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

In this deal roundup, Hungry Planet closes a $25M funding round; mycelium-based meat alternative maker Atlast raises $40M; Meati secures $18M in debt financing for new production facility; and animal-free shellfish maker Cultured Decadence secures $1.6M.

As part of its strategy to reframe its frozen meal business to appeal to a wider array of shoppers as well as younger consumers, Nestle this week announced two new offerings in its Life Cuisine line featuring Banza chickpea pasta, part of an 11 SKU launch.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, New York City-based office lunch delivery platform Stadium, like many in the food service industry, was forced to abandon its business model practically overnight amid nationwide shutdowns. Faced with a steep revenue drop, co-founder and CEO Shaunak Amin found a silver lining, adapting Stadium’s backend system to launch build-your-own snack box platform SnackMagic, which hit profitability in December and now ships 50,000 boxes monthly.

On Tuesday, April 20, a group of five marketing experts will sit down with the editors of BevNET and NOSH to talk about the way 2020 and 2021 have affected their disciplines and offer invaluable advice on ways that entrepreneurs can evaluate and adapt their marketing approaches. In just two hours of content and conversation, founders should understand tools and techniques that will help them guide their marketing programs into the post-pandemic era.

PepsiCo reported net revenue growth of 6.8% in Q1 of this year, a figure that “reflects the benefits of (its) highly strategic acquisition activity” and “continued investment in our brands, manufacturing capacity, supply chain and go-to-market systems,” the company reported this morning.

A federal judge in Baltimore has denied a motion to dismiss fraud and racketeering counts in a lawsuit filed by dressing and condiment maker Tessemae’s against a group of former advisors and board members. The lawsuit, filed last June, alleges the defendants had attempted to steal the Tessamae’s business.

In this episode of Market Share, host Carol Ortenberg, the editor of NOSH, speaks with Scott Freidmann, CEO and co-founder of beverage and condiment brand Acid League. Having recently closed a multi-million dollar round of capital for the brand, in this discussion Friedmann shares how the company’s emphasis on innovation and design has played a role in its success.

This week online retailer Amazon announced the launch of its newest private label brand, Aplenty, which will focus on offering consumers better-for-you takes on center store categories.

Health food ecommerce retailer BUBBLE Goods announced this week that it has named Savraj Singh, former CTO of Daily Harvest, as chief technology officer, responsible for leading the company’s engineering team and digital platforms; Walmart was ordered to pay $115 million to Texas-based food tech startup Zest Labs after a jury in Arkansas ruled that the retailer was guilty of stealing its shelf-freshness technology.

Today’s episode features an interview with Oded Brenner, the founder of both Max Brenner, an international chain of upscale chocolate-centric cafes, and Blue Stripes, a unique brand of food and beverages made from upcycled cacao fruit. Brenner spoke about his unconventional approach to entrepreneurship and why he believes that “there will always be a place for the niche.”

Plant-based foods are continuing to take a bite out of the U.S. retail food market, with sales up 27% to $7 billion in 2020, nearly double the growth of the total U.S. retail food market, according to a new report from the Plant Based Food Association and the Good Food Institute.

Get ready for June. BevNET and NOSH are cooking up a virtual feast of brand-building content and suspense, including BevNET & NOSH Virtually Live, our signature New Beverage Showdown and NOSH Pitch Slam, and a Boot Camp for new brands that encompasses both Food and Beverage startups.

With the support of entrepreneur Mark Cuban, plant-based burger brand Everything Legendary is “going to be bold” in order to take a bite out of the increasingly crowded meat alternative category, according to CEO and co-founder Duane “Myko” Cheers. This month, the brand is making its retail debut, seeking to grab consumers’ attention with what it believes is a more approachable vegan meat product featuring vibrant packaging and a consumer-friendly ingredient label.

In this week’s Checkout, the FDA introduces “Closer to Zero” action plan for toxic elements in baby food; cultivated animal fat company Mission Barns raises $24 million; Impossible Foods launches its first national ad campaign; and Conagra reports its third quarter results for fiscal 2021.