Food Industry News, Insights, and Education for the CPG Community

Last week, plant-based ramen startup immi announced it raised $10 million in a Series A round led by Touch Capital and featuring a slate of celebrity investors such as tennis pro Naomi Osaka and R&B singer Usher. Now, the company is looking to quadruple its retail footprint this year and bring manufacturing up to pace as demand rises.

Over the past month, BevNET and NOSH tapped contacts from around the CPG industry to get a feel for the pulse of this year’s show as it prepares for kickoff in Anaheim on Wednesday.

In this roundup: Home Chef expands business with new East Coast facility; Poppy raises $3M for handcrafted popcorn; Afresh expands to new areas of the store and Renegade Foods unveils shelf-stable vegan deli meat.

Next week brands and entrepreneurs from across the CPG industry will soon come together at Natural Products Expo West to highlight their latest product innovations along with new technology and trends. Both NOSH and BevNET will have ongoing coverage over the coming days, but here’s a quick preview of just some of the new releases from exhibiting brands, including Goodles, Rob’s Backstage Popcorn and Siete.

There are many ways to fund a startup, but using the winnings from a career as a successful, high-stakes professional poker player is certainly not the norm. However, Oats Overnight CEO Brian Tate is ready to go all-in.

Canadian pea and canola plant protein maker Merit Functional Foods has been placed in receivership with creditors filing court order Wednesday.

This week the team talks viral marketing campaigns and details some tips and tricks for Expo West. Later Bobo’s CEO TJ McIntyre explains about common missteps brands make when approaching innovation and growth in tandem.

Gut health-focused snack bar brand BelliWelli announced this week it raised $15.4 million in a funding round that closed in January, led by New York-based private equity firm The Invus Group.

On Tuesday, the FDA announced its progress on restructuring the Human Foods Program consolidating food safety enforcement under one leadership role and streamlining operations internally and in the field.

To help our audience of retailers, investors and brands find our BevNET and NOSH Insiders that are exhibiting, we’ve produced a special pre-show Expo West 2023 Booth Guide featuring the company names and booth numbers of our Insiders, both alphabetically and numerically.

Plant-based food company Eat Just recently laid off about 40 of its over 300 employees, totaling 18% of its JUST Egg division. The California-based company’s cultured protein business, GOOD Meat, was not impacted.

Westrock Coffee Company has acquired Los Angeles-based Bixby Coffee Roasters, giving the former an opening into “the emerging influencer-led brand space” as well as further growth for its omni-channel offerings.

Baldor has supplied East Coast restaurant and retail customers with grocery items for over 30 years. Murphy walked us through the pandemic’s impact on operations and the company’s vendor and retail partners and gave us a look into what success looks like inside Baldor’s network.

General Mills has discontinued with immediate effect its animal-free cream cheese brand Bold Cultr, just weeks after expanding its distribution and opening for online pre-orders nationwide.