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

The spice and seasonings category has traditionally been a slow moving, over-saturated set, but according to NielsenIQ, sales grew 5.8% over the past year and are still heating up. Within that flaming hot rise, Dan O’s today unveiled a new line of blends.

Functionality has touched nearly every corner of the food and beverage industry, and candy is no exception. One of the newest players in the space is Tandy, the functional candy brand created by Eric Ryan, the co-founder of supplement maker Olly and first aid essentials brand Welly Health.

After its $795 million purchase of Simple Mills in January, Flowers Foods, Inc. reported a net sales dip in its Q1 2025 earnings report today as poor price/mix and negative volume sales offset the gains from the acquisition. Net sales were down 1.4% to $1.5 billion – of which $24.3 million came from Simple Mills – and net income fell 27.4% in the quarter to $53 million.

Bone broth brand Kettle & Fire opened its first manufacturing facility this week on the heels of recent financing. The opening of KettleWorks in Lancaster, Pa., enables the Austin, Texas-based company to unlock significant operational efficiencies and maintain its high standards for quality and transparency.

Continuing with our Sweets & Snacks Expo 2025 coverage, here’s a look at some of the hottest new treats that we spotted on the show floor this week, including Ferrara’s first foray into the freeze-dried candy space, Stuffed Puffs and Warheads’ takes on gummy clusters and Spritzal’s new shortbread flavor.

Plant-based smoothie and meal maker Daily Harvest has been acquired by Greek yogurt giant Chobani. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

As Ibraheem Basir, founder and CEO of A Dozen Cousins, began to strategize his business’ next stage of growth, there was one major capability on his mind, and the route to secure it was poised to provide much more support than someone simply cutting a check.

CPG industry leaders, including KeVita co-founder Bill Moses and Presence Marketing founder Bill Weiland, called for the food and beverage industry to embrace a healthier American diet at a roundtable conference hosted today by The MAHA Institute.

A congressional hearing on Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s department budget became a flashpoint for protestors, including 74-year-old Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen, who was arrested after interrupting the proceedings to denounce the war in Gaza.

On the show floor at Sweets & Snacks Expo 2025, discussions ranged from injecting new life into classic snack categories to addressing looming tariffs.

Whipnotic is rolling into Target this month, as the mass retailer expands its whipped topping set beyond private label. The startup – founded by sisters Lori Gitomer and Tracy Luckow – is slated to join store brand Favorite Day on shelves at 250 locations initially with plans to triple that footprint by year-end.

On this episode, the CPG Week podcast team digs into the declines of two prominent plant-based brands before discussing the acquisitions of Mary’s Gone Crackers and Kate Farms. Next, the hosts highlight the latest celebrity to launch a coffee brand. (Maybe a hot sauce would have been more appropriate?).

Today, the plant-based dairy creamery is rolling out its latest innovation – an Unsweetened, plain Greek-style yogurt – as proof it is possible to balance high levels of plant-derived protein while maintaining a product’s palatability.

It started with a simple bag of grain. Later that grain was processed into chips. But the fun really ramped up when Yolélé turned fonio into a limited-edition beer.