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The nineteenth round of Elevator Talk Livestream features leaders from Wild Willett Food, reBLEND, Spicegrove, On The Rocks Cocktails and RX Water. This week’s special co-host is Vanessa Walker, the founder of Millennial Brands.

Meat snack brand Tanka is looking to take a bigger bite of the category. Native American Natural Foods (NANF), its parent company, last week announced it had closed a $2.5 million round of funding, led by socially conscious investor Candide Group on behalf of donor-advised fund Libra Social Investment Fund (which contributed $500,000). The raise came to help the brand in an ongoing struggle to retain shelf space in competition with other, often better-financed, brands in the category.

The economic fallout from the global COVID-19 pandemic represents an “extinction event” for many brands in the emerging CBD space, according to a new report on the state of the U.S. CBD market from Chicago-based intelligence firm Brightfield Group.

Welcoming questions and supplying stories from his own extensive experiences as a founder and CEO, Skae will speak to the BevNET and NOSH community from the perspective of someone who has worked to be nimble and creative — to help companies punch above their weight class — no matter the circumstances.

Hemp chips might cure your munchies if brothers Gary and Greg Avetisyan have their way. The duo recently launched Heaven’s Lettuce, a line of crispy vegetable chips made from hemp leaves, with the intention of usurping kale’s throne as America’s favorite cabbage cultivar.

In this week’s Checkout, The Hershey Company reports U.S. sales growth in Q2, Bogopa acquires two Fairway Market stores and retailers help launch new initiative to fight plastic waste.

Grocery delivery service Misfits Market announced yesterday the close of an $85 million round of capital led by Valor Equity Partners. Additional investors included Greenoaks Capital, Third Kind Venture Capital, and Sound Ventures. The funding will go, in part, towards helping the brand expand further into offering more center store offerings.

Though the paleo diet has gained traction in categories such as sauces and snacks, there’s still space for convenient, clean meal options. Kevin’s Natural Foods wants to help fill that need to via a line of ready-to-eat, refrigerated paleo meals.

The eighteenth round of Elevator Talk Livestream features leaders from Quokka Brew, RIND Snacks, 3 Mountains Tea, Good Dee’s and Paleo Pro. This week’s special co-host is Trent Moffat, the owner of Gotham Brand Managers.

For Ben Pasternak, CEO and founder of plant-based chicken nugget brand NUGGS, the philosophy for launching a new brand is simple: “Whatever everyone else is doing, we should do the opposite.”