New Product

With the “Ozempic Era” in full swing, an increasing number of U.S. consumers are using appetite-suppressing GLP-1 drugs and, overall, eating less, particularly sweets, sugary drinks, carbs, and dairy products. But is this paradigm shift temporary, or does it signal a lasting impact for the packaged food industry? And how are manufacturers and retailers responding to the trend?

Mesquite may be best known for barbecue, but the plant also produces nutritious pods that can stand in for cocoa beans in chocolate recipes. Enter Mez Foods, a Chicago-based startup that is championing the ingredient in a line of premium tablet bars that are made with mesquite bean flour, plus illipe butter, chufa flour, pea and rice protein fermented by shiitake mycelium, sugar, carob powder and oat fiber.

Nosh talked to new snack brand Little Latke about launching a culturally significant food into a recognizable category and how learning is the most important part of the process.

Daily Crunch Sweet & Spicy Sichuan Sprouted Cashews & Edamame is debuting at Whole Foods Market. The snack mix features sprouted cashews and crispy edamame seasoned with Fly By Jing Mala Spice Mix, which has Sichuan chili pepper, coconut sugar, salt, garlic, mushroom powder and spices.

In this week’s new products roundup, Chobani packs more protein into its Greek yogurt cups, Chosen Foods gives its signature avocado oil a squeeze, and Pringles rejoins the dill pickle craze.

The founding duo behind RXBAR is taking aim at the candy category with a new brand curiously called Hormbles Chormbles. Set to launch early next year, the chocolate products are high in protein (using whey protein isolate) and low in calories and sugar, said Jared Smith, co-founder of the Chicago-based startup.

The CPG Week podcast team talks about Peter Rahal’s newest protein bar release, the co-branded Lunchly product from PRIME and Feastables, and how these two products relate to consumers’ differentiated value demands from ingredients and nutrition.

After launching into grain-free granola, Three Wishes is entering a new category with chewy granola bars as it eyes opportunity in snacks and expanding its reach in mass and conventional channels.

On CPG Week, the podcast team talks co-branding, energy drink and protein supplement licensing with sweets makers, and the evolution of cannabis in sports recovery drinks.

Nooish founder Sarah Nathan talked to Nosh about her instant matzah ball soup product and why she decided to launch a brand despite knowing the challenges that come with being a CPG food operator.