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Under careful self-scrutiny due to the spread of the novel coronavirus, food producers, regardless of size, are having to rethink their production, supply chain and distribution efforts to keep up with increased demand from consumers and retailers while balancing the safety of their employees. Large producers, in particular, are having to change production paradigms while also answering the call to give back and assist employees and communities in need.

The USDA last week expanded its guidelines for products that can use the label claim “healthy.” The update could be a boon for meat snack brands looking to boost their products’ health claims — but while those brands welcome it, they don’t see the designation as a game-changer.

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which was signed into law last week, was designed to provide an option for employees to take paid leave due coronavirus-related illness, quarantine or loss of childcare. But, while they are supportive of the bill, some food and beverage company CEOs are also concerned about keeping their manufacturing facilities staffed. Some say they are scrambling for other ways to help families cope while still staffing their production lines.

As the COVID-19 pandemic forces businesses around the world to close for the foreseeable future, food and beverage brands have found many traditional routes to market in brick and mortar retail have suddenly shuttered. The global lockdown has made ecommerce (along with grocery and drug channels) more vital than ever in sustaining sales during an uncertain economic period.

On the manufacturing lines and in the office, the CPG industry is being forced to make adjustments. Over the past week, BevNET and NOSH edit staff reached out to brands and distributors across the food and beverage to hear about how they are grappling with the effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic as it ripples across the country.

In the past few days, the FDA has released new information to answer coronavirus (COVID-19) concerns within the food industry, via official statements, a new FAQ page, and a stakeholder call addressing manufacturing, the food supply and worker safety.

While the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 continues to rise worldwide, the food and beverage industry has been forced to swiftly adjust to the crisis. Just as consumers have changed their shopping habits by racing to grocery stores to stock up before indefinite periods of self-quarantine, many brands and entrepreneurs have fast begun tailoring their messaging to comment on the virus. Others are seizing the moment to promote products with immunity boosting properties, through social media posts, press releases and eblasts.

The meat snack set has seen plenty of new skin in the game over the past year as some consumers look to swap out chips and puffs with protein-heavy, low-carb alternatives like pork rinds. Now Justin Guilbert and Douglas Riboud, the co-founders of Harmless Harvest, want to bring seafood into the set with the debut of Goodfish, a line of snackable flash-fried salmon skins.

One brand’s dream of becoming the next Ben & Jerry’s has ended — or at least will be on hold. Yesterday gourmet ice cream chain and producer Ample Hills filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in the Eastern District of New York.

Oakland, California-based plant-based meat company Impossible Foods today announced the close of an approximately $500 million Series F funding round, led by South Korea-based firm Mirae Asset Global Investments. To-date, the company has raised to nearly $1.3 billion, including $300 million closed last May.