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

Facing major disruptions to its traditional business model, New York-based coffee maker Wandering Bear announced yesterday the launch of a new suite of products designed to bring the formerly office-focused brand into the at-home coffee space.

After less than a year on the market, neurosurgeon co-founded brand Cerebelly has made significant strides in its goal to make its brain-boosting functional baby food accessible to kids everywhere. This month, the brand expanded to 1,500 Target locations, bringing its door count to 4,000 stores nationwide.

“New Girl” actor Max Greenfield and serial entrepreneur Mike Constantiner, co-founders of dad-centric consumer products and lifestyle company Dadz, spoke about how they’re attempting to reach a “new generation of dads,” the importance of a strong founding team and why it offers a “shortcut” to a fast start and how the brand is being communicated to the trade and consumer press.

Beloved New York City chain Levain Bakery wants to bring a little glitz to the frozen dessert category, announcing last week it would launch a line of its lauded cookies into grocery stores, the company’s first move into CPG.

Atomo Coffee, maker of “molecular coffee” made not from coffee beans but from upcycled ingredients, announced last week the close of a $9 million seed funding round. S2G Ventures, whose portfolio includes Beyond Meat and Ripple, along with AgFunder and Bessemer Venture Partners participated in the round.

Brands big and small benefit from maintaining good relationships with investment bankers, who often help them navigate important decisions when it comes to fundraising and valuation. On Thursday, September 3rd, brand leaders will have the opportunity to participate in 1-on-1 virtual meetings with investment bankers that have expertise facilitating dealmaking in the food and beverage industry.

In this week’s Checkout, Impossible Foods raises $200 million, Once Upon a Farm launches a shoe collaboration with Tom’s, and Kroger will add a third-party marketplace to its e-commerce site this fall.

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) announced yesterday that it had collected a $575,000 fine from stevia producer Pure Circle USA for importing sweetener that was made by prison labor in China. The action against the company comes after an investigation that began in 2016, when CBP received an “allegation” from a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) as to the origins of some of the company’s stevia.

On the next episode of Office Hours we’ll discuss valuation trends in the natural products industry and the overall changes in fundraising and operational strategy that can help guide brands as the capital cycle changes. This look at valuations and at the overall investment market for rising food and beverage brands will be part of a special three-part content and networking series.

A proposed rule by USDA, ‘Strengthening Organic Enforcement,’ aims to curb organic fraud via more oversight of the organic marketplace, including production, handling and sales. If implemented, it would be the largest update to organic oversight in 20 years.

In this video NadaMoo CEO Daniel Nicholson traces back the evolution of the brand and discusses how the interest (and investment) in both the frozen dessert set and plant-based products has impacted the company. He also shares how the company has managed to find success over the past 15 years.

Remember 2019? It was a year in which food and beverages brands were already growing — before the pandemic sent consumers into new modes of pantry loading and cooking from home. In this gallery, we highlighted the top 20 highest-ranking food and beverage companies from the annual Inc5000 list, which was published today and ranks the country’s fastest-growing privately-held companies.

This episode of Elevator Talk features leaders from Read the Ingredients, W*nder, La Di Da, M Kombucha and Down to Cook Foods. This week’s special co-host is Daina Trout, the co-founder and CEO of Health-Ade Kombucha.

An innovative, novel ingredient — such as a fermented protein found inside volcanic rock — can be difficult to explain. As a result, ingredient suppliers often find themselves creating or evolving into CPG brands to showcase their unique ingredients before outside brands are willing to commit. It’s a move that can help drive ingredient sales, but also requires new capital, skills, labor and time to execute.