Mars Inc. may be best known for its confections, but the global food giant is taking a closer look at personalized nutrition as a “critical focus” area for its new Mars Edge segment, which is dedicated to human health through targeted nutrition, according...
Routine headlines about multi-million – or billion – dollar venture capital investments into food and beverage startups may give the impression that VC funding is the best way to scale a business, but according to one insider the model is far from perfect...
Applications are now open for the 16th FoodBytes! by Rabobank global pitch competition, which is coming to Chicago for the first time in September and seeking emerging food and ag brands to pitch their innovations and network with corporate leaders and...
In the past decade, venture capitalists have emerged as a primary gatekeeper for innovation in the food and beverage industry as the amount of money they are pouring into startups in the space continues to rise exponentially, and so-called big-food continues...
Under pressure to beat the competition or secure returns for investors, most startups want to get on store shelf as fast as possible, but first they must checkoff a litany of minimum requirements that can turn into unexpected roadblocks if they don’t...
Kroger has teamed up with private equity firm Lindsay Goldberg to create PearlRock Partners, a new platform that will identify and invest in promising new CPG brands utilizing insights from its consumer data platform 84.51°.
Frustrated that women entrepreneurs receive only about 2% of all venture funding, despite owning 38% of US businesses, Stacy’s Pita Chips is expanding its Rise Project to help female founders grow their businesses with an additional $200,000 in funding...
When pitching a company or a product to investors, startups should brace to hear ‘no’ – a lot – but they can increase their chances of hearing yes by learning everything they can about the investment community at large and individual investors before...
While some entrepreneurs of startups might frown upon a partnership with a large food company as ‘selling out,’ many others increasingly see such arrangements as ‘selling up’ and as a way to take their businesses to the next level.
Attracted to recent high-dollar acquisitions, consumer demand for healthy and sustainable options, and the opportunities created by a diversifying retail landscape, the number of investors flocking to the food and beverage industry continues to grow exponentially...
Developing and launching a new product is never easy, but according to the CEO of the chickpea snack company Biena, the specific challenges entrepreneurs will face across sales, marketing and operations will vary significantly based on whether they are...
While the sugar-free kids’ beverage company Hapi Drinks was the only one of the 10 startups in PepsiCo’s Nutrition Greenhouse North American’s inaugural class to receive the coveted $100,000 grant awarded by the accelerator, all of the participants –...
One of 15 startups pitching at Rabobank’s FoodBytes! event in San Francisco, Planetarians uses a proprietary process to transform defatted oilseeds – the dry matter left after oil extraction - into high-protein, high-fiber ingredients that are now being...
One of the main goals of effective branding and packaging is to set a product apart from the competition, but how this is achieved is fundamental to whether a product will be embraced or shunned by consumers.
Many millennials worry about nutritional gaps in their diet, but would prefer to get what they need from food rather than popping pills, says GEM, a Los Angeles-based online subscription business delivering whole food based daily ‘bites’ containing 15...
