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

This week we’re joined by Paddy Spence, the visionary founder of market research firm SPINS and CEO of beverage platform Zevia. Hear about the origins of his remarkable career, how marrying personal insights and passion with quantitative data has been central to the success of Zevia, why brands should focus on continuous improvement and his perspective on work-life balance.

FBOMB has seen exponential growth as of late thanks to a rising interest in keto-friendly products and a majority stake investment made last year by Disruptive Enterprises.

From a food and beverage giant partnering with startups to learn more about innovation, to investors experiencing the highs and lows of working with brands, here is the natural food news you need to know this week.

Brands’ — such as Puffworks  — efforts to prevent peanut allergies have inspired other brands to develop products that offer the early introduction of other allergens.

Colorado Food Works (CFW) aims to foster business development and grow Denver’s foodie reputation outside of Boulder’s shadow. Maybe most impactful, however, is the group’s ability to be a unified voice for the city’s natural food industry amid a time of change for Denver’s entire food economy, led by the city itself.

Terry Thomsen, founder of Feel Good Dough, was inspired to develop a healthy dough alternative for her grandkids. The frozen pre-made organic dough utilizes premium, clean ingredients to create breads, pretzels, rolls, pizza and the like.

With the rise of beef jerky, companies are using consumers’ desires for high protein snacks to introduce shoppers to a different kind of meat snack with a long history in South Africa.

Soon after the close of another round of investment, meat snack brand Chef’s Cut announced today that former Siggi’s CEO Bart Adlam will assume the role of CEO.

Health Warrior co-founder/CEO Shane Emmett explains how a DIY project defines the company and its success, how it has cultivated and enhanced its relationship with Amazon, and why trusting your gut over data can lead to better decisions.

The Sampling Experience + Expo returns to NOSH Live this winter to drive the conversations forward, support emerging brands, and sample innovative products. Brand founders get out from behind the booth to talk about the topics that will move their businesses forward like: the next raise, product roadmap, supply chain and package design while sampling other cutting-edge products and interacting with their founders.

While some industry leaders think this is a fleeting fad, others think it’s here for the long haul and are increasingly formulating with egg whites. They’re even taking it one step further by directly calling out the ingredient on their front labels.

We know you’ve been curious to see who will take the NOSH Live Winter 2018 stage this November 29 and 30 in Santa Monica, CA. We promise an all-star lineup, with brand leaders, industry experts, and gatekeepers galore. The full roster will be available in the coming weeks, but in the meantime, we have a sneak peek, showcasing three badass female founders focused on growing brands in the natural channel.

From a study looking at the importance of talking about sustainability, to an FDA guidance that calls for recall notices to provide more retailer information, here are some of the top news stories you need to know from this week.

In Episode 1 of Taste Radio Insider, a new podcast focused on news, trends and innovation in business of food and beverage, we’re joined by Eugene Kang, the co-founder and CEO of fast-growing meat snack brand Country Archer. In our interview, Kang explained how perseverance and thinking outside-the-box have paid huge dividends for the brand. We also discussed trends and innovation in notable beverage categories, including RTD coffee and alt-dairy, as seen at Natural Products Expo East 2018.