H Mart Turns to Micro-Fulfillment & Plant-Based Prevails (Again): CPG News, Week of Mar 29-Apr 2
Contents
Unioncrate's curated weekly round-up of CPG & supply chain news. This week's news features a new supply chain strategy for H Mart, a huge funding round for LIVEKINDLY, and CAULIPOWER’s “forecasting superpower.”
- Unioncrate in the News
- Investments & Acquisitions
- New Products & Partnerships
- Supply Chain News
- Good Reads
unioncrate-news
Unioncrate in the News
It’s not every day you’re called a forecasting superpower. Read about how Unioncrate’s been a pivotal asset to CAULIPOWER's massive success. Consumer Goods Technology
investments-acquisitions
Investments & Acquisitions
Riviana Foods is selling the Ronzoni pasta brand to Post Holdings for $95M. FoodBev
Plant-based brand collective LIVEKINDLY has closed a $335M funding round. Food Dive
Pilgrim’s Pride has issued a $1B bond that will accrue 25% interest if the company doesn’t hit its sustainability goals by 2030. Food Dive
Black-led VC firm Harlem Capital has raised a $134M second fund. Forbes
Natural Grocers is reopening a store in the Dallas area with the company’s “new format” and a square footage increase of 40%. Progressive Grocer
H-E-B is opening two stores in Frisco and Plano, two towns in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Winsight Grocery Business
California-based bargain grocer Grocery Outlet is expanding into Pennsylvania. Winsight Grocery Business
Telenutrition platform Foodsmart has raised a $25M Series C. The Spoon
Over across the pond, Nomad Foods has acquired Fortenova Group’s Frozen Food Business Group for €615M to make headway into the Eastern European market. Food Manufacture
You’ve heard of KFC, but soon, you’ll be hearing more and more about VFC; the UK-based vegan fried chicken brand just closed a $3.4M seed round. Green Queen
And across the other (way bigger) pond, Viomix Tech, a South Korean plant-based food tech company, has closed a Series A. Green Queen
Kroger is aiming to double digital sales by the end of 2023. CNBC
Cargill is selling 50% of its stake in Alvean, the company responsible for a fifth of the world’s sugar shipments. Bloomberg
Campbell Soup is selling Plum Organics to Sun-Maid, marking the latter’s move into the baby food space. Food Navigator
Anheuser-Busch is investing $100M to upcycle barley by-product from its beer production. Food Dive
Harry’s has raised $155M in its Series E and is looking to add more brands. Its valuation is now $1.7B. Retail Dive
MeliBio, a bee-free honey producer, has closed a $850K pre-seed round. Green Queen
Georgia-based company Danimer Scientific plans to open a $700M factory to produce biodegradable CPG plastic packaging. The Washington Post
products-partnerships
New Products & Partnerships
CAULIPOWER has launched a frozen pasta line. Food Dive
PepsiCo is relaunching Evolve, the plant-based protein drink the company acquired from CytoSport in 2019. Food Business News
Quorn Foods and Roquette are partnering with the Future Food-Tech Summit to launch two Innovation Challenges for plant-based protein brands. Food Business News
Squeaky Bean has launched chargrilled “filets” as an alternative to grilled chicken. FoodBev
Renewal Mill has launched a snickerdoodle cookie mix. Food Business News
Canadian supplement brand Rritual Superfoods is launching in US RiteAids later in the year. The Armchair Trader
Do high-protein chocolate Easter eggs seem like a myth? Not with Cocoa+ they’re not. Stack3d
Sound Nutrition has released a line of wholesome, sweet snacks that are shaped by high-frequency sound waves instead of heat in order to retain nutritional value. Food Dive
Instacart has a new partnership with Michael’s, its latest venture outside of the food and beverage space. Supermarket News
supply-chain
Supply Chain News
As I’m sure you already know: the Suez Canal ship has been freed. The Wall Street Journal
…But they’re still struggling to clear up the resulting logjam, just one of the lasting supply chain disruptions to come from this. The Wall Street Journal
H Mart is deploying an automated, omnichannel micro-fulfillment strategy to help with its online sales. Chain Store Age
China is raising prices on exported goods due to supply chain constraints and high raw material costs. The Suez Canal debacle has only expedited this. The Wall Street Journal
Raley’s is fighting food waste by using a software management system to track expiration dates. Winsight Grocery Business
High commodity costs mean higher COGs: Kimberly-Clark (Huggies), General Mills, and Hormel are raising prices to offset costs. The Wall Street Journal
good-reads
Good Reads
The supply chain—and the world—is not normal just yet. Read the special report from Consumer Goods Technology.
Move over, Hershey—millennial-founded Mid-Day Squares is the newest disruptor in the chocolate space. Food Business News
Hear what female founders have to say about their experiences starting a brand. Food Dive
Thrive Market’s goal is to be the first climate-positive grocer. Read more about their journey in Progressive Grocer.
Over the course of the pandemic, grocers have experienced higher sales but margins have remained tight. Food Navigator
Hear from the CEO of Mondelez on how he’s navigated the pandemic. Food Safety News
NYC-based spice brand Burlap & Barrel is taking on “big spice.” Business of Business
SaaS companies are trying to take advantage of the recent e-commerce boom. Read about how. Modern Retail
And finally, the pandemic might’ve actually… strengthened the global supply chain? Read more in The Counter.
About Unioncrate
Unioncrate is an AI-powered Integrated Business Planning (IBP) platform that delivers demand forecasts with unmatched accuracy, collaborative visibility, and actionable intelligence—enabling CPG brands to plan and execute agile supply chain strategies at the click of a button.