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

Less than 12 hours remain to take advantage of early registration prices for NOSH Live Summer 2019. This two-day conference that champions the cause of food entrepreneurs is returning to the Metropolitan West in New York City this June 10th and 11th, and it will be our largest summer event yet. Hundreds of passionate business leaders from food brands, retailers, investment firms, suppliers, and service providers will come together ready to learn, innovate and grow their business.

Safe and Fair set out to make quality snacking easy, tasty and affordable for consumers with allergies. Now the food company is expanding its purview to make mealtime and parties better too.

Aaron Gailmor is the founder and CEO of Brass Roots, a puff snack brand from New Orleans. The mission-based company has developed high protein salty snacks for young parents that can feel good about sharing it with their kids.

Tyson Ventures, the investment arm of meat producer Tyson Foods, is no longer an investor in Beyond Meat. Tyson told NOSH that it remains committed to offering alternative proteins and plans to launch its own products into the category.

Jaime Athos, Tofurky’s CEO, joins NOSH Live Summer 2019 to reflect on the company’s path, and how risk caused it to reevaluate and reframe its identity and reason for being to support its contemporary values, becoming a vocal leader for the plant-based community.

Meat snack producer Stryve doesn’t just want to be the country’s leading biltong brand; it wants to be the manufacturer of choice for the growing category. The company last week announced the close of a $16.5 million round of funding to not only grow its own brand but to grow its manufacturing facilities as well.

Former Anheuser-Busch InBev chief marketing officer Miguel Patricio has been tapped to lead The Kraft Heinz Company as its next CEO. Patricio, who will supplant outgoing Kraft Heinz CEO Bernardo Hees on July 1, 2019, spent about two decades with A-B InBev.

In the rapidly evolving industry of better-for-you food, companies must always be ready to embrace change or risk being left behind. And regardless of company size, those shifts can cause growing pains or result in turmoil if not handled with care. At NOSH Live Summer 2019 Jane Miller, the CEO of Lily’s Sweets, will equip attendees with ways to manage that change, whether that’s dealing with downsizing or rapid growth.

The company initially announced its IPO in November 2018; over the past month it has submitted updated filings that provide more insight into the company’s sales and progress to date, as well as its plans for the future.

Despite its long association with diet food, two legacy dairy brands think cottage cheese is ready for a comeback. To modernize the snack, they’re looking to non-traditional, savory flavors.

In the land of the cannabis entrepreneur, the size of the approach varies wildly, with play ranging from small providers to industrial operations. Michael Hayford, the CEO of Lighthouse Strategies — the company behind Cannabiniers — will be joining the Cannabis Forum, Presented by BevNET and NOSH, to speak about an operation of audacious size.

Plant-based protein, dairy’s efforts to regain relevance, and the continued ascent of CBD and hemp were a few of the major trends to emerge from Natural Products Expo West 2019, according to a show recap presented yesterday by market research group SPINS.

Just over a month after taking a stake in Uplift Foods, Mondelēz announced today its second investment in Hu Master Holdings, the parent company of both CPG brand Hu Products and fast-casual restaurant concept Hu Kitchen. Hu Chairman and Co-Founder Jason Karp told NOSH the investment will allow the emerging brand to scale and increase accessibility of its products.

Back to the Roots this week announced the launch of its Organic Hemp Starter Grow Kit. The kit allows consumers to grow five hemp plants that can be used to produce hemp oil, hemp tea or hemp hearts.