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

The natural food industry isn’t slowing down and startups continue to take flight. To showcase emerging brands, the NOSH Live Pitch Slam presented by 301 Inc. returns for its sixth edition. The startup competition offers a platform for newcomers to demonstrate their potential in front of natural food industry decision makers and influencers. The competition is held during NOSH Live Summer 2019 in New York City on June 10th and 11th.

In an interview recorded at Natural Products Expo West, BevNET and NOSH Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Klineman sat down with Stonyfield founder Gary Hirshberg to discuss the company’s history, what the future for the brand looks like under new owner Lactalis and how the category has changed.

Scott Hattis is the co-founder of Loisa, a company that’s bringing traditional Latin foods and flavors to a new generation of eaters. The brand highlights its use of real ingredients as a differentiator and aims to provide better-for-you convenient options for mainstream millennials and modern Latino families.

Since launching in 1996 beauty brand Pacifica has grown from a niche player to a mass market darling. But along the way, some things have remained constant — namely founder and CEO Brook Harvey-Taylor’s understanding of her core consumer and innate ability to remain culturally relevant despite a category that thrives on what’s “new.” Now the brand is is taking a leading role in the emerging sub-category of “edible beauty.”

Kicking off the Cannabis Forum Summer 2019 speaker lineup is one of the leading THC-infused food brands, Kiva Confections. Kristi Knoblich Palmer, the company’s co-founder and COO, and a pioneer of the industry, will take the stage on June 14 in New York City.

Plant-based frozen foods brand Alpha Foods announced today the close of a $7 million round of capital. Co-founder and CFO/COO Cole Orobetz and co-founder and CEO Loren Wallis told NOSH that, for now, they have chosen to raise smaller rounds more frequently rather than a single large round.

After a weekend that saw a social media post about its demise go viral, food and beverage crowdfunding platform PieShell announced that it is shutting down. Founder and CEO Cheryl Clements told NOSH that she plans to close the company at the end of March unless a “Hail Mary” investor appears.

At NOSH Live Summer 2019, we’ll explore Walmart’s plans to incorporate more entrepreneurial, innovative brands into its retail footprint and assist their growth in a multichannel retail environment.

This month brands in the snack, seafood, ice cream and meal solution sets all added new retailers to their distribution networks.

This episode features interviews with two entrepreneurs that are advancing the conversation around cannabis-infused food and beverage brands: Jonathan Eppers, founder and CEO of Vybes, and Kristi Knoblick Palmer, co-founder and COO of Kiva Confections.

Jessica Hilbert is the co-founder and head of sales and marketing at Red Duck Foods. The women-founded and operated company develops better-for-you condiments and sauces using certified organic ingredients.

Talk about a bar brawl. What constitutes a “healthy” product has long been contested in the snack industry, but a recent back-and-forth on the issue between KIND Snacks and Clif Bar has expanded the debate.

During the company’s annual investor meeting, Starbucks Coffee today announced the launch of Valor Siren Ventures L.P. (VSV), a new $100 million fund to support “the next generation of food and retail start-up companies.”

With only seconds to capture consumers’ eyes on shelf, a product’s packaging is vitally important. At this year’s Natural Products Expo West brands rolled out new packaging, logos and branding that emphasized product attributes such as better ingredients, taste and heritage.