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

To kick off the new year, many brands looked to stand out on shelf with new flavors of customer favorites or revisions to their packing. Check out the gallery for this month’s new line extensions and packaging refreshes, including new flavors from Sweet Nothings and Ithaca Hummus, a new look for Honey Mama’s and KIND’s second annual Equality Bar.

For the next edition of Category Close-Up, Product Showcase, we’re taking a deep dive into the trends and news — as well as the innovative brands and products — that are currently shaping the fast paced chips category.

In this week’s Checkout: Partnership for a Healthier America launches “Veggies Early & Often” packaging icon; Zero Grocery expands to Los Angeles; Mondelēz and McCormick report Q4 earnings; and Quevos scores a “Shark Tank” deal with Daniel Lubetzky.

Biltong brand Stryve Foods announced plans to go public on the NASDAQ through a business combination with Andina Acquisition Corp III, a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). The new company is valued at $170 million, and will be listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol SNAX. Stryve’s goal, the company said, is to become a snacking platform that can exist across categories.

Consumers are always looking for the next great salty snack, which makes chips a fast-turning category that requires significant investment in innovation and marketing. But because the turns are there, emerging brands find themselves competing with deep-pocketed category captains who have established strangleholds on shelf real estate.

When it comes to new products, keto snack brand HighKey follows a simple philosophy: “more is more.” Since its launch in 2018, the brand has wasted no time on its mission to drive sugar out of the American diet, building out a robust portfolio of products online that spans from cookies to candy to baking and breakfast items. Since the digitally native company has expanded to retail, it now uses ecommerce as a testing ground for new launches.

Originally scheduled for late June, the Summer 2021 Fancy Food Show, renamed as the Fancy Food Show, will now be held September 27-29 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City. The show will be the sole SFA in-person event for this year, after the Winter 2021 Fancy Food Show was previously cancelled.

Legume-based snacking brand Hippeas is shaking things up with a new financial backer, the exit of early investors, and the departure of its CEO. The company announced today that it had raised $50 million from investment firm The Craftory, a move that will make the group the largest shareholder in Hippeas.

Swedish ice cream maker Nick’s believes that the easiest way to get consumers to make a dietary change is to require little to no sacrifice. To help implement that goal, and with an ambitious plan for 2021, the better-for-you food company announced last week the appointment of dairy industry veteran Carlos Altschul as CEO, a move that comes just weeks after the brand closed $30 million in funding.

In this week’s Checkout, cell-based seafood maker BlueNalu raises $60 million; Jensen Meat adds a plant-based division; U.S. Soy launches Sustainably Grown U.S. Soy Mark pilot program; Explore Cuisine owner Ethical Brands acquires Edamama; and SPINS secures new investment.

Things are getting official: as upcycled food brands grow in popularity and consumers continue to scrutinize the environmental impact of what they consume, the Upcycled Food Association (UFA) is taking a major step in helping to shape the way consumers view this emerging movement.

Over the last few years, consumers have continued to gain a better understanding of complex environmental issues connected to our current food system, and have begun to ask more from the food brands that fill their grocery carts. Now, upcycled baking brand Renewal Mill is prepared to meet that demand head on.

Americans are closer to seeing what a federally regulated hemp industry looks like today, after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its finalized regulations.

Here’s the problem for Mondelēz International: it’s obsessed with snacking, but consumers are changing what they eat when they snack. Here’s the solution, according to Glen Walter, who is the company’s North American president — buy a company that’s firmly grounded in those changing tastes.