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

Meati has added two more world-class athletes to its investor group, announcing this morning former Olympian Aly Raisman and NBA All-Star Chris Paul as the latest names to get behind the mycelium-based food startup.

As it looks to expand its team to match its fast-growing footprint, discount grocery ecommerce platform Martie has raised $7 million in a new funding round led by Upfront Ventures, the company announced this week.

The Spare Food Co. is targeting a new revenue channel with the launch of its first-ever foodservice ingredient, Spare Starter, made from six upcycled vegetables and used as an ingredient and flavor additive for various dishes.

Speaking at NOSH Live 2023, Elizabeth Brown, an investor at Vanterra Ventures, Patrick Schwarzenegger, a CPG investor and co-founder and CEO of MOSH, and Mel Li, investor at Offline Ventures discussed how they assess potential investment opportunities and the people behind those businesses.

The recent publication of a recipe for lab grown coffee using plant cell lines opens up a conversation about the balancing act of open-source research and intellectual property in food tech.

In this video replay from NOSH Live, Kevin Lee, co-founder of plant-based ramen startup Immi, details how he made the jump from bootstrapping the company to closing a $3.8 million seed round in 2021 and a $10 million Series A round earlier this year.

Beef biltong maker Stryve Foods has announced its expansion into several prominent retail chains, including Southeastern Grocers, Cub Foods, Lunds/Byerly’s, Fresh Thyme, Lowes Foods, AAFES, Holiday Oil, Timewise, Family Express and Dash In.

During the first day of NOSH Live Winter 2023, a cohort of individuals reflected on the leadership and mindset shifts as well as differences to strategy building that guided them from the world of big CPG into new endeavors within emerging brands.

Get ready for our December Community Calls! This month, learn how emerging brands are using social platforms to educate consumers with Chutni PUNCH and Fila Manila, how Dan-O’s viral TikTok videos transformed the brand from a struggling business to a social media sensation, and how to utilize limited time offerings to drive sales and velocity.

In this week’s new product gallery, Last Crumb teams with Fly By Jing for a special holiday collection, Impossible debuts its new plant-based franks in the Big Apple and The Good Crisp heats up its lineup of cheese balls.

Quinn Snacks is discontinuing its microwave popcorn SKUs in favor of focusing exclusively on its higher-margin pretzel products.

The Campbell Soup Company celebrated the recovery of sales lost to private brands in 2022 across its top three Thanksgiving-driven categories – results that president and CEO Mark Clouse said indicate a notable shift in consumer behavior and cooling inflationary pressures in Q1.

The long term impact of GLP-1 drugs on consumer behavior remains to be seen but many CPG food and beverage companies are already preparing.

Though margin improvements have helped cushion some of the impact, recent pet brand divestments helped push net sales at J.M. Smucker Co. were down 12% during Q2 according to the company’s latest earnings report.