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

The entrepreneurial journey is difficult – and entering an emerging and fast-changing market doesn’t make it easier. At Cannabis Forum next month a panel of industry trailblazers will help those entrepreneurs better navigate the ambiguous space by providing their take on the challenges that face cannabis entrepreneurs.

Meat snack brand Chef’s Cut announced yesterday the launch of a new line of beef biltong — a thinly sliced, cured beef snack from South Africa — which new CEO Bart Adlam hopes will give the brand a versatile and on-trend option for young consumers. The new line will also sport refresh packaging for the brand and comes as the company has added a spate of new executives.

We all talk community, but what does that mean when you’re operating online? How do tribes form, and how do you get to the chieftains? What makes for an authentic connection? John Durant, the founder of Wild Ventures, is one of the most respected strategic thinkers around online communities; he will speak at NOSH Live on how food brands can develop their relationships with influencers and build a loyal following in a genuine, resonant way.

KIND Snacks is freezing out its nutrition bar competitors with its latest innovation. Last week, the brand announced the launch of KIND Frozen Creamy Almond Bars, the brand’s first entry into the frozen category, available exclusively at Wal-Mart.

B&G acquires Clabber Girl, Nuun’s #WeStandByHer initiative, Angie’s Boomchickapop co-founders invest in KYLA Kombucha and more in this week’s Checkout.

Welcome to Sauce in the City – a new column on NOSH exploring the day-to-day business of starting and scaling a new food business.

In the cannabis business, there’s still so much in motion from a legal standpoint that entrepreneurs are constantly subject to regulatory and financial uncertainty. So how do you navigate the river when its path keeps moving? We’ll talk about it at Cannabis Forum next month, with experts who spend their days charting the course.

The American palate has evolved in the last 40 years, and so has the Amin family business — Deep Foods. The company is now catering to a new generation of shoppers by repositioning its Tandoor Chef brand in an effort to tell a larger, authentic story.

Alison Cayne is the founder of Haven’s Kitchen, a company focused on crafting healthy sauces to help home cooks make meals easier and faster. The brand’s offerings are refrigerated, vegan and gluten-free, and differ from shelf-stable products that contain additives and preservatives.

Although many credit Steve’s Ice Cream for kicking off the super-premium ice cream movement back in the 1970s, the brand has struggled to capitalize on its first-mover status in the years since. But now the brand has Dean Foods, who acquired the brand in 2017, behind it as the dairy giant attempts to enter the artisanal ice cream space.

Last month, United Natural Foods, Incorporated (UNFI) announced it will cease to carry topical CBD products, a potential deal killer for companies charged with driving large quantities of the hot button ingredient across state lines.

We’re ready to reveal the official agenda for the Cannabis Forum for Food and Beverage, presented by BevNET and NOSH, on June 14th in New York City. The agenda for next month’s Cannabis Forum features conversation-provoking topics ranging from cannabrand building to regulations to financing and investment.

The battle to see who will be the category leader in plant-based “meat” continues. Less than two weeks after Beyond Meat launched a successful initial public offering (IPO), beef-substitute Impossible Foods announced today the close of a $300M round of funding.

Utz Quality Foods announced a $1.25 million settlement of a class action labeling lawsuit; Whole Foods is moving its Northeast headquarters; Nestle will move its ice cream and frozen pizza businesses from a DSD network to a warehouse model.