Memphis Meats and Multicultural Mochi: CPG News, Week of May 10-14
Contents
Unioncrate's curated weekly round-up of CPG & supply chain news. This week's news features acquisitions for Nestlé and Utz, new products from My/Mochi and Vital Farms, and an increase in demand for retail tech.
investments-acquisitions
Investments & Acquisitions
Nestlé is purchasing hydration-focused sports brand Nuun for an undisclosed amount. Food Dive
Oatly has officially set its IPO terms, aiming to sell $1.65 billion worth of shares at $17 a share. Food Dive
Canned water brand Liquid Death has closed a $15M Series C round, featuring a number of celebrity backers. BevNet
Agritech firm Benson Hill is going public with a $1.35B SPAC valuation. Food Dive
Mondelez’s SnackFutures has announced the nine startups selected for its first-ever CoLab accelerator. They are: Better Bites Bakery, Chasin’ Dreams Farm, Elite Sweets, Love Corn, Numa, NuSkool, Snacklins, Sourse, and 12 Tides. FoodBev
Utz is acquiring Festida Foods for $41M in a move that aims to improve their supply chain. Supply Chain Dive
Tyson is selling its pet treats brands to General Mills for $1.2B. Consumer Goods Technology
Danone has sold its 9.8% stake in Chinese dairy producer China Mengniu Dairy for €1.6B. FoodBev
A Black woman founder has started a VC fund to invest in other Black-owned businesses. Forbes
products-partnerships
New Products & Partnerships
My/Mochi has launched a line of mochi ice creams inspired by global flavors. FoodBev
Sproud has gained distribution with Whole Foods, appointing a GM for North America in the process. BevNet
Tillamook has introduced a line of frozen custards to its product lineup. FoodBev
Target is expanding its private label Good & Gather into the plant-based space. Winsight Grocery Business
Vital Farms has debuted a line of new egg-based breakfast bars. Food Dive
Vegan breakfast sandwiches from Alpha Foods are coming to the Costco frozen aisle. VegNews
Memphis Meats has changed its name to Upside Foods. Food Dive
Nestlé’s Sweet Earth brand has introduced a line of plant-based jerky. Food Dive
Del Monte Foods is launching a line of boba-inspired RTD beverages. Food Dive
International Flavors and Fragrances is selling its fruit preparation branch to Frulact, which specializes in fruit flavorings for CPG brands. FoodBev
Thrive Market has incorporated Beyond Meat products into its private label’s frozen food line. Supermarket News
Massachusetts Stop & Shops are partnering with the Flashfood app so customers can get deals on fresh foods that are near their best-buy dates. Progressive Grocer
Equinom, an Israeli ingredients company, and Dipasa, a Mexican seed producer, are partnering to produce a higher-protein variety of sesame seeds. Food Dive
Hormel’s Jennie-O brand has debuted a line of blended turkey burgers. Food Dive
Shiseido is partnering up with Accenture to bolster its digital strategy. Consumer Goods Technology
supply-chain
Supply Chain News
Funding for retail tech has tripled to $28.9B between Q1 of 2020 and Q1 of 2021, indicating a post-pandemic move on retailers’ parts to invest in new technologies. Supply Chain Dive
Under Armour is taking a new approach to inventory: restricting it, despite ever-growing demand. Its goal with this strategy is to try to ensure the right inventory is in the right places. Supply Chain Dive
Coveris Group has acquired UK-based flexible packaging producer Four04 Packaging. FoodBev
Self-driving truck company Plus aims to build commercial-scale production with its new SPAC merger. The Wall Street Journal
Big-time retailers like Walmart and Sysco are implementing penalties for late or incomplete orders in a clear message to brands: figure out your labor and/or ingredient shortages, and fast. The Wall Street Journal
In order to fend off the ever-increasing dominance of Amazon, Japan’s Rakuten is investing in logistics. Modern Retail
MercadoLibre, an Argentinian ecommerce platform, is also leveraging investments to outpace Amazon. Modern Retail
Agriculture-focused ecommerce platform Pinduoduo has surpassed Alibaba as the largest retailer in China in number of users. Modern Retail
Coke Energy will be discontinued in North America. BevNet
Kroger has launched business incubator Go Fresh & Local Supplier Accelerator in an effort to expand its fresh food offerings. Supermarket News
Chocolate brands are increasing the traceability of its raws by mapping out 600K cocoa farms in West Africa. Supply Chain Dive
Pulpex, a packaging company co-founded by Diageo, is teaming up with Finnish company Stora Enso to produce 100% recyclable packaging sourced from recycled wood pulp. Food Dive
good-reads
Good Reads
All about crowdfunding—which the SEC raised the limit for in March—and why it’s becoming a more popular fundraising option for digitally native brands. Modern Retail
New Belgium’s Fat Tire brand has launched Torched Earth, a beer that’s meant to taste bad, in a creative marketing campaign to warn against climate change. Modern Retail
For the fourth consecutive year, sales for private sales have outpaced name brands. Winsight Grocery Business
Kroger has released a guide to bolster small brands and advance supplier diversity. Progressive Grocer
Many consumers don’t know the difference between “best if used by” and “use by” labels. Food Dive
Were you a bit confused by that, er, candy-flavored Kraft mac & cheese from back in February? Read more about why they, and others, are taking flavors to the bizarre and extreme. Fast Company
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.
.png)
