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

Plant-based food company Wicked Kitchen has raised $20 million to help it “further ramp up global brand awareness initiatives” and expand retail distribution into other channels, such as foodservice, the company announced in a press release today.

After six years of discussion and controversy, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is one step closer to finalizing a definition for the word “healthy” for use on food and beverage packaging.

Elevator Talk is coming to NOSH Live! Our Elevator Talk pitch series provides the opportunity to pitch your brand at NOSH Live, taking place at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel in Santa Monica, CA on December 1 + 2.

Refrigerated dessert brand Noops has ceased operations after roughly two and a half years in business, the company’s founder and CEO Gregory Struck has accepted a new role with Siddhi Capital, Noops’ largest investor.

Impossible Foods founder and chief visionary officer Pat Brown is leaving the c-suite to lead the company’s new research arm, tentatively dubbed Impossible Labs. This will be Brown’s second title change this year.

Max Pouvreau, the founder of premium pudding brand Petit Pot, explained why he has always emphasized frugality and cautious spending, how the hire of an experienced operations executive and planning strategy helped the company scale production and achieve profitability and how being ahead of the curve on permissible indulgence has benefited the brand’s development.

New York-based Italian restaurant Rubirosa is exploring new revenue streams, announcing the company will make its first foray into CPG with the launch of a line of pantry staples.

Unilever CEO Alan Jope will retire at the end of 2023. Jope has worked for the global CPG giant for 35 years, beginning as a trainee, and worked his way up to hold a range of senior leadership positions before being named CEO in 2019.

Just two days after Beyond Meat suspended its COO Doug Ramsey, the alt-meat company is losing another operations executive. The company said that chief supply chain officer Bernie Adcock announced on September 20 that he would be stepping down, effective September 30.

This week’s roundup of notable new products brings vertically-farmed salad kits, veggie-coated chicken nuggets and a new look for one of Ben & Jerry’s popular flavors.

Nunbelievable cookies are making a four-state push into Schnucks grocery stores, FILLO’S launches its award-winning Walking Tamales products into retail, OZO plant-based bacon is being offered in breakfast sandwiches in Gregory’s Coffee and Veggie Grill locations.

In this roundup: Grocers embrace new technology to streamline online and in-store shopping; Mondelez opens application process for CoLab Class 2023 program; New clean label emulsifier launches amid sunflower lecithin shortages; and Guacamole pioneer Don Bowden dies at age 90.

Next week, natural and organic product companies and manufacturers will convene at the Philadelphia Convention Center in Philadelphia, PA for Natural Products Expo East 2022. 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 East 2022 Booth Guide featuring the company names and booth numbers of our Insiders.

Jupiter, a “creator-first” recipe and grocery shopping platform launching this week, believes it can serve as the catalyst for social media food influencers to turn their content into shoppable recipes for at-home cooks nationwide.