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

In this video, recorded last week at Natural Products Expo West 2022 in Anaheim, California, Kuli Kuli founder and CEO Lisa Curtis discussed how the company has tackled a range of formats while also educating consumers on the benefits of Moringa.

Given rising interest in the confection category amid large exits from brands like Lily’s and Smart Sweets, it’s perhaps no surprise that several brands exhibiting at Expo West debuted new form factors and sales strategies as they attempt to stand out in the competitive set.

In this week’s Checkout: Doordash launches its new Local Goods Accelerator program, Plantish raises $12.5 million in seed funding, Sweets & Snacks Expo announces new locations and MeliBio closes $5.7 million funding round.

Specialty food and home goods producer Stonewall Kitchen has once again traded owners, with private equity firm TA Associate announcing on Monday it has taken a majority stake in the company “alongside the company’s management team.” Concurrently, former investor Audax announced that it had exited the business.

Alt-protein player Impossible Foods announced today that former Chobani president and COO Peter McGuinness has joined the company as its new CEO, succeeding founder Pat Brown.

Behind the excitement and energy of returning to Expo West in-person, a storm has been brewing in the red-hot plant-based meat category: after its first day exhibiting at the show, Motif Foodsworks, a spinoff of Massachusetts-based Gingko Bioworks, was served with a lawsuit claiming that the technology it had just showcased at Expo violated a patent held by one of the nascent category’s leaders, Impossible Foods.

Nutrition company EVO Hemp has partnered with 40 Acre Cooperative, a farming co-op supporting the needs of black and other socially disadvantaged farmers, to bring its network of hemp growers into the EVO brand.

In this video shot at Natural Product Expo West 2022, HumanCo chief operating officer Will Lisman spoke to NOSH about the company’s process of developing and nurturing these brands, lessons the team has learned along the way, and how the company is setting brands up for the future while respecting their pasts.

Allegations of sexual harassment at recently-concluded Natural Products Expo West are rocking social media and causing the show’s administrators to take stock of the behavior of guests on the floor and at ancillary events.

After three days spent exploring the cavernous halls of the Anaheim Convention Center and meeting with hundreds of exhibitors at Natural Products Expo West 2022, Taste Radio hosts Ray Latif and John Craven have compiled a list of their picks for the best new product introductions from the annual event.

Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is returning to the company on an interim basis, following the resignation of chief executive Kevin Johnson, effective April 4. Schultz, will also rejoin the company’s board of directors as it searches for a permanent replacement, according to media reports this morning.

Dairy brand Chobani has seen several executives depart over the last week, including president and COO Peter McGuinness, amid reports the company is delaying its planned IPO.

Snacks were not in short supply at this year’s Expo West. Among the crackers, crisps and chips were plenty of newer formats, like cooked snackable veggies, with exhibitors displaying a clear focus on short, clean ingredient labels. Here are a few of the notable new products we saw on the show floor.

Oatly took a broadsheet broadside yesterday, with the Wall Street Journal reporting on the ways that problems around the company’s attempts to scale over the past two years are affecting the faith of the markets. The story came as the stock price for the oat milk pioneer continued their steep descent Monday, bottoming at less… Read more »