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

In a test of 200 CBD products the FDA found many contained CBD levels inconsistent with their labels — though not explicitly unsafe. The overall variability points (again) to what brands, researchers and advocacy organizations say is the bigger problem: lack of regulation in the budding industry.

On Tuesday, Oatly closed one of the largest food and beverage financing deals of the year when it announced a $200 million funding round led by Blackstone Growth. Speaking with BevNET, Oatly CEO Toni Petersson said the financing represents a diversification of the company’s ownership structure, bringing in an American firm that will work directly with its European and Asian arms.

In this week’s Checkout, retailers, including grocery chains Kroger and Publix, mandate masks for customers, technology platform Crisp raises $12 million in Series A funding and EWG studies glyphosate levels in chickpea products.

Greg Fleishman, co-founder and CEO of baking mix and snack company Foodstirs, discussed how the brand has adapted to a new consumer environment and why it’s critical to leverage every resource at your disposal during the pandemic.

In episode two of SprintToSuccess, we’ll be giving a glimpse into our sprint strategy process and show you how we applied it to Melissa’s brand and tackle some of her challenges. We cover surveying her competitive category, identifying a target, crafting positioning, and honing brand personality and tone.

Plant-based ice cream is a rising category and HumanCo wants to take a scoop. The holding company announced today that it had acquired the majority of plant-based ice cream company Coconut Bliss.

The FDA has “a new mindset” for managing the food system and on Monday released its New Era of Smarter Food Safety Blueprint. In an update last month, the FDA outlined the initiative, noting it had been tweaked based on the food supply chain’s challenges during the pandemic.

Moving from supplying brands to also helping create them, vegan “dairy” ingredient supplier Perfect Day announced an agreement in which it is investing in new brand The Urgent Company.

The seventeenth round of Elevator Talk Livestream features leaders from ReGrained, ENOF, SOUND, Aura Bora and Fruitbelt. This week’s special co-host is Jennifer Palmer, CEO of Gerber Finance, who will share her thoughts, questions and feedback with the participants.

In a deal that values the company at nearly $2 billion, Swedish oat milk producer Oatly has secured $200 million in new equity funding in a round led by Blackstone Growth.

On this week’s Office Hours, BevNET managing editor Martin Caballero is joined by Alisa Williams, Partner at VMG, and Matt Thomas, founder and CEO of Brew Dr. Kombucha, for a discussion exploring the roles that CPG entrepreneurs and brand leaders can play in supporting a more diverse, equitable and inclusive industry.

To convince consumers to switch to plant-based foods, you have to make the move sacrifice-free, according to Outstanding Foods CEO and founder Bill Glaser. He believes that’s been the key to the success of competitor brands Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, and with an additional $5 million in funding and a new product line, Glaser believes it’s Outstanding Foods’ time to step on the gas and achieve similar goals in the snack aisle.

To prove it can feed the demand for sustainability and transparency, agricultural technology company Indigo Agriculture recently completed a year-long pilot run of its Indigo Marketplace, which funneled 2.2 million bushels of sustainably-grown rice to beer company Anheuser-Busch.

After several attempts at repositioning over its 15 years on the market, snack brand LesserEvil has finally found a brand identity with “legs behind it.” Less than a year after rolling out its latest iteration focused on “snacking as a vessel for mindful moments,” the brand is now entering new categories, launching innovative popcorn flavors and making major distribution gains.