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

Natural food leaders converged today in Santa Monica during day one of NOSH Live Winter 2021 to discuss the state of the industry after an evolutionary year of changing trends and consumer shopping habits.

Six startup food brands crossing category lines from spiced sweets to standout savory snacks have advanced to the final round of NOSH Pitch Slam 11 following this morning’s semifinal round in the competition, presented by 301INC, the venture capital arm of General Mills.

Each year, NOSH’s annual Best Of awards honors companies, brands, individuals, products, ideas and trends from across the dynamic and ever-changing natural food landscape.

In this distribution roundup, KOS launches at CVS and Walmart; three flavors of Eclipse Foods’ ice cream hit Whole Foods; Kate’s Real Food debuts its energy bars at H-E-B; and LikeMeat’s newest plant-based chicken innovation rolls out at Sprouts.

Food companies debuted a range of new better-for-you products in both the sweet and savory snacking categories this month, including the arrival of some newcomers such as Days Off and BodyBar. Additionally, the international aisle saw plenty of innovation with new Indian spice blend packs from moji masala and a Yuzu-flavored Japanese barbecue sauce from Bachan’s.

We have a cure for your FOMO. For those of you who can’t make it to NOSH Live Winter 2021 this week in Santa Monica, we will be livestreaming the main stage presentations and Livestream Studio interviews this Thursday, Dec. 2nd and Friday, Dec. 3. The Livestream will be presented by Mondelēz International SnackFutures.

Plant-based bacon maker Hooray Foods announced today it has closed a $2.7 million seed extension round, bringing the company’s total capital raised to over $4 billion. The round was led by new and existing investors including David Hoffmann, the former CEO of Dunkin’, Lyra Growth Partners, Evolution VC Partners, Gaingels and Sand Hill Angels.

After enjoying a 40% year-over-year sales increase this year, natural snack maker Bobo’s is looking to meet rising demand for its oat-based bars, bites and toaster pastries with a new facility in Loveland, Colorado that is set to triple its production capacity.

Award-winning television host, chef and writer Andrew Zimmern joined us for an expansive conversation about his new TV series “Family Dinner,” why he has an affinity for certain CPG brands, his belief that believes elitism is hampering solutions to issues of food accessibility and affordability and his position that GMOs – applied within reason – continue to play an important role in the food system.

Experts from wholesale distribution company KeHe believe flavors such as hibiscus and yuzu, new food technologies and brands that also serve social causes to be the most important themes among food and beverage categories, driving innovation in the new year.

The J.M. Smucker Co. announced the results of its Q2 2021 earnings this week, highlighting a 1% increase ($16.0 million) in overall net sales and strong, positive momentum behind its food, coffee and pet product brands led the company to raise its full-year guidance for 2022.

Frozen plant-based meal delivery company Mosaic Foods yesterday announced it has raised $6 million in a seed round to support a planned retail launch as well as the growth of its direct-to-consumer business.

It’s time to reveal the players in the 11th installment of NOSH’s Pitch Slam, the leading business pitch competition for the food industry. Presented by 301INC, the venture capital arm of General Mills, the competition features 11 of the hottest startups in packaged food, all creating innovative products spanning a wide range of categories including confection, prepared meals, international, snacking and functional foods.

As a kickoff to NOSH Live Winter 2021, we welcome food startups attending NOSH Live to enjoy a quick dive into many of the most important tactical considerations that face CPG entrepreneurs with the release of the NOSH Live Winter 2021 Boot Camp Education Series.