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

How has the adoption of a mostly centralized buying model changed the ability of young brands to grow in Whole Foods Market? During times of change, how is leadership supporting and guiding innovative brands? Dan Epley, the Vice President for Whole Foods Market’s Grocery Team, will join the NOSH Live Winter 2019 speaker lineup to lay out the retailer’s current approach to supporting emerging food brands and helping them grow within the adapted system.

Jeffrey Hollender, co-founder of pioneering natural products brand Seventh Generation, spoke about the company’s ambitious mission and how the company found its footing after years of stagnation. He also discussed the ways in which he supports socially responsible companies and why he urges entrepreneurs to address systemic environmental problems.

Christina Tosi, founder of the whimsical New York City-based bakery Milk Bar, attributes visiting the grocery store as a child as what “ignited her imagination” and encouraged her to pursue a career in food. So she’s going back. The award-winning pastry chef and Master Chef judge will try to inspire the next generation of chefs when she launches a line of brands based on Milk Bar into retail stores next year, helped by an investment from Sonoma Brands and the firm’s CEO and founder Jon Sebastiani.

Plant-based food and beverage brand Forager Project announced this week that it has received a minority investment from Danone Manifesto Ventures. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Kroger simplifies labeling, plant-based brand Lightlife grows distribution and more in this week’s Checkout.

After investing close to $100 million over the past few years, the Reum brothers aren’t going to have to look for partners on an investment-by-investment bases anymore. Their investment firm, M13, has raised $175 million for a second fund, this time with capital committed from a pool of limited partners.

The founders of clean-label seafood company Safe Catch are betting on transparency, both in packaging and ingredient origin. The company has launched a new brand, Safe Harvest, offering a slate of soups made with clean ingredients and packed in reusable glass jars.

Greg D’Alessandro is the founder and CEO of D’Avocado, a company focused on offering good-for-you foods. The brand’s versatile and nutrient dense chocolate avocado snack can be used as a puddling, spread, dip or frozen dessert.

Michigan-based wholesale distributor National Food Group (NFG) first brought better-for-you foods to school cafeterias in 1990. But kids and parents wanted its convenient, healthy snacks outside the cafeteria; thus the company launched ZeeZees, a CPG brand that sold online in 2017 and entered brick and mortar retail last year, where it plans to double its presence this year.

Melissa Hartwig Urban, co-founder/CEO of Whole30, explained why she describes the lifestyle program as an “experiment” and why she is staunchly opposed to the idea of moderation.

At the 2019 NACS show in Atlanta, Larry Levin, EVP of market and shopper intelligence at research firm IRI, outlined convenience store trends from the past year and how better-for-you brands can further fuel consumers’ on-the-go snacking needs.

Over the past year, the food and beverage space has witnessed a “green rush” of CBD startups entering the market in a race to capitalize on the trend. With no shortage of competition, Seattle-based Docklight Brands is also hoping to get on board the cannabis wave with 13 brands of its own.

This year’s NACS trade show featured a wide range of innovation in fruit, vegetable and protein-powered snacks — including new single-serve sizes ripe for c-store placement. In this gallery, we highlight a handful of new products from the show that forecast a future of wellness-minded on-the-go snacking.

Chris Kirby, founder/president of Ithaca Craft Hummus, spoke about how he identified white space in the hummus category and what he learned during four years of operating his own production facility. He also urged entrepreneurs to be thoughtful about their retail relationships and deliberate about expenses, and discussed why he hires people that are highly self-sufficient.