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

In recent people moves, private equity firm VMG announced this week that Angad Hira has transitioned from his previous role of vice president to that of CFO and snack brand KIND announced that president and COO John Leahy will retire from the company.

The shift from bars to bites and bark in the confectionary space is becoming more frequent, and now another classic candy maker is joining the fray. This month 35-year-old Lake Champlain Chocolates announced it would be launching Snack Bites — a line of chocolate disks available in resealable pouches.

Jafflz founder and CEO Meryl Van Der Merwe is disrupting the frozen handheld category with a new concept, toasted sandwich pouches filled with premium ingredients. The company aims to make this unique cuisine approachable, giving mom’s a healthy and convenient alternative in the freezer aisle.

Walk any aisle at the grocery store and three trends are inescapable: protein, plant-based and snackability. Although these are staple callouts in the natural set, they’ve yet to enjoy broad adoption by specialty food providers — until now. At this year’s Winter Fancy Food Show, NOSH spotted several specialty food providers embracing these product attributes in a quest to tweak their classic specialty lines to better meet today’s consumer needs.

In January meat snack brand Field Trip announced the launch of Everything Bagel seasoned jerky. Now the new flavor will launch nationwide. Consumers also can expect to see new brands in the Whole Foods granola category.

Plant-based superfood mix brand Your Super announced today the close of a $5 million series A round of funding. Led by PowerPlant Ventures, the round also included Doehler Ventures and several angel investors. The company differentiates itself in the crowded supplement category by both focusing on ingredient sourcing and direct-to-consumer sales.

Food and beverage industry lobbying groups filed comments with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today, ahead of this afternoon’s deadline for public response on the use of dairy terminology for plant-based products.

Oregon Ice Cream has been around for a long time, so maybe it was time to make some changes. The company announced this month a rebrand, a new pint line and the consolidation of its entire branded portfolio under its bestselling Alden’s line.

Icelandic-style yogurt brand Smári is branching out with a new line of “Icelandic Protein Coffee” drinks set to launch in March and a lower priced line of yogurt cups. Smári founder and CEO Smári Ásmundsson said the products are designed to tap into a growing consumer interest in international products.

Kiss My Keto co-founder Alexander Bird aims to make living a ketogenic or low-carb lifestyle easy for consumers. The company’s line of supplements, nutrition bars and sugar-free chocolates are designed to offer the proper macronutrient ratio to meet the needs of the keto community.

It’s time for Lily’s Sweets to blossom. So hopes the team of top industry investors and executives backing and working with the no- or low-sugar added line of chocolate. This week the confectionary brand announced the launch of new snacking products as well as a rebrand — both of which follow an investment last year by VMG and the addition of CPG veteran Jane Miller as CEO.

After two years on American shelves, snack brand The Good Crisp Company is planning to increase its stateside presence. The brand of chips, formally known as the ABC North America LLC, announced today that it has closed a round of funding by CircleUp Growth Partners, the fund managed by technology company CircleUp. The company plans to adjust its operating structure to delve further into the American market.

Tofurky CEO Jaime Athos discussed the origins of the plant-based meat brand and how it has evolved over its nearly four decades on the market. Athos also spoke about current challenges in the plant-based meat category/market, executing and learning from a brand revamp, the reason that Tofurky has resisted acquisition offers and why he believes that plant-based ham has to taste great, but doesn’t have to taste exactly like… ham.

Roughly one year after joining Forager Project as the company’s chief marketing officer, Alex Matthews has departed the plant-based food and beverage brand to launch Here Studio, a multi-faceted branding, design and CPG product development house in Los Angeles.