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

From “kitchen to exit,” this week’s episode features interviews with two founders who have personified the entrepreneurial dream: Clayton Christopher, the co-founder of Sweet Leaf Tea, Deep Eddy Vodka and private equity firm CAVU, and John McDonald, the founder of iconic craft beer company Boulevard Brewing.

Samantha Brands announced last week that it has launched its first product, fruit-based snack line Wildmade, as a sister brand to fruit and veggie snack line Veggie-Go’s.

This week the natural products industry saw new owners, new looks and new products from some of the hottest brands on shelves.

The Vermont-based company launched with the mission of making Greek yogurt approachable to consumers that don’t like its traditional taste or texture. Now, the brand is bringing that same mission to a new variety: Skyr.

The new investment, announced on Tuesday, brings total funding for Ample to $4 million.

Today chocolate brand Little Secrets announced that it will launch a line of chocolate wafer cookies — think an all natural Kit Kat — and roll out both of its product lines nationwide in retailer Whole Foods Market in June.

Organic and natural products company Hain Celestial Group saw its stock hit a five-year low yesterday after the company announced it had disappointing U.S. sales this quarter.

The New York-based flavor and fragrance giant announced on Monday its plans to acquire Israeli flavors and natural ingredients firm Frutarom for $7.1 billion — its biggest purchase to date. The deal would boost IFF to a second-place spot in the global natural flavors market, seeing as 75 percent of Frutarom’s sales are in natural.

Foodstirs co-founders Sarah Michelle Gellar, Galit Laibow and Greg Fleishman bake up “an indulgent experience that’s worth it”; why Vice Cream is betting on “a backlash to the backlash”; rising up times with Weller, a brand of hemp-infused coconut bites

Caveman Foods, a producer of paleo-inspired snacks, announced today that former Starbucks Coffee executive Jeff Hansberry has joined the company as president and CEO.

Nestlé S.A. has acquired the global rights to sell packaged retail products from coffee giant Starbucks Corporation for $7.15 billion plus additional royalties.

The confectionary giant announced today that it has agreed to buy crispy cookie maker Tate’s Bake Shop from private equity group The Riverside Company as well as other shareholders for approximately $500 million.

NOSH Live will conclude with a special final course: a wide-ranging discussion with three groundbreaking superstars of the natural food business: Shazi Visram, the founder of Happy Family Brands; Gary Hirshberg, Co-Founder of Stonyfield Farm and Bill Weiland, the CEO of Presence Marketing.

This week, everyone from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to jerky brands and wellness gurus were offering consumers new ways to drop the weight and learn what’s in their food.