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

Dumpling Daughter builds on its momentum in grocery retail. Pink Sauce enters exclusive partnership with Walmart and Goodles makes entrance into club channel.

In this week’s roundup: Albertsons launches emerging brand competition; Post Holdings sues LA-based rock band OK Go; Whole Foods aims to increase store expansions three-fold; Campbell’s consolidates snack offices and SPAM gets stylish.

As the bar category continues to gain momentum among consumers, many brands are making their first foray into the space. In this roundup, we spotlight news from around the category, including Dave’s Killer Bread rolling out its new organic snack bars nationwide, Bobo’s introducing its protein bars at Winter Fancy Food Show 2023 and Tattooed Chef expanding its portfolio with oat butter bars.

The Winter Fancy Food Show, which took place at the Las Vegas Convention Center from January 15-17, was filled with aisles of new product innovations ranging from plant-based meat to regeneratively-grown tea. The show saw Bitchin’ Sauce expand its portfolio , Norseland launch two Cacio e Pepe Sauce Starters and Grown As* Foods unveils a 1lb jar of vegan cheese powder.

On this week’s show the team discusses the ‘Pie-pline’ of Hubigs from New Orleans, elsewhere, and the changing climate around keto-branded foods. Later, John Johnson, senior counsel at law firm Shook, Hardy and Bacon, to delves into a recent report on the FDA from the Reagan Udall Foundation.

The Winter Fancy Food Show saw a wave of chef-led brands improving pantry staples and commodity products. Elsewhere, honey brands gave updates on bee-friendly initiatives, plant-based dairy and eggs see growing relevance in U.S. market and functional food makers find new spaces on-shelf.

From plant-based sushi to salsa starter pouches to fish jerky crunch snacks, there was something for every consumer type at this week’s Winter Fancy Food Show in Las Vegas. The show also saw Bobo’s making its first foray into the protein bar set, Savannah Bee Company and Runamok jumping on the hot honey trend and Wonder Monday launching a single-serve, better-for-you iteration of a classic dessert.

The Specialty Food Association’s Winter Fancy Food Show returned to the Las Vegas Convention Center with a wave of new product innovations, novel formats in the plant-based alternatives space and growing prominence for outer space aesthetics.

The Washington State Supreme Court has cleared the way for Albertsons to pay out a $4 billion shareholder dividend after it sided with a lower court trial judge in declining the state attorney general’s request to appeal an injunction on Tuesday.

Tara Bosch, the founder of better-for-you candy brand SmartSweets, explained how prioritizing a lean business model in its early development enabled the company to be nimble and outpace its competitors, why its growth strategy is built around “patient urgency” and how the brand’s highly effective social media strategy drives consumers to its retailers.

Global accounting firm Deloitte’s recent 2023 CPG industry outlook reported that profitable growth is the top priority food and beverage brands as they continue to navigate supply chain disruptions and economic uncertainty.

Kerry Group announced last week its intention to sell its sweet ingredients portfolio in order to further focus on functional ingredients and innovation in biotechnology for food.

Gluten-free frozen empanada maker COCINA 54 has been acquired by Los Angeles-based food manufacturer Pensieve Foods, founder and CEO Cecilia Panichelli announced in a LinkedIn post on Wednesday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Digital advertising has become a nightmare for hemp food and beverage brands, regardless of whether or not their products contain CBD.