process that dehydrates grapes and caramelizes the nutrient rich wine seed in the grape’s own sugar.

While the news may be dominated with stories of bone broth, kale chips and avocado oil, after visiting Natural Products Expo West 2016, it seems that consumers are still saving room for dessert. Although that takes the form of more healthy options for some products, there are also still many indulgent products hitting retailer shelves this year.

Bonafide Provisions, a newly-renamed maker of frozen chicken and beef bone broths, has become a portfolio company of Boulder Investment Group Reprise (BIGR), an investment firm founded by the former managers of Boulder Brands’ venture capital group, the company announced this week.