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

At the 2017 Sweets and Snacks Expo this week in Chicago, Illinois legume-based snacking brand HIPPEAS booth was pulsing with excitement – both due to the brand’s popularity in retail, but also thanks to the announcement that Strand Equity Partners and Academy Award-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio have joined as investors.

NOSH LIVE || Banza pasta co-founder Brian Rudolph will speak at NOSH Live on June 12 at the Metropolitan West in New York, NY. Rudolph started Banza at the young age of 23 with his brother, Scott, crafting a product in sync with several popular trends in the industry: high-protein, plant-based, and gluten-free.

At this year’s Sweets and Snacks Expo in Chicago, Illinois, Nathan Rigby, One Click Retail’s Vice President of E-Commerce, led a presentation about Amazon’s purchasing power. Data shows that one of the largest growth opportunities for the online retailer is in the candy and snack space.

NOSH Live will take place on June 12 at the Metropolitan West in Manhattan and will address growth investments for companies in fast-growth mode that are sure to offer strong returns. With deal breakdowns and plans for growth, the agenda for NOSH Live is a lively list of speakers and panels designed to give attendees strong strategic advantages as they attack their specific categories.

The image of the bonneted girl in red has adorned the Voortman Cookies logo since the company, now Voortman’s Bakery, started making it’s cookies and wafers over 60 years ago. Though a lot has changed since then, including new ownership, a new look, new recipes and a renewed focus on natural, the Dutch girl has remained

This month, The Food Corridor, an online database for food and beverage businesses to connect with commercial assets, and the Network for Incubator and Commissary Kitchens surveyed 38 kitchens, representing over 1,000 businesses. About 66 percent of those participants said their business areas do not have a standardized definition for shared-use kitchens

This month chocolate brand Taza Chocolate launched its first snacking product, Dark Bark, in Whole Foods Markets nationwide. The brand will highlight the bark at this week’s Sweets and Snacks Expo.

Last week, plant-based snack brand Peeled Snacks announced the close of a round of fundraising led by Seurat Capital. Investment bank Whipstitch Capital served as an advisor to Peeled for the deal.

From shelf-stable hummus to specialty toffee, these NOSH brands are not only innovating, but also getting their products in more consumers’ mouths. Here are some of the industry’s newest distribution additions.

The issue was discovered when a consumer submitted a complaint to the USDA. Osso Co-Founder and CFO Toran Hilmer told NOSH that the complaint was submitted as an “anonymous tip.”

It hasn’t always been an easy road for Hampton Creek. The Just Mayo maker made headlines for all the wrong reasons after a run-in with the FDA regarding the product’s marketing, a buyback investigation by the SEC and, most recently, reported funding struggles and layoffs. There have also been lawsuits and investigative reports to deal with, as well as personal criticisms of the company’s CEO, Josh Tetrick. Nevertheless, Tetrick told NOSH this week that the most recent changes at Hampton Creek do not signify turmoil for the San Francisco-based startup, but rather “a new chapter.”

The New Hampshire-based company’s owner, Danone, announced earlier this year its plans to sell Stonyfield, which saw 2016 sales of $370 million. The brand is proving to be a hot commodity for big food companies outside of the U.S.. This week’s headlines indicate that least two bids — one by Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial, another by Mexico’s Grupo Lala– have been placed for the organic yogurt maker.

Early-stage investor group CircleUp found that some of the industry’s biggest CPGs spend up to six times more on marketing and advertising of old products than they do on innovation of new products. This old-school way of business is now costing large companies market share.

Jeremy Isenberg, President of Chex Finer Foods, will speak at Project NOSH Live on June 12 at the Metropolitan West in New York, NY. Chex, founded in 1965, is one of the country’s few remaining large-scale independent, regional direct store delivery (DSD) providers and is instrumental in building and developing the market for specialty and natural brands including Skinny Pop, Justin’s Nut Butters, and Tate’s Cookies, to name a few.