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

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.

At the Cannabis Forum, Presented by BevNET and NOSH, industry trailblazers will bring entrepreneurs into the new industry they are creating and explain the intersection of cannabis with food and beverage brands.

This year’s annual National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) trade show featured a variety of protein plays — from zero-sugar jerky to new bean and lentil snacks. In this gallery, we feature some of the newest protein plays spotted on the show floor.

In this video from the 2019 NACS show in Atlanta last week, NOSH Senior Reporter Beth Kaiserman talked with Jaxie Alt, CMO of Stryve Biltong, about educating consumers, innovations in the jerky space and how Stryve’s colorful rebranding can capture protein-hungry consumers.

Eat Nice Foods co-founder Paul Cantagallo aims to take animals out of the food system by creating plant-based replacements for traditional pastas and meals. The mission-driven company has launched with two flavors of vegan ravioli with future plans to enter new categories.

Leading food and beverage fund VMG is moving from investor to operator with the launch of a new corporate entity that will acquire, run, and create snack brands. Velocity Snack Brands (VSB) kicks off today with the acquisition of salty snack brand Popchips; the company will be led by Amit Pandhi, the former CEO of frozen treat brand Arctic Zero.