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

The pandemic changed how consumers used e-commerce to get products delivered to their doors but the exponential growth of digital shopping platforms has subsided leaving CPG food and beverage companies to reevaluate how they strategize growth and reach consumers online.

Despite a rising consumer interest (+40%) in meat, dairy and seafood alternatives, a new report released by the Food Industry Association (FMI) last week – titled The Power of Plant-based Food and Beverage – revealed that shoppers are still confused about what products are considered plant-based.

This week’s roundup of notable new products saw a protein brand collaborating with animal-free whey protein producer Perfect Day, a snack company rolling out Thai chili edamame snacking beans and a frozen produce brand offering the “Honeycrisp of strawberries.”

In this week’s Checkout: Giant Foods brings with circular waste platform Loop to D.C.-area stores; Stone’s Throw Foods announces its acquisition of Swapples; Morningstar Farms factory workers file to unionize; Shinsegae Foods invests $6 million into U.S. subsidiary Better Foods; and Ginkgo Bioworks and Bayer expand AgBio partnership.

Within the specialty coffee space, Vietnamese coffee is typically dismissed as cheaper and low quality, according to Sahra Nguyen, founder and CEO of Nguyen Coffee Supply. Which is why since launching her dry coffee brand in 2018, she has focused on exposing the coffee industry to the potential of Vietnam-sourced robusta beans.

The Hershey Company announced double digit sales growth in its second quarter earnings report Thursday morning, leading the confectioner to raise its guidance for earnings per share and sales for the second half of the year. A growing salty snacks business played a key role in revenue growth.

During an earnings report this week, Mondelez CEO Dirk Van de Put detailed the company’s plans to drive growth for Clif Bar, which the company agreed to acquire last month in a $2.9 billion deal.

Vegan Rob’s Launches Token, Announces Metaverse Ambitions Plant-based snack brand Vegan Rob’s is looking to battle world hunger with a new cryptocurrency, Vegan Rob’s Token (VRT), announced this month. Developed in partnership with Nick Dazed, founder of the Tigerqueen cryptocurrency, VRT will launch later this month on the UniSwap exchange and will be tradeable on… Read more »

Functional food and beverage brand Mindright is moving further into the snack set with the launch of a new line of adaptogen-enhanced puffed chips.

Global food giant Kraft Heinz reported a 10% increase in organic net sales this quarter, despite retail volumes decreasing approximately 4%. During a call with investors this morning, CEO Miguel Patrico attributed the performance to three core pillars – GROW brands, Foodservice and Emerging Markets – “hitting on all cylinders.”

Dr. Praeger’s Sensible Foods announced today that long-time CPG executive Andy Reichgut has been appointed as the company’s new CEO, filling the position from founder Larry Praeger who has held the role since the company’s inception in 2013. Praeger will move into a Special Advisor role and will remain an active board member.

The protein-packed legume has roots that date back thousands of years and served as a key protein source for indigenous populations spanning from ancient Egypt to the Andes Mountains. So why is the CPG world now giving this ancient legume a second look?

Snack brand Biena Foods is looking to go after calorie conscious shoppers, launching a new line called Tasty Thins.

Plant-based cheese maker formerly known as Conscious Cultures announced today it has dropped its former moniker in favor of the more “playful” name Bandit, in an attempt to better highlight its scrappy origin, said founder and CEO Bo Babaki.