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

Brenden Schaefer is the Founder & CEO of Bright Foods, a line of refrigerated bars made with whole organic fruits and vegetables, adaptogens, probiotics and prebiotics. The brand’s clean label, vegan and gluten-free HPP products launched less than a year ago in Whole Foods.

Clayton Christopher, the founder of Sweet Leaf Tea and Deep Eddy Vodka, told BevNET that he’d left an active role within the CAVU organization earlier this year, although he is continuing to work as a board member and advisor to the brands in his portfolio from CAVU’s first two investment pools.

Organic food producer Tessemae’s is ready to move on to the next stage — a warmer one. Today the brand announced it will begin selling shelf-stable products with the launch of Tessemae’s Pantry, a new line of salad dressings. The company is also reformulating its condiments line to be shelf-stable.

Conagra, America’s fourth-largest food company, revealed upcoming product innovations, homing in on healthy and sustainable solutions for snacking and mealtime.

The NOSH Live Summer 2019 audience will learn how to break through the digital clutter and resonate with consumers that are increasingly turning to e-commerce. Guided by Arthur Sevilla, Pinterest’s Head of CPG Strategy, conference attendees will explore how they can go beyond a simple transaction and create authentic experiences that engage inspired buyers.

Los Angeles-based private equity firm Butterfly signed a definitive agreement today to acquire Bolthouse Farms from Campbell Soup Company for $510 million in cash — roughly $1 billion less than what the soup conglomerate paid when it acquired the 104-year-old food and beverage brand in 2012.

Protein snack producer Lenny and Larry’s has upped the cash reimbursement available to consumers in a settlement offer in order to conclude litigation around the product’s protein claims. The changes came after the U.S. Department of Justice’ Consumer Protection Branch urged a federal judge in Illinois to reject the company’s previous offer as too low.

In this episode, Chris Hollod, a venture capitalist focused on early-stage consumer brands, discussed his investment philosophy and why digital strategy is at the top of his list when evaluating brands. He also explained why he believes that his job requires him to not only to follow and facilitate innovation, but to predict it.

Kettle Cuisine, a New England-based producer of refrigerated and frozen, natural soups, sauces and entrees, announced this week its acquisition of Harry’s Fresh Foods, an Oregon-based custom food manufacturing company.

KIND Snacks is calling out the snack industry’s — and a choice rival’s — sweet tooth by taking aim at products’ sugar content with its new Sweeteners Uncovered initiative. The goal, the brand claims, is to provide more transparency to the types and amounts of sweeteners and sugar sources used in popular snacks, such as Clif Bar, its recent Twitter sparring partner.

Latin-inspired food manufacturer Teasdale Latin Foods, which says it had about $20 million in retail sales last year, is trying to rethink its offerings for the next generation of shoppers and bring more differentiation to a typically commodity-priced category.

Jeanne David is the Founder and CEO of Outer Aisle Gourmet, a plant-forward company that has developed pizza crust and sandwich thins with just 3 key ingredients: cauliflower, eggs and parmesan cheese. The brand aims to transform the American diet with its low carb, low glycemic and gluten-free products.

Magic Spoon cereal co-founders Gabi Lewis and Greg Sewitz hope to do for cereal what Halo Top did for ice cream: revamp an “outdated” indulgence product type with engaging branding and a strong macronutrient profile. Magic Spoon will initially be sold online for roughly $10 a box, with a four-box minimum order.

Sisson is the founder of Primal Kitchen, a Paleo-centric brand of condiments that Kraft Heinz acquired in 2018 for $200 million. Although Primal Kitchen was on the market for just three years when it was acquired, the brand, which was born out of Sisson’s popular blog, was decades in the making.