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

In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, it seems many Americans are strapping on their aprons and marching to the oven with a goal of learning to bake. But why have sourdough breads, brownies and chocolate chip cookies captivated the nation? And is the “made from scratch” ethos similarly powering the baking mix brands that allow kitchen dwellers to cut out a few steps?

While production issues currently plague the meat industry, plant-based meat companies are growing. In their respective quarterly earnings calls this week, executives from meat company Tyson and plant-based brand Beyond Meat discussed powering through a pandemic — and trying to develop future strategies despite looming uncertainty.

The tenth round of Elevator Talk Livestream includes leaders from DiNoci, LiveKuna, lil’gourmets, IWON Organics, Craize Corn, Superseedz, Alta Goods and more. This week’s special co-host is Megan Bent, the founder and managing partner of Harbinger Ventures, who will offer feedback for each brand.

Nature’s Fynd thinks the plant-based market is ripe for disruption — and that the answer lies inside a volcano. Previously known as Sustainable Bioproducts, the company recently rebranded as Nature’s Fynd to turn its fermented protein — found in Yellowstone National Park’s ancient ‘supervolcano’ — into everyday plant-based food and drink products.

This week’s edition of Office Hours explores COVID-19 pandemic-related disruptions to the review and reset process for categories and products, and the steps brands can consider when reaching out to retail buyers.

From Milk Bar cookies to Yasso and Coconut Bliss frozen desserts to chocolate from Goodio and Kosterina, April’s new product releases offered consumers plenty of sweet treats. View the gallery for April’s notable releases, including new bars from Premier Protein and Quest and plant-based condiments from Greenjoy and Follow Your Heart.

Maybe the old saying is wrong: You can go home again. Today Sonoma Brands, the holding company and investment group for snack brands started by Jon Sebastiani, announced the acquisition of KRAVE — the artisanal jerky and meat snack brand Sebastiani built and subsequently sold to The Hershey Company in 2015.

Investors are banking on a plant-based ingredient that behaves like egg whites — with potential use across a broad range of food and beverage categories. B2B food tech startup Plantible announced this week the close of a $4.6M seed round.

In a webinar hosted by the Hirshberg Institute on Wednesday, three leaders in the natural grocery space discussed how distributors and retailers are responding to the fast-changing environment and what brands can do to stay on top of the crisis.

BevNET and NOSH’s interactive streaming video series, Office Hours, is returning on Tuesday, May 5 at 3 p.m. ET. This edition will focus on the COVID-19 pandemic-related disruptions to the review and reset process for categories and products, and the steps brands can consider when reaching out to retail buyers.

Benjamin Bartley is the founder of Chum Fruit Snacks, a company with a mission to make good food that’s good for the planet. The brand’s bites are made from slow baked fruit, delivering an all-natural and clean ingredient snack for kids.

We spoke with Bubble founder & CEO Jessica Young about how she drew upon her experience as a chef and product developer to launch the health-focused online marketplace, how Bubble is enhancing visibility and sales for small brands via the platform and how she assessed opportunities and challenges for the company and thoughtfully communicated each to investors.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, many high-profile sustainability initiatives have taken a back seat to single-use packaging, with many grocery stores banning reusable bags and Starbucks no longer accepting refillable mugs. Despite this, Loop is going all in on reusable packaging, launching its waste-free CPG delivery platform nationwide through retailers Walgreens and Kroger with heavyweight brand partners including PepsiCo, Nestlé and Unilever.

Kellogg’s and The Kraft Heinz Company today both reported spikes in sales during the first quarter from consumers pantry loading during the second half of March. After retail shopping slowed in April, the companies each revealed predictions — coupled with great uncertainty — for upcoming consumer behavior during an economic recession.