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

Angie’s Boomchickapop co-founder Angie Bastian on how function, femininity & fun helped build a $250M brand. Tom First, the co-founder of Nantucket Nectars and an operating partner at private equity firm Castanea Partners discusses business habits that have supported his career as an entrepreneur and investor.

Snack brand Hippeas today announced a changing of the guard. Founder Livio Bisterzo will move to the role of chairman while Joe Serventi, current U.S. general manager, will assume the role of global CEO.

Dairy vs. almond milk. Rice vs. cauliflower. Beef vs. “clean” and plant-based meat. The past year has been filled with fighting between traditional food industries and the makers of their budding alternatives — and the past week was no different.

Health Warrior wants to go beyond bars. The plant-based food brand announced today that it is launching new lines of protein powders and microwavable muffin cups in a quest to become a superfood-based platform brand.

From an accelerator supporting a startup that fits its new priorities, to brands differentiating their product portfolios beyond their legacy offerings, here are some of this week’s top stories that you should know.

Halo Top, Quest, Kodiak Cakes. These are the CPG role models former Wild Oats category manager and Quest product developer Chris Chiarella looked to when creating Ideal Oats, a line of high-protein, low sugar oatmeal cups.

Like the heat of its gourmet sauces, Corine’s Cuisine is looking to build gradually, according to the company’s COO, Ray Parish. Tune into this week’s Elevator Talk to learn more about why Parish thinks building slowly was vital to the success of the company, and when the brand thinks it will eventually look to investors to scale.

PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay division, which makes Cheetos, accused World Peas Brand’s Peatos of trademark infringement. PepsiCo alleges that Peatos’ name and paw-print logo are “confusingly similar” to Cheetos and that Peato’s slogan, “tigers live longer than cheetahs,” unfairly denigrates the Cheetos brand.

Shake Shack COO Zach Koff explains how the restaurant chain’s surprisingly simple business philosophy led to stunning success; Zak Normandin, CEO, Dirty Lemon takes us on a deep dive inside its innovative detox-to-your-doorstep business model.

From the distribution boom of a tater tot alternative company, to the strategic launch of a clean protein maker with a natural retailer, here is the latest distribution news.

Just five months after announcing their U.S. debut in Whole Foods Markets, low-sugar candy company SmartSweets is ramping up its mission to kick sugar out of the confection set, launching two new innovations today. The new products will be complimented with an increase in distribution.

From CBD to imperfect produce, this week brands are looking for new ways to appeal to shoppers, embrace the latest trends and streamline their operations. And, for those that achieve these goals, the results can be lucrative.

While the bar category may be a crowded set, Tosi Health thinks there’s room for one more leader at the front of the pack. And now, armed with new capital, the company has more gas in the tank to make this goal a reality.

Tune into this week’s Elevator Talk! Camille Paz y Mino, the founder of Highland Farm Foods, a line of quinoa-based snacks and cereals, talks about reaching millennial shoppers, what the brand’s distribution plans look like and what she’s learned as the company has grown.