Coronavirus

In COVID-19 news this week, the FDA ensured the food supply is safe and loosened label restrictions for eggs moving from foodservice to retail, while states and retailers set shopping restrictions to encourage social distancing.

As healthcare workers become today’s heroes, food and beverage brands across the country are banding together to give back and donate to New York City metro hospitals under a new initiative, FoundersGive. Founded by entrepreneur Cole Riley, the group has collected over a half million products from roughly 230 brands.

On Monday, we’re presenting a special panel for entrepreneurial food and beverage companies on the stresses and solutions affecting the relationship between brands and their co-packers during the ongoing COVID-19 Crisis.

Typically, food and beverage represents only around 3.2% of total U.S. online sales. But through a combination of factors, the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, has accelerated the shift to web-based shopping.

Over the past two weeks, a series of emergency acts have increased the availability of loans to small business owners during the coronavirus crisis. But some growing food and beverage companies are concerned that they will be left out of a new set of loans designed to lessen the impact of the coronavirus crisis because they are backed by investment funds.

In a conversation with BevNET managing editor Martin Caballero, veteran natural CPG consultant Bob Burke, principal at Natural Products Consulting LLC, offered his insights and perspectives on how brands can manage their teams, relationships and finances to both survive this trying period and to thrive at its conclusion.

As COVID-19 rapidly transforms consumer behavior, data firms are closely monitoring patterns — and looking to past economic debacles to help predict an uncertain journey ahead.

In a webinar hosted by Rabobank yesterday, analysts at the multinational banking and financial services company offered an overview of the macro impacts of COVID-19 on the food and beverage industry.

As many foodservice operations cease or dramatically reduce their footprint, food products originally produced and packaged for restaurants, hotels, schools and other establishments are being rerouted to retailers and wholesalers. The FDA and USDA are aiming to expedite the labeling process for these products with new guidance published this week.

The increased demand for products through online sellers like Amazon means that brands need to shift tactics — something that’s hard to do during a crisis; Betsy McGinn sat for a video interview with Jeff Klineman, BevNET’s editor-in-chief, to provide important advice on how brands should approach their Amazon and broader e-comm strategies as consumer behavior takes a disruptive turn to online food and beverage purchasing.