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

Confection brand Little Secrets is ready to give consumers their chocolate fix — while also fixing conventional candy offerings. The brand launches today a line of Cookie Bars (a Twix Bar alternative), a new almond butter flavor of its Crispy Wafers (which are similar to Kit Kats) and multipack bags of mini Crispy Wafers.

Following a year plagued by out-of-stock issues and high shipping costs, plant-based food and beverage brand New Barn is scaling back retail distribution for its product portfolio to service only the West Coast as it focuses on integrating an omnichannel strategy in 2020.

In a presentation at NOSH Live Winter 2019 this month, Brigette Wolf, SnackFutures’ head of innovation, and Mel Gaceta, Mondelez’s director of ventures, shared how the CPG giant is addressing the future of snacking.

CPG studio Brandable sees an opportunity to disrupt the food industry via distinctive brands catered to young shoppers. Its most recent launch, Veggiecraft Farms, is the first case of Brandable springing into the plant-based CPG set — taking a fresh route through center-store.

Nadeem Srouji is the founder and CEO of Kips, the maker of dehydrated kale chips seasoned with flavorful spices and ingredients. The company is looking to expand beyond kale chip consumers, reaching the average snacker through farmers’ markets, bars and coffee shops, as well as offering options for vegan, keto and gluten-free eaters.

While other yogurt brands are looking to adjacent categories to see sales growth, Siggi’s still sees plenty of room for innovation within the set. It’s this strategy that is driving the skyr brand to launch three new products nationwide in January: plant-based skyr, kids’ pouches and nut butter enhanced yogurts.

Bryan Crowley, CEO of Soylent, spoke about how his career experience shaped his leadership style and helped frame his vision for the future of the fast-growing “complete food” brand. He also how the brand’s mission and growth strategy have each evolved, why it has embraced GMO ingredients and what the notion of “better for you” means for modern consumers. This episode is presented by Flavorman, the beverage architects.

In this video, recorded at NOSH Live Winter 2019, Whole Foods’ VP of Grocery, Dan Epley, spoke to how the retailer has changed its strategies around category management, pricing, promotions, planograms and merchandising. He also shared how the company is prioritizing working with local vendors, what a path to store shelves looks like for emerging companies, and what brands need to think about in order to be successful in the store.

Two ingredient development and innovation companies are joining forces: International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) and DuPont Nutrition & BioSciences announced yesterday that the two will merge via a $26.2 billion deal.

Establishing hemp and cannabis guidelines is falling into the hands of states and industry groups, recent grocery acquisitions and divestitures, and unwrapping snacking trends in this week’s Checkout.

Megan Bent, founder and managing partner of Harbinger Ventures, spoke about why launching the investment firm was about “rethinking some of the fundamentals in how capital is invested,” why funding decisions are “probably more relational than anything else” and why she encourages “bite-sized actions” to support greater diversity in business.

A federal court yesterday blocked the state of Arkansas from enforcing a meat label censorship law against meat-alternative brand The Tofurky Company. Additionally, the Plant-based Foods Association (PBFA) created a set of labeling guidelines for the industry.

Although many consumers began recognizing sustainability as a personal responsibility, they are increasingly considering the “greater good” and turning to brands to take action, according to research firm The Hartman Group’s 2019 report, “Sustainability: Beyond Business As Usual.”

Elizabeth Stein, founder and CEO of Purely Elizabeth, discussed how the brand’s focus on creating delicious, nutrient-dense foods has paid dividends since its launch in 2009. She also spoke about how the company has strategized around opportunities and challenges within a rapidly growing market for natural foods.