News

Natural foods giant Hain Celestial announced a major reorganization today as well as the creation of a venture capital arm.

Yesterday may have been May Day, but rather than celebrating the start of Spring, several CPG groups were celebrating an influx of cash. No sooner had we hit our collective seats this morning than a few million dollars had flowed out of investors’ wallets and into entrepreneurial coffers.

In this interview with Project NOSH, Jeff Lichtenstein the CEO and founder of Gourmet Guru provides his candid thoughts about what he’s witnessed in the industry, what he’s proud of as he celebrates the company’s 20th anniversary, and where he sees the industry moving.

Chef’s Cut Real Jerky has landed $6 million in Series B investment, a round co-led by CAVU Venture Partners and Clearlake Capital, NOSH has learned. For its part, CAVU — whose co-founder Rohan Oza was already an early private investor in the fast-growing Chef’s Cut brand — has committed $2 million from its own $150 million fund.

For bags of broken chocolate bars, Hershey broke the bank. The massive chocolate company announced today that it had acquired the Ripple Collective, which produces fast-growing snacking chocolate line barkTHINS. Hershey has been diversifying its business from being solely confection-focused to offer more healthy snacking options through acquisition and innovation.

With springtime flowers starting to bloom, so too are sales for several NOSH brands bursting onto the scene. The growth comes after debuts at Expo West, packaging redesigns and new partnerships.

HOPE Foods, a hummus company using HPP, is setting its sights on a new new category, guacamole. Helping fund the new line was a round of investment from friends, family, and investment firm BIGR.

Millennial focused granola and snack bar company Bear Naked has partnered with with IBM’s supercomputer “Watson” to allow consumers to create their own perfect, customized granola blend. The resulting program speaks to the trend of customization while decreasing food waste.

Naturally More® of Madera, Calif., is leveraging its growth in the nut butter segment by launching the industry’s first complete line of nut butters boosted with the natural wholesomeness of probiotics and flax.

Last month BevNET and Project NOSH hosted the first BevNET Boot Camp for food and beverage entrepreneurs. For those that weren’t able to join us in person, complete video coverage of the day is now available for viewing on our YouTube channel.