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

Mikuna Foods is looking to introduce Americans to Ecuadorian plant-protein ingredient chocho, announcing today the closing of a $5.6 million seed funding round backed by a “mission-aligned collective of private individuals.” The California-based company plans to use the capital to scale operations, expand its supply network and drive brand awareness.

In this People Moves: Laird Superfood names new COO and SVP of Sales; Nutiva and Coconut Secret Brings on New CEO; Petit Pot Promotes Eric Lallart to CEO and Lonna Borden joins Monogram Capital Partners.

Frozen sweets brand Yasso is going deeper in the novelty set with the launch of new Greek yogurt filled mochi, the second product to be released under the company’s new “incubator” model introduced last year.

Female PoC-owned sparkling water brand Droplet activated a crowdfunding campaign this month on NuAMP, a new platform dedicated to connecting PoC founders with various forms of capital. Created in collaboration with community fundraising platform NuMarket and AMP, a tech company connecting PoC founders with funding resources, the NuAMP program debuted with seven active crowdfunding campaigns to support diverse founders across the country

Brad Kintzer, Chief Chocolate Maker at TCHO, discussed the company’s emphasis on sustainable and ethical sourcing as a key metric of quality, how it defines “better” when evaluating progress, how he’s been inspired by winemaking and why, despite TCHO’s cachet, the brand recently introduced massive changes in its formulation and branding.

The co-founders of plant-based food brand The Very Good Food Company were dismissed from the company last week as its board of directors seeks to reverse stock price declines.

The International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems released a new report last week challenging the “silver bullet” sustainability solutions often touted by leading alternative-protein companies. The comprehensive 104-page report, titled “The Politics of Protein,” aims to contextualize eight of the “most contested” and “potentially misleading” sustainability problem and solution-related claims, into the broad realm of the global food system.

This week’s new food launches saw brands creating better-for-you iterations of classic sweet treats. Check out this gallery for this week’s notable new items, including GoodPop Chocolate Vanilla Sandwiches, Enlightened Greek Yogurt Cheesecakes and SweetLeaf Salted Caramel Stevia Syrup.

In this week’s Checkout: market research firms IRI and NPD merge, Rao’s Homemade activates its first popup marketplace in NYC, All Y’all’s Foods supports a Texas Ranch turned vegan sanctuary and Kroger Dallas launches Restaurant Supply program.

For the SuperCharge: Living the Brand virtual event on April 21st, BevNET and NOSH will bring entrepreneurs an interview and live Q&A session with Seth Goldman, the co-founder of Honest Tea who has recently started another brand, Eat the Change, as well as observations and inspiration from new entrepreneurs Zach and Delisa Harper of Funky Mello and Parker Olson of Forij.

Conagra reported a 6% increase in organic net sales during Q3 fiscal year 2022, largely driven by consistent consumer demand for its frozen and snack products. However, the company said it experienced “higher-than-anticipated” market inflation throughout the quarter, which it expects will continue to impact pricing across its frozen, refrigerated and snack businesses.

Liquid Death Sells Out Murder Head Death Club NFT Line Last month, canned water brand Liquid Death entered the NFT realm with the launch of Murder Head Death Club, a line of 6,666 unique NFTs which will grant holders access to exclusive perks. Posting on LinkedIn, Liquid Death co-founder and CEO Mike Cessario said the… Read more »

After receiving a $10 million injection of venture capital earlier this month, functional chocolate bar maker Mid-Day Squares is already putting that money to work, bringing on a slate of industry vets to its executive team, breaking ground on a new U.S. production facility and revealing its fourth SKU – Cookie Dough – set to launch this fall.

Plant-based bar brand Zing announced that co-founder and CEO David Ingalls will transition into the newly created role of Chief Innovation Officer while former CMO Grace Erickson will take the helm.