Top Feature

For the second year, financial services firm Barclays held a virtual edition of its annual Global Consumer Staples Conference, inviting companies to share their business strategies and updates. During the event, which consisted of three days of presentations and Q&A sessions, executives addressed changing consumer behaviors post-pandemic and inflationary pressures, while also discussing their innovation plans to reshape their portfolios.

Nevada-based pretzel brand Stellar Snacks has launched its latest offering — Vegan Butter Braids — into Southeast retailers, the company announced this month. Meanwhile, functional food brand Four Sigmatic has entered Target locations and Hungry Planet has landed on Sprouts shelves.

Condiment, sauce and oil producer Chosen Foods announced yesterday that Butterfly Equity had acquired the majority of the company. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The latest development in the long legal battle between Beyond Meat and its former co-manufacturer Don Lee Farms has seen the plant-based food company secure a small victory in a dispute over what it counts as its trade secrets.

Armed with $4.5 million in new funding and a CPG veteran at the helm, a new player in the fast-growing plant-based meat category is looking to shake up the burger and nugget-centric segment with a fresh format that it hopes will convert consumers from chicken to “CHKN.”

Chobani is breaking free of the cold case: the company has quietly launched a line of enhanced peanut butter in partnership with nonprofit Edesia, a former Chobani incubator participant. The butters, which debuted last year in limited release, now sport refreshed packaging designed to stand out on store shelves.

Since its launch almost a decade ago, ReGrained has struggled to find a solution that can make a dent in the billions of pounds of spent grain left over from the beer brewing process. For years, that has meant attempting to reduce this food waste, both through its own CPG product lines and as an ingredient supplier. But after seeing mixed results from its bifurcated business model, ReGrained is pivoting away from “resource intensive” CPG products in favor of focusing on ingredients.

After last year’s reckoning on racial injustice across America prompted a look into widespread inequity within the food and beverage industry, companies appear to be making progress on their diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) goals, according to a new study by Deloitte Insights and FMI – The Food Industry Association last month.

Voyage Foods wants to make sure consumers’ favorite foods are around for the next generation. Ironically, the path to ensuring this continuity means eschewing their core ingredients entirely. The company announced this week it would launch a cacao-free chocolate, peanut-free peanut butter and coffee-free RTD coffee — all made using patented technology and easily accessible ingredients.

In this week’s Checkout, food tech company Plantible closes a $21.5 million funding round; Kevin’s Natural Foods secures investment; and The Campbell Soup Company reports its fourth quarter and fiscal 2021 earnings.