Top Feature

Covering all manner of treats, selling confections might seem like a sweet gig — but getting space on shelf or capturing a consumer’s eye can be tricky in this candy wonderland — especially against large incumbents with the resources to fund innovation and marketing plans. In this month’s Category Closeup: Expert Analysis, we’ll hear from a group of industry leaders and explore both the market dynamics facing confection brands as well as the opportunities within the category.

Twenty years after inception, investor 2X Growth Partners is shaking things up in a continued effort to help CPG brands reach new heights. The group announced yesterday its name was changing to Loft Growth Partners, a moniker it says better expresses the firm’s operating practices. The change comes as the firm also announced the close of its third fund.

LiveKindly Collective is on a mission to make plant-based eating “the new norm” globally. Aiming to help consumers seamlessly swap out traditional animal products, the company has amassed a portfolio of four plant-based meat brands sold in over 40 countries. It’s an aggressive plan, but the company is quickly gaining momentum, raising $535 million in its first year and finding a sweet spot between multi-category consumer goods giants and smaller start-ups by creating a global company hyper-focused on the plant-based meat segment.

Oat-based product maker Oatly (Oatly Group AB) has officially filed for an initial public offering. The much-heralded Swedish company, which entered the U.S. in 2017, has emerged as leader in the $2.5 billion plant-based milk space, which now represents 15% of the milk category according to data from the Plant Based Foods Association and the Good Food Institute.

In this deal roundup, Hungry Planet closes a $25M funding round; mycelium-based meat alternative maker Atlast raises $40M; Meati secures $18M in debt financing for new production facility; and animal-free shellfish maker Cultured Decadence secures $1.6M.

As part of its strategy to reframe its frozen meal business to appeal to a wider array of shoppers as well as younger consumers, Nestle this week announced two new offerings in its Life Cuisine line featuring Banza chickpea pasta, part of an 11 SKU launch.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, New York City-based office lunch delivery platform Stadium, like many in the food service industry, was forced to abandon its business model practically overnight amid nationwide shutdowns. Faced with a steep revenue drop, co-founder and CEO Shaunak Amin found a silver lining, adapting Stadium’s backend system to launch build-your-own snack box platform SnackMagic, which hit profitability in December and now ships 50,000 boxes monthly.

A federal judge in Baltimore has denied a motion to dismiss fraud and racketeering counts in a lawsuit filed by dressing and condiment maker Tessemae’s against a group of former advisors and board members. The lawsuit, filed last June, alleges the defendants had attempted to steal the Tessamae’s business.

In this episode of Market Share, host Carol Ortenberg, the editor of NOSH, speaks with Scott Freidmann, CEO and co-founder of beverage and condiment brand Acid League. Having recently closed a multi-million dollar round of capital for the brand, in this discussion Friedmann shares how the company’s emphasis on innovation and design has played a role in its success.

This week online retailer Amazon announced the launch of its newest private label brand, Aplenty, which will focus on offering consumers better-for-you takes on center store categories.