Plant Based

In this week’s Checkout: market research firms IRI and NPD merge, Rao’s Homemade activates its first popup marketplace in NYC, All Y’all’s Foods supports a Texas Ranch turned vegan sanctuary and Kroger Dallas launches Restaurant Supply program.

Allergy-friendly and superfood-infused ice cream brand Sunscoop announced today it has raised $2 million in seed funding led by Vibrant Ventures, an investment firm focused exclusively on plant-based CPG, with additional participation from H/L Ventures and Torch Capital, among other early angel investors. The company said it will use the new capital to continue expanding its team, distribution and product portfolio.

This week PepsiCo and Beyond Meat’s joint venture launched its long awaited Beyond Jerky into stores. The jerky is part of a strategy to expand the Beyond Meat brand into new parts of the store and help build PepsiCo’s portfolio of better-for-you items

The Kraft Heinz Company and TheNotCompany, Inc. today announced a new joint venture in order to develop and launch a new line of plant-based products. While Kraft Heinz will bring its brand portfolio and ability to bring products to market quickly, NotCo will utilize its artificial intelligence (AI) platform to help guide product decisions and development.

Last week, plant-based cheese and butter maker Miyoko’s Creamery emerged victorious in what could be a landmark legal case for dairy and meat alternative CPG brands. Citing the company’s first amendment rights, a California judge ruled the company can continue to use terms such as “butter,” “lactose-free” and “cruelty-free.” However, while the case could provide plant-based brands with some much needed legal precedent to defend the practice of using meat and dairy terms on their labels, the fight ahead is anything but cut and dried.

Meat Snacks brand Country Archer is making moves from grass-fed beef to mushrooms, announcing today the launch of a new line of plant-based jerky. The launch comes after the company also added new CPG leaders to its executive team in preparation for its next phase of growth.

Nearly a year after being formally separated from Dean Foods, plant-based food and beverage company Good Karma is beginning a new chapter. The Colorado-based company announced today a brand refresh accompanied by the launch of a new line of refrigerated plant-based milks and a direct-to-consumer ecommerce platform.

Yogurt giant Danone has acquired plant-based brand Earth Island, maker of the Follow Your Heart line of condiments, yogurts and breakfast items, the company announced last night. In a press release issued last night, Danone noted that the acquisition would give the company “a unique opportunity to strengthen its plant-based business.”

After 150 years in business, Graeter’s ice cream CEO Richard Graeter says he’s still committed to using the same process his great-grandmother Regina used in the 1900s.But that doesn’t mean the family business is resistant to change: the Ohio-based company announced last week that it would launch a vegan version of its ice cream in collaboration with food tech company Perfect Day.

Latin American company NotCo, which earlier this fall raised $85 million, announced last week it was launching a new non-dairy milk in Whole Foods nationwide — part of the company’s strategy to enter the US market. NotCo also hopes to launch cheese and other meat replacements next year as well.