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

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.

A new study in the scientific journal Nature Medicine is drawing links between popular sweetener erythritol and blood clotting, stroke, heart attack and death.

Next week, the natural CPG world will converge in Anaheim, California for the biggest annual trade show of the year, Natural Products Expo West. With over 2,000 food and beverage exhibitors and 60,000 attendees expected over the course of the four-day event, there’s a lot to take in, whether you’re there on the ground or following online. But regardless of if you’re a retailer, investor, brand or supplier, the only real ticket you’ll need to get the most out of this year’s show is a BevNET/NOSH Insider membership.

After bringing in $31 million in financing over the past year, Chinese food brand Xiao Chi Jie (XCJ) is preparing for its retail debut, beginning with a new name: MiLa.

Beyond Meat executives expressed renewed confidence that the company’s “decisive actions” to prioritize positive cash flow above growth is beginning to work even as the company announced net revenues of $79.9 million, a decrease of -20.6% from Q4 2021.

In this week’s roundup: JBS fights BBB National Ad Division over net zero claims; Flower Foods completes acquisition of co-manufacturer Papa Pita; USDA appeals to WIC for updated guidelines and Red Lobster looks to CPG to salvage sales.