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

On this week’s show, the team chats about viral candy trends, the U.S. Senate’s sweet tooth and how one company is thinking about category expansion. Later, Bain & Company VP of Consumer Products practice, Charlotte Apps, discusses details from the firm’s recent Insurgent Brands report.

Most regen food startups have pioneered their own sourcing networks, starting from the ground up to support seed-to-shelf regenerative agriculture systems – and these operations that take a bit of initial capital to get going. While venture money is already in short supply, it seems even harder to come by in this space.

Smoothie and snack brand Kencko is making the leap from e-comm to retail this week at over 1,000 Walmart locations across the country. Bringing the brand out of the digital world and onto retail shelves led to a “huge transformation” over the course of the past nine months.

After a tumultuous spring that saw the acrimonious breakup of vegan cheesemaker Miyoko’s Creamery and its jilted founder Miyoko Schinner unfold in an ugly public dispute, the two have settled their respective lawsuits.

Moving from cosmetics and pet care to coffee may seem like a stranger thing to do, but Millie Bobby Brown is making the jump. The actress and model’s new Florence by Mills coffee line stretches across 11 SKU including beans, concentrates and syrups.

General Mills’ success may have been built through stalwart brands like Yoplait, Annie’s and Cheerios, but its next phase of growth is going to rely heavily on its Gold Medal Ventures division.

Ben & Jerry’s has named its longtime CMO as the new top executive, signaling that the company will continue highlighting its role as an outspoken voice for social activism.

Launching online today, 1UP Candy is a startup co-founded by Awadis, co-owner of esports organization FaZe Clan and a YouTuber with over 23.2 million subscribers. The company, which intends to focus on non-chocolate candies, is debuting with a single product: the Sour Gummy Challenge.

Purely Elizabeth is ratcheting up its sustainability commitments with the launch of the first Regenerative Impact Program, created in partnership with farmer-focused nonprofit Mad Agriculture. The program was created via a three-year pilot partnership agreement between the two companies.

Stryve Foods announced a 37% drop in net sales year-over-year to $4.6 million during a Q1 earnings call yesterday, which executives at the air-dried meat snack maker attributed primarily to the company’s portfolio rationalization efforts.

If you’ve been craving the taste of buttery syrup in your morning coffee, wait no longer: IHOP continues to leverage its licensing arm, this time partnering with The Kraft Heinz Company to introduce a pancake-inspired line of packaged coffee hitting stores today.

Beyond Meat was issued a class action lawsuit by institutional shareholders alleging that the plant-based meat company’s executives knowingly misled its investors about the strength of the company’s manufacturing and foodservice partnerships while, in the process, profiting on the inflated share price.

Prime Roots is one step closer to bringing its sliced-to-order koji-based meats to deli cases and restaurants across the country with today’s announcement of a $30 million in new funding to scale the business for national distribution.

A bipartisan bill in Congress will offer SNAP recipients access to frozen produce, Motif FoodWorks is launching a foodservice portfolio of its plant-based meat products and NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ private equity firm RX3 Growth Partners announces a $150M fund II.