Distribution

When Outfox Hospitality abruptly shuttered its doors earlier this week, it left a lot of CPG brands caught in the fray, including many emerging brands and new product concepts. Many of them feel as if the industry has lost a major stepping stone account.

As a supplier for all Foxtrot locations since the launch of the innovative convenience store concept, this week’s announcement of the chain’s abrupt closure was no small thing for Pod Foods.

The CPG Week team dives into the fallout from the sudden closure of Outfox Hospitality which operates the Foxtrot and Dom’s Kitchen & Market grocery chains and tries to unpack what this means for the retail environment for CPG brands.

Wilde Protein Chips announced today it had secured over $20 million in a round that will go towards supporting the brand’s growth trajectory with existing distribution partners.

What began as a pandemic-era home kitchen experiment has transformed into a full-blown business with 3,000 retail placements across all 50 states, all in just two years’ time. Last week, Refresh Gum doubled its SKU count with three new plant-based, sugar-free gums in Peppermint, Bubble Gum and Peach flavors.

Voyage Foods has signed on as an exclusive B2B partner for Cargill with its nut-free spreads and cocoa-free chocolate, staking out a future for the food technology startup as an ingredient supplier.

Big Picture Foods has always had a vision that goes beyond its flagship line of fermented, organic and regeneratively-grown olives, peppers and capers. Now, three years after the company’s launch, that picture is starting to come into view.

Mellody is readying to substantially scale up its plant-based honey business through a new retail distribution partnership with KeHE, starting with Town & Country Markets in the Pacific Northwest region.

Laird Superfood has moved towards a more positive future after shifting to an asset-light production model, reducing capital burn on marketing, and prioritizing its direct-to-consumer and ecommerce distribution channels.

David Chang’s Momofuku brand is targeting food brands like Homiah and MìLà with cease-and-desist letters claiming trademark infringement over “chili crunch” products.