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During the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) 2017 show this week, BevNET spoke with analysts from leading market research firms Mintel and Innova Food Insights about their observations on the macro-trends in this space that are helping shape the next wave of consumer food and beverage products.

Gary Hirshberg, the co-founder and chairman of dairy company Stonyfield Farm and a highly influential figure in the organic food movement, shares war stories ranging from the company’s pastoral beginnings, to its decade-long struggle for financing, and on to its eventual sale, mining them for wisdom that will resonate with any food and beverage professional.

Many industry leaders are adding new titles and companies to their resumes after a stint of hiring sprees the past few months. Here’s the lowdown on these execs’ new gigs and what they are doing there.

During the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City this week, LeAnn Chuboff, the VP of Technical Affairs for the Safe Quality Food (SQF) Institute, and Robert Garfield, the chief food safety assessment officer and SVP for Food Marketing Institute, spoke about food safety’s newest trends and technology during a presentation at the newly debuted Level Up Experience. Here are four takeaways from the panel to keep your food safety nightmare from turning into a reality.

Lots of money changed hands this month across the food industry. From convenient meal kits to a premium pasta sauce line with history, here’s what some of CPG’s biggest companies and players are betting on.

At first, few suppliers weren’t sure what to make of the deal, with numerous food and beverage companies reserving their comments. Now, after more than a week’s reflection, many have told NOSH they are excited about the potential sales opportunities the partnership could provide, expressing enthusiasm for how it will maintain or even enhance Whole Foods’ reputation as a launching pad for small brands.

As the retail landscape becomes more crowded, having the right distributor is key to a brand’s success– especially during a brand’s formative years. At NOSH Live Summer 2017 earlier this month, Jeremy Isenberg, President Chex Finer Foods, reflected on the history of distribution, as well as looked forward at what the future of distribution may hold.

In previously scheduled appearances, Sprouts CFO Brad Lukow presented at the Jefferies 2017 Global Consumer Conference Tuesday and Kroger CFO Michael Schlotman addressed investors at the Oppenheimer Annual Consumer Conference Wednesday. Schlotman addressed investors again during Thursday’s annual shareholders meeting. Though their talks didn’t focus on Amazon’s Friday announcement that the online retailer is acquiring Whole Foods for $13.7 billion, that didn’t keep the elephant out of the room.

June has been quite a month for Small Axe Peppers, the makers of Bronx Hot Sauce. Last week the mission-driven hot sauce brand won the second annual Project NOSH Pitch Slam, and now the company announced that it’s extending its community garden business model to a new borough: Queens.

Following the Friday announcement that e-commerce pioneer Amazon would be purchasing natural products retailer Whole Foods Market, there has been rampant discussion over what the merger means for the retailer and industry. In communications to team members, both through email and a “town hall meeting” at Whole Foods headquarters, some information has come to light.