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

The virtual world is a busy one and so we’re in frantic preparation to rush out our next Supercharge event for April 20. This one-day event will provide a concise but impactful look at the key trends influencing marketing and branding strategies for food and beverage brands.

This month, Evolve, Cytosport’s plant-based protein platform brand, will debut a new brand identity and reformulated products across its range, beginning with its core shake line. With dairy-based Muscle Milk experiencing double-digit sales declines, according to Nielsen data, Evolve is positioned to be Pepsi’s primary growth driver in plant-based protein, a space that includes players like OWYN, Koia, Orgain and Aloha.

Given the plethora of pasta options available, it can be daunting to think about how a brand can add incremental value to the set or best appeal to shoppers. In this month’s Category Closeup: Expert Analysis, we’ll hear from a group of industry leaders about these quandaries and more, exploring the market dynamics facing pasta brands as well as how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted consumer shopping behaviors.

The last year has caused upheaval to many aspects of the food and beverage industry. But one element that doesn’t seem to be impacted is investing, with business analytics firm CB Insights finding that funding to the sector is on the rise.

After selling its Austin, Texas manufacturing facility last November, veggie noodle and rice brand Cece’s Veggie Co. is making another major change. Cece’s founder Mason Arnold announced this month that he has stepped down as CEO of the company, with president Wade Groetsch taking over to lead the company in its next stage of growth as it seeks expanded distribution and new innovation.

Chobani has teamed with PepsiCo to further its ambitions in the refrigerated space through a pilot distribution program that will take the yogurt maker’s products into convenience retailers, colleges and universities across the Northeast starting this month.

In this week’s Checkout, Asian and Hispanic e-grocer Weee! raises $315 million; Meatless Farm opens a new Canadian plant and launches ingredient subsidiary Lovingly Made Ingredients; Once Upon a Farm ages up with a brand refresh; and Fridge No More closes a $15.4 million funding round.

Though Cheetos, Doritos and Gatorade are a big part of PepsiCo’s billion dollar foundation, the global snack and beverage company has shown through various approaches that it believes there’s a need to also focus on nascent categories. The company has spent the last two years retooling The Hive, its latest emerging brands division. Now Hilo, the first brand to emerge from the incubator, is ready to spread its wings, moving into brick and mortar retail and, this week, launching new products.

In this episode of Market Share, host Carol Ortenberg, the editor of NOSH, will speak with Tyler Merrick, CEO and founder of candy company Project 7. The two discuss how the brand has evolved over the years in order to command a more premium price point and better resonate with shoppers.

Earlier this year investors made a $30 million bet that Swedish zero sugar snack and ice cream brand Nick’s can make zero-sugar products that will make American consumers stand up and take notice. Now the company is starting that process, this week announcing it will launch protein bars in the US market.

Pandemic-driven changes in consumer shopping habits had a significant impact on the U.S. CPG industry’s growth in 2020, driving unprecedented sales and establishing a wave of new trends that could continue post-pandemic. In their ninth annual CPG study published this month, data firm IRI and Boston Consulting Group identified the top companies and categories that drove CPG growth in 2020, and forecasted the possible strategies for success beyond the pandemic.

Mindright wants consumers to “get in a good mood via superfoods” and now it’s got an even bigger megaphone to do so. The snack brand, which was co-founded by former Buff Bake CEO and investor Chris Bernard and athlete Rob Dyrdek (via his venture studio Dyrdek Machine), last week announced it had raised $1.8 million from a star studded slate of investors. It’s just one more step in the brand’s quest to help Americans find their happy place.

In this week’s Checkout, Alec’s Ice Cream raises $1 million; Women on Boards Project celebrates its one year anniversary; Target launches new private label brand Favorite Day; plant-based meal kit company Vegano raises $3.4 million ahead of planned U.S. launch; and Partnership for a Healthier America launches “Pass the Love w/ Waffles + Mochi” campaign focused on food equity.

Colorado-based brands Ka-Pop! Snacks and Bubba’s Fine Foods announced a merger agreement this week, forming holding company Awakened Foods which will include the two brands as well as a new co-packing division, Awakened Food Crafters.