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Kale chip maker Rhythm Superfoods has become the first direct investment from General Mills’ new 301 INC venture capital arm. The $3 million raise was led by 301 INC via a fund it has set up on CircleUp, a crowdsourced investment platform.

2016 marks the official launch of Edible Ventures, the nation’s first angel group investing solely in high growth, ready-to-eat, ready-to-drink CPG companies. Project NOSH sat down with Edible Ventures’ Managing Director, Jeremy Halpern, to find out why there’s a need for this group, why the time is right for its launch and what the group is looking for in entrepreneurs and companies.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services released their final draft of the nation’s federal dietary guidelines yesterday. Since then numerous industry groups and companies have issues statements lauding or disagreeing with the new guide.

Today consumer foods giant General Mills announced that it has acquired upstart meat snack company EPIC Provisions. The brand will operate under General Mills-owned Annie’s Organics. Both Taylor Collins, Epic’s co-founder, and John Haugen, General Mills’ VP & General Manager of 301 Inc, spoke with NOSH about the acquisition.

Quickly putting a recent $5 million investment round to use, the team at Tessemae’s All Natural is re-launching their line of salad dressings and condiments.

The Food and Drug Association has extended the comment period for use of the term “Natural.” by 90 days. Originally comments were due February 10th, but now have been moved to May 10th.

It’s that time of the year when marketing companies, flavor houses and research firms dust off their crystal balls, peer deeply into the future, analyze some data, and issue their predictions for what the next year will hold. We combed through the lists to bring readers what we think are some of the most unique, well thought out, and creative trends for 2016.

According to the website Pinterest, among the top food trends of the year, and what they’ll be watching in 2016, was “avocado oil.” Here are some of the avocado influenced products from 2015 that we’ll be watching.

Responsibility for the firm will now lie with Debbie Wildrick and Craig Fortin, currently MetaBrand’s chief strategy officer and President and chief operating officer, respectively.

As the year winds to a close, the wallets remain open, with a spate of high-profile distributor and supplier acquisitions announced in the past two weeks. Many of the companies acquired have a focus on “better-for-you,” fresh, and specialty, underscoring the ongoing importance of consumer interest in natural and unique products.