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Next week NOSH’s Pitch Slam 9 will feature the founders of the hottest new food brands competing virtually for the title. The semifinalists have been chosen, as well as the expert judges, who will be providing feedback and ultimately choosing the winner. So let’s meet the players.

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.

In this week’s Checkout, Election Day sees support for hemp advocates and legislation, the USDA expands SNAP access to online shopping to more retailers and B&G Foods reports its Q3 earnings and previews 2021 innovation.

In this episode of Market Share, host Carol Ortenberg, the editor of NOSH, will sit down with Nona Lim, CEO and founder of fresh focused Asian food brand, Nona Lim. We’ll discuss how Nona went about refining her product line, and in the process, developing a greater understanding of herself, learning when to push forward with what she felt was right.

After a rebrand and expansion into savory snacks earlier this year, direct-to-consumer keto brand Schoolyard Snacks has raised $5 million in a Series A funding round from Lyra Growth Partners as it builds out a platform of “old school snacks made the new way.”

Ten years after launching, Quinn Snacks has a sweet new partner: The Hershey Company, which announced a minority investment in the snack company last week. Hershey will provide the brand with both strategic advice as well as capital, CEO and founder Kristy Lewis said.

Meat alternative startup Meati announced last week the close of a $28 million Series A round of funding, which the Colorado-based company will use to scale production of its fungi-based chicken and steak cuts. The goal, Meati CEO and co-founder Tyler Huggins said, is to reach price parity with traditional meats before a launch into retail and food service.

Check out the gallery for October’s notable releases, including Veggie Made Great’s partnership with Beyond Meat, Swiss Rosti’s rebrand and a limited edition flavor from SkinnyPop to celebrate the brand’s 10th anniversary.

Having sampled the food delivery market, strategic Nestlé is looking for a bigger bite. The global food producer announced today the acquisition of meal delivery service Freshly, which it previously invested in. The company acquired Freshly for $950 million, with the opportunity for potential earnouts valued at an additional $550 million.

In this week’s Checkout: Brands participate in initiatives to fuel voters at the polls, Kellogg’s and Kraft Heinz report third quarter earnings and KIND calls out Clif to promote its energy bar launch.