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

The summer heat may be fading, but retailers are still hot for unique, natural products. The past few months have seen several notable additions by forward thinking retailers including Target, Safeway and Costco.

This week, baking mix and cracker brand Simple Mills launched two organic frostings, made with monk fruit, palm oil and coconut oil. The new line was given a sneak peak at the Summer Fancy Foods Show this past July, but is making its official debut in time for fall.

Project NOSH is excited to announced the first batch of speakers for the upcoming Project NOSH L.A conference on Nov. 2 in Los Angeles. The conference will bring together entrepreneurs, investors, industry leaders and suppliers to discuss how companies can grow within the current production and retail landscape of natural, organic, sustainable, and healthy packaged food brands.

After seeing their initial natural foods venture fund, Boulder Brands Investment Group (BIG) marginalized by its parent conglomerate’s spiral into a takeover, the fund’s three former leaders, Duane Primozich, Carole Buyers, and Bill Weiland, set to work raising a new fund, christened Boulder Investment Group Reprise, or BIGR Ventures.

Natural products retailer Whole Foods Market has reached into the ranks of mainstream consumer, drug, and coffee in adding three key hires to its executive team.

August was a busy time for companies adding key new hires, as Boulder Brands, Free2b Foods, Acosta and General Mills all announced changes to their leadership teams.

Geared toward startup food companies, Boot Camp at Project NOSH LA offers a look at many of the basics of operating and growing a company in the natural or organic food business.

Today 4th & Heart, a producer of grass-fed, spreadable clarified butters, announced the closing of a Series A funding round totaling $1 million. The round was completed through website CircleUp, a crowdfunding platform for consumer brands to raise money from accredited investors.

New Orleans has always been known as one of the top U.S. cities for chefs, restaurants and gastronomical adventures. Now the Big Easy has the potential to be known for the products found on supermarket shelves with the launch of food and beverage incubator Ceres 504.

Just two years after deciding to start a bone broth company, Bru Broth founders Soo-Ah Landa and Mary Butler have entered into an agreement with Coke-backed beverage incubator L.A. Libations to help them expand. As part of the deal, L.A. Libations will purchase equity in the fledgling bone broth company.

Israel’s largest food manufacturer is aiming for success in the U.S. via the dairy case. While 90-year-old dairy company Tnuva has imported its products to the U.S. for years, they have served predominantly as niche brands in kosher retailers. This month, however, Tnuva is launching Muuna, a brand with mainstream aspirations in the suddenly-heating-up cottage cheese market.

With this year’s Natural Products Expo East less than a month away, brands have started to announce what they’ll be featuring on the show floor. While some trends (low fat) have started to fade away, and others (ketogenic foods) are just starting to rise, a few (protein, paleo and comfort foods) are clearly here to stay — at least a bit longer.

Over the past year and a half, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream has struggled with the presence of Listeria monocytogenes in its production facility. Despite taking extensive precautions, a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warning letter released today indicates that eradication efforts have failed.

In 2002 Phil Anson founded what would become EVOL Foods and quickly turned it into a leading multi-category frozen foods brand. In 2013 Anson sold the brand to Boulder Brands, which in turn was acquired by Pinnacle Foods in 2015. Anson remained with Boulder Brands until this summer. Just a few weeks into his “retirement” from the brand, Anson spoke to Project NOSH about his time with the company and what’s next for his career.