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

For many food brands, legitimacy comes with access to a national or regional chain, either a Target or Whole Foods, an HEB or a Gelson’s. But could the Italian marketplace Eataly become a similar proving ground? As a high-profile specialty foods location that is growing nationally, it just might.

Drinkable soup brand Tio Gazpacho today announced a new partnership with award-winning chef José Andrés and his company ThinkFoodGroup. Tio Gazpacho will collaborate with Andrés, a culinary innovator often credited with the Spanish tapas boom in the U.S and whose company owns 25 restaurants in the U.S. and Mexico, on new marketing and retail initiatives for the brand.

Tyson is getting roasted after disappointing quarterly financial results coincided with the announcement that its CEO would be departing.

In less than a week, two major brands — Sabra and Clif Bar — and a store brand from retailer HEB have all announced recalls due to manufacturing issues.

Your closet isn’t the only thing going in or out of style with the new year—your pantry could be affected, too.

What do companies selling chickpea, soy, tea and pudding products have in common? They’re all expanding.

In a move into the meal space, family-focused natural foods brand Revolution foods is expanding their retail product line to include new Breakfast Hero and Dinner Hero lines.

When thinking about natural, organic or better for you brands, sometimes it can be hard to avoid getting swept up in a tidal wave of green juice, HPP hummus, and non-dairy cheese. But it’s the brands that are able to cross the divide between “health conscious” and “health aspiring” consumers that are finding some of the greatest traction in the marketplace. Jerry Bello, the CEO and founder of his current gig, Pasta Chips, is a master at crossing that divide, be it through discovery, investment, or a straight-up startup.

Project NOSH LA was filled with success stories from numerous brands. But, simply based on ingredient list, none was sweeter than Foodstirs.

At Project NOSH LA last week, a continuing theme was how brands can engage with millennials. Although this demographic is influencing purchasing decisions across categories, they also are more adept at filtering out marketing. Some companies create a millennial focused brand for monetary reasons. For Tom Bilyeu, the Co-Founder & President of Quest Nutrition, the reason was personal.

For years the convenience store evoked the image of a place to fill up your tank, grab some chips or Slim Jims, and perhaps hazard a trip to the restroom. But times are changing and consumers are looking for healthier options, as well as showing an openness to including these stores as part of their regular shopping rotation. As a result, retailers have had to adjust their mix in order to capture these dollars.

Baby food brand Once Upon a Farm is growing up, with a spate of new retailers, a new product line and an investment round to fuel that growth.

Growth, strategy, marketing and millennials dominated the conversation at this week’s Project NOSH L.A. event, held at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.

At Project NOSH LA this week, Steve Hughes, Sunrise Strategic Partners CEO & co-founder, charts how volume declines and loss of earnings experienced by “Big CPG” firms have left them at a crossroads, as projections predict that upwards of $50 billion could shift away from those firms to smaller companies by 2020.