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

The plant-based trend continued to thrive at Natural Products Expo East 2019, with brands launching new innovations across all categories. From vegan breakfast burritos to oat milk butter to paleo plant pudding, brands spread into all areas of the store with their latest plant-based offerings.

After striking success with natural pita chip company Stacy’s, sold to PepsiCo in 2006, Stacy Madison is jumping back in the CPG game, launching refrigerated bars into retail under new brand BeBold. At this year’s Natural Products Expo East trade show in Baltimore, Madison told NOSH reporter Beth Kaiserman that despite entering a crowded category, having superior ingredients can mean a bold future in bars.

In this week’s episode, GoodBelly CEO Alan Murray explained the roles that ambition and leverage played into his first CEO job, how observing others helped frame his own leadership style, and why hanging out by the coffee machine is key to understanding company dynamics.

Seven years ago, Taylor Collins and Katie Forrest helped steward a snacking revolution, introducing consumers to better-for-you, more sustainably raised meat snacks through their brand Epic Provisions and in 2016, the company was sold to General Mills. Now the duo, joined by former Epic CFO/COO Robert Sansom, are ready to bring transparency and sustainability to what they say is one of the last frontiers of the grocery store, the meat counter.

Minkara, an entrepreneur, investor, operations expert and portfolio manager, will offer insights at the intersection of investment, direct to consumer brands, the Mark Cuban Companies’ experience in the food business and the overall benefits of exposure and management assistance that they are showing to entrepreneurs.

Casper launches CBD gummies, Impossible Foods hits Gelson’s, NurturMe sold and more in this week’s Checkout.

In this video, BevNET CEO John Craven and NOSH Editor Carol Ortenberg sat down to review notable trends and brands from this year’s Expo East, including developments in plant-based dairy items, the reframing of meal kits as “meal solutions” and advances in sustainable animal protein offerings.

When moringa-based food and beverage brand Kuli Kuli launched onto the market in 2014, its founder and CEO Lisa Curtis claims “virtually no one” had heard of the superfood plant. Today, Kuli Kuli launched in 2,500 Walmart locations, a significant gain in its ongoing efforts to make this lesser known ingredient appeal to the mainstream consumer.

Kaari Foods is bringing cleaner, healthier versions of salad dressings and sauces to market. Amanda Johnston is the co-founder of the start-up brand, which highlights plant-based ingredients without the use of gums, stabilizers or preservatives.

At Natural Products Expo East 2019, brands young and old alike debuted products that will take them into new parts of the store. These moves are aimed at exposing them to new shoppers as well as bringing their existing customer base along for the ride.

Here are a few recent developments in the past week on the U.S. government’s plans to regulate hemp and CBD.

At this year’s Natural Products Expo East trade show in Baltimore, Katie Paul, VP of category management and growth solutions for distributor KeHE, sat down with NOSH editor Carol Ortenberg to discuss how KeHE has evolved its internal team and processes to best meet the changing needs of its retail and supplier partners, and also shared her thoughts on popular trends such as CBD and plant-based eating.

Online grocery service Good Eggs strives to connect conscious consumers to quality, locally sourced produce, mission-driven food brands and healthy meal kits. Through same-day delivery and a curated list of produce and products, the tech platform is pioneering a new way for consumers to feed their families. This December we’ll have the pleasure of hosting Good Eggs CEO Bentley Hall on the NOSH Live Winter 2019 stage.

Influential natural foods entrepreneur and investor Steve Hughes reflected upon his roles as the founder of Boulder Brands and co-founder of investment firm Sunrise Strategic Partners. As part of our conversation, he explained why he believes the funding environment for natural CPG brands is “capitalism at its absolute best,” and what he sees as the most exciting development for the industry.