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

The meltdown of beleaguered bagel slinger BetterBrand provided an opportunity for Hero Labs to replace its reduced-carb rival on shelves nationwide at Whole Foods Market this past spring.

In this week’s notable new products roundup, Tillamook Country Smoker expands its partnership with Mike’s Hot Honey, Fishwife adds new tinned seafood options, and Catalina Crunch joins the protein craze.

Filipino food brand Fila Manila is working to scale its growing ecommerce business via a slate of A.I. applications across all areas of the business after receiving a $25,000 grant from tech company Lenovo’s Evolve Small program.

Rising sales outside the U.S. helped offset more dips in domestic demand for PepsiCo’s snacks and beverages during Q2, the company reported on Thursday. Organic revenue in the PepsiCo Foods North America (PFNA) division fell 2% in the quarter, with volume sliding 1%; the company’s PepsiCo Beverages North America (PBNA) segment saw organic revenue rise… Read more »

H2Ok Innovations has closed a $12.42 million Series A funding round led by Greycroft with participation from 2048 Ventures and Construct Capital.

On the CPG Week podcast, Nosh managing editor Monica Watrous and senior reporter Brad Avery discuss an unusual new product launch and continued consolidation among packaged food conglomerates. Then, Brad provides his top takeaways from the Hemp Beverage Expo.

Regenerative food company GoodSAM has brought on James Ren, former head of Food Merchandising at Thrive Market, as VP of revenue and growth.

The latest episode of Elevator Talk features leaders from Joon, Scobucha, Hey!Hunger, Jozo and Fable Fish Co. Watch founders and CEOs introduce their brands and provide a recap of recent news and updates. Our special co-host is Tom Spier, the founder and managing partner of venture capital firm BFG Partners, who shared his thoughts, questions and feedback with the participants.

Awake Chocolate has raised CAD $8 million (approximately $5.84 million USD) in funding, including CAD $5 million from Btomorrow Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of British American Tobacco, and CAD $3 million from BDC Capital. The investment brings the brand’s total funding to CAD $15.5 million since its inception in 2012.

In marketing news, Quinn Snacks unveils a new look, Mike’s Hot Honey drizzles into a national ad campaign, and Old El Paso introduces its new taco night icon.

UNFI’s systems have nearly returned to normal operating levels, but the company believes last month’s cybersecurity breach will result in a loss between $65M to $75M.

Can A.I. help reduce food waste? Ingredient tech company 2nd Nature sure thinks so. The business launched yesterday a new proprietary A.I. platform called AgWaste Portal, which seeks to find new ways of converting food waste into upcycled ingredients.

Hummus maker Little Sesame has closed a $8.5 million Series A funding round led by InvestEco Capital with participation from Watchfire Ventures, Santatera Capital, Beliade Consumer Partners, and other prominent individual industry investors.

The online grocery sphere appears to have strong momentum as the market’s growth significantly outpaced that of in-store shopping at a time when key demographics are shifting away from supermarkets.