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

Just nine months after raising $8 million in funding, plant-based meat brand Daring Foods announced last week that it had closed a subsequent $40 million in funding. The round was led by D1 Capital Partners with existing investors Maveron and Palm Tree Crew, along with musician Drake, also taking part.

Speakers include some of the industry’s most in-demand experts and companies, including McGinn E-Comm Consulting, Unioncrate, JPG Resources, C.A. Fortune and Cartograph.

Vermont Smoke & Cure CEO Tara Murphy has announced she will depart the meat snack maker to lead Vermont-based sustainable food storage brand Bee’s Wraps, effective June 1. Murphy’s successor has yet to be named.

In this week’s Checkout, Terviva raises $54 million and announces a partnership with Danone; Bodega Latina acquires Smart & Final; and the National Grocers Association rebrands.

In this episode of Market Share, host Carol Ortenberg, the editor of NOSH, speaks with Rachel Drori, founder and CEO of frozen meal provider Daily Harvest on taking direct-to-consumer brands out to the public.

The push to regulate plant-based food and beverage brands’ use of terms associated with animal-based products is continuing this month with a new bill in Texas. The Texas House of Representatives last week passed a bill that would ban the use of meat terms such as “beef,” “chicken,” and “pork” by plant-based meat companies on their food labels and advertisements in the state.

Ringing in the company’s first day trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market, Oatly CEO Toni Petersson said the decision to go public was “the right thing to do.”

As pandemic restrictions begin to lift and consumers slowly return to “new normal” habits, the U.S. CBD market is expected to see a strong recovery throughout 2021 while laying the groundwork for the market to return to its “explosive and volatile growth” by 2022, according to a recent report by Chicago-based intelligence firm Brightfield Group.

Acai food and beverage brand Sambazon announced yesterday it had secured a $45 million investment from NextWorld LLC through its growth equity fund NextWorld Evergreen LP. The company will use the new funding to grow its omnichannel presence, expanding across retail and ecommerce while also growing its cafe business.

The journey towards federal regulation for the legal use of CBD in food and beverage products took another step forward today with the introduction of the Hemp Access and Consumer Safety Act in the U.S. Congress.

This summer’s Speed Dating events will be even more frequent, as well as more focused. Our upcoming events will be 60 minutes instead of two hours to free up calendars and allow participation in multiple events. Each event is also now focused on a particular fundraising stage and/or category of products to lead to more qualified conversations.

Low-sugar chocolate brand Lily’s is on track to join The Hershey Company. The candy and snack giant today announced its intention to close the deal for VMG-backed, Boulder-based Lily’s.

Nearly a year after being formally separated from Dean Foods, plant-based food and beverage company Good Karma is beginning a new chapter. The Colorado-based company announced today a brand refresh accompanied by the launch of a new line of refrigerated plant-based milks and a direct-to-consumer ecommerce platform.

Despite challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the plant-based food industry continued to gain momentum in 2020 with increased sales, a strong interest in investment and manufacturing advancements. The Good Food Institute’s (GFI) 2020 Plant-Based State of the Industry report highlighted some of these major achievements in the space last year, while also offering plant-based companies actionable insights for the future. Although the category is buzzy and crowded, there’s still opportunity for companies to innovate and bring new consumers into the category, according to GFI research analyst Kyle Gaan.