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

Over the past two weeks, food and other sensitive topics ranging from politics to body image have intersected in national headlines. This week’s Press Clips showcases how history, competition and political agendas are shaping the economic climate for both brands and retailers.

Award-winning author and MomTalk Radio host Maria Bailey knows just how much moms can impact a brand’s success or failure. In honor of Mother’s Day, we asked Bailey the differences between the demographics of moms, why food brands and retailers should pay attention to each group’s purchasing habits, and how industry players can better reach and resonate with them in the future.

The U.S. organic market is valued at $40 billion and even mainstream products like Kraft Macaroni and Cheese to Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing have embraced organic line extensions. But as consumer demand for organic products has increased, the industry has responded in turn with more products, more availability and lower prices.

Longtime bottling and sales executive Chuck Muth announced his retirement from Coke in 2016, but apparently he couldn’t retire from Seth Goldman, his former boss at Honest Tea. The visionary environmental entrepreneur and the execution-focused beverage guy are reuniting, this time around Beyond Meat, the plant-based protein brand where Goldman serves as executive chairman.

The San Francisco-based startup’s apparent turmoil has been splashed across headlines over the past year after both a run-in with the FDA about the product’s marketing and a buyback investigation by the SEC. But this week Hampton Creek is making headlines again amid reported funding struggles and layoffs.

Just as parenting is a capital and labor intensive endeavor, so too is raising a brand — especially one experiencing a growth spurt. Last week prenatal nutrition company Premama announced the official close of a $3.25 million Series B round in March of 2017. In total, the brand has raised $4.65 million over the last 18 months. The Series B round was led River Hollow Partners, while Series A lead investor Cherrystone Angel Group also took part.

After successfully launching both a hot sauce and a gourmet pasta sauce line, award-winning food entrepreneur Dave Hirschkop is launching Dave’s Naturals with a line of no-cook overnight oats.

The BevNET Podcast team sat down with Gigi Lee Chang, the managing director of cause-oriented food business accelerator FoodFutureCo. Chang, who also founded baby food brand Plum Organics. She explained FoodFutureCo’s work in advising and supporting early- and mid-stage food and beverage companies, particularly those that are providing unique products and solutions for the food system.

In this week’s earning calls, Terravia Inc., B&G Foods, Sprouts Farmers Market, The Kellogg Company and Mondelez International talked Q1 sales and how they are employing new strategic initiatives to better work toward their 2017 goals.

Today dairy processor and distributor Dean Foods announced a minority investment in Boulder, Colorado based Good Karma, a producer of flaxseed-based, dairy alternative food and beverage products. Originally a private label manufacturer of dairy-alternative milks, Good Karma developed its own branded CPG line in 2014 and expanded beyond beverages to yogurt in late 2016.

The nutrient-dense meal replacement drinks and powder company has pulled in some Silicon Valley-grade investors, closing out a Series B financing round today with $50 million in funding, led by GV (formerly Google Ventures), bringing the company’s total funding to $74.5 million.

Tyson, Pinnacle, Conagra, Kettle Cuisine, General Mills and Impossible Foods have all seen executive level leadership changes in the past month. Here’s a list of who is in, the experience they bring, and how they are expected to help these companies stay the course of their newly outlined missions.

From the start, KIND Snacks has been an innovator. To learn about how the company iterates that innovation, Project NOSH spoke with Jon Lesser, Senior Director of Marketing, during Natural Products Expo West. Here’s what he had to say.

A California bill addressing the potential dangers of synthetic food dyes on children has passed, but with a major amendment.