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

Packaging company TemperPack, which focuses on products that need to stay cold while shipping, wants to better match a package’s lifecycle to the product that it’s shipping– and it’s a sustainable mission investors are starting to get behind.

In our conversation, Norton discusses the company’s “inside-out” approach to marketing, how a strong company culture can bring tangible business results, and how a shared sense of responsibility to consumers has strengthened the company’s new relationship with Unilever.

From hiring executives to adding board members, here are some of the biggest moves the food industry has seen over the past month.

Plant-based, health startup Revere launched last week with plans of bringing personalization to athletes’ pre- and post-workout mixtures. The direct-to-consumer drink mix company also announced that it raised $2 million in a seed round led by Lerer Hippeau Ventures prior to the launch.

The story of how Josh Kilmer-Purcell and Dr. Brent Ridge came to become a gourmet food producer duo is something out of a specialty food fairy tale. Their journey began just under 10 years when they purchased a farm and small herd of goats. But with savvy marketing skills, the two have seen consistent growth across their Beekman 1802 line.

The food industry is like photography: entrepreneurs need to look at their world through a focused lens in order to get the best result. Or at least that’s how James Richardson, senior VP of knowledge and innovation at the Hartman Group, sees it. Richardson shared that sentiment and other insights on the power of focus for growing brands during last month’s Summer 2017 NOSH Live event in N.Y.C. Watch his entire presentation here.

Paleo snack brand Wild Zora has seen 20 times growth in its Amazon sales since revamping its retail and marketing strategies last October, according to the company. Cofounder Joshua Tabin told NOSH the online side of business has now become the brand’s “bread and butter.”

Award winning author Michael Ruhlman spoke about his new book, Grocery: The Buying and Selling of Food in America, while at NOSH Live Summer 2017 in N.Y.C. last month. In his on-stage discussion, which explored the changing landscape of retail stores, Ruhlman addressed how the importance of retailers responding to consumer needs creates new dynamics in the retail/consumer relationship.

Speculation that Amazon’s purchase of Whole Foods Market might spark legal backlash came to fruition this week as U.S. Representative David Cicilline (D-RI), the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee’s antitrust panel, called for the subcommittee to hold a hearing on the online retail giant’s latest acquisition.

Investment platform CircleUp has new offerings designed to service specific institutional clients and entrepreneurs who want more privacy around their capital raise. The new offering has gradually rolled out over the past year.

From deepening footprints regionally to increasing store counts with leading grocery retailers on a national scale, here are some of the biggest distribution wins the industry has seen over the past month.

KEEN Growth Capital told NOSH the firm has obtained a “significant” partnership interest in both O’Dang Hummus and The Jersey Tomato Co. The fund, led by managing partners Jonathan Smiga and serial entrepreneur Jerry Bello, is a group that invests in early-stage entrepreneurs. KEEN did not disclose financial terms for either deal.

More than 10 U.S. food companies issued voluntary recalls for products vulnerable to listeria last month — and the contamination is stemming from issues with a supplier, according to the individual recall notices. Bulletproof, GoMacro, Wildway, Trader Joe’s, Fresh Foods, Lantana, Marketside, Nature’s Path, Nature’s Promise, Woodstock, Market Basket, Publix and Wholesome Pantry were all affected.

Toosum Healthy Foods announced last week its acquisition of KUTOA, a non-GMO, vegan nutrition bar company. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Toosum founder Peter Guyer told NOSH that Grassia will remain “very involved” with the business and will have minority ownership. Currently Garcia is focused on helping the two brands come together and continuing to build customer relationships with new and existing retailers.