Covid-19

As consumers meet with the stress and chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic and its disruption of daily life, finding ways to relax and unwind has taken on even higher importance. Many brands from both the THC and CBD sides of the ledger quickly found sales growth as consumers rushed to stockpile goods from nearly all CPG sectors, but cannabis suppliers and entrepreneurs are now wondering what their industry will look like once the crisis passes.

As packaged food demand soars, big food brands continue to present evolving visions — growing production capabilities and adjusting marketing efforts, while prioritizing employee health and safety and funding hunger relief. Here are the latest updates on big CPG companies’ initiatives and outlooks for this unprecedented time.

Operations and inventory management are the backbone that supports your food and beverage company during this time. Today, April 6th, BevNET Editor-in-Chief Jeff Klineman leads a co-packing panel on the stresses and solutions affecting brands and their co-packers during the ongoing COVID-19 Crisis.

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.