Investment

In this episode of CPG Week, Nosh managing editor Monica Watrous and senior reporter Brad Avery dig into an acquisition, an acquisition attempt and an acquisition target, as well as an artificial intelligence mishap.

Plant-based poultry producer Daring Foods has been acquired by Australian alt-protein company v2food, with backing by Ajinomoto Co, Inc. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Jeff Gendelman, CEO of Daring Foods, told Nosh the partnership will leverage the scale and frozen food expertise of Ajinomoto and the proprietary protein technology of v2food, bringing the brand into new protein formats and meal occasions across retail and foodservice channels.

Frozen food brand Jesse & Ben’s House Cut has secured a “seven-figure” seed round investment to support its expanded retail footprint in the natural channel.

The CPG Week podcast covers lawsuits against Chobani and Uncle Nearest Whiskey as well as Beyond’s name-change.

Amylu Foods has secured an investment from TowerBrook Capital Partners and Prelude Growth Partners that will support continued retail expansion.

The clock is ticking on a potential acquisition by Danone of kefir category leader Lifeway, as the French dairy giant is pressuring company leadership to again discuss a deal that has already been attempted twice in the past year.

Prelude Growth Partners closed its third fund with $600 million in total commitments, bringing its total assets under management to $1.3 billion.

Schuman Cheese and GOOD PLANeT Foods have entered into a joint venture, GPV Foods, to scale their respective plant-based cheese businesses.

Another B&G Foods brand has left the stable. The New Jersey-based conglomerate announced the sale of the Le Sueur brand of premium canned sweet peas, green beans and carrots to McCall Farms, Inc. as part of its ongoing portfolio restructuring.

Doughlicious has raised a $5 million round to begin manufacturing its Frozen Cookie Dough and Gelato Bites in the U.S.