Image credit: Snaxshot
Every week we track business, tech and investment trends in the CPG, retail, restaurant, agriculture, culinary and health sectors so you don’t have to. Here are some of the top stories of the week.
In recent news, the internet furor over David Chang’s lawsuit against the brand has highlighted the widespread public opposition to the commercialization of culture. Despite efforts to capitalize on trends like Momofuku Chilli Crunch, public opinion remains unsympathetic. Meanwhile, in the retail sector, fruits and vegetables have become the latest target of branding efforts, with investors and marketers starting to turn their attention to the produce section, signaling a shift in focus in the agricultural industry.
In other news, we just finished the first season of “New Food Order,” a podcast in partnership with AgFunder that takes an in-depth look at the businesses addressing the climate and social crises through food and agriculture. Read more about why we started the podcast here. Please subscribe and share!
Producing our newsletters takes a lot of time and resources. To help us continue providing them, we ask that you consider a one-time or monthly donation. Whether you donate $5 or $500, every penny helps show us that you value our work.
When The Guardian broke the news about David Chang issuing cease and desist orders to brands, the online outpouring of criticism against him was incredible: the consensus seems to be that no matter how hard they try to commercialise culture, their chilli crunch is just middling.
Fruit and vegetables have become the latest sector to see a branding push in supermarkets, as investors and marketers target the agriculture industry.
Perfect Day was sued by its contract manufacturing partner, Oron, for breach of contract, fraudulent inducement and fraudulent concealment.
While cocoa’s surge has grabbed attention, prices of other staple crops are also rising, rekindling the risk of food inflation that has remained stubbornly high in parts of the world.
As emerging food brands with founders of color challenge market norms, Jin shares his thoughts and hopes for operating from a place of empathy rather than divisiveness.
The company plans to open what is currently the world’s largest cultured meat facility in Maastricht, Netherlands, in May 2023, and then use the funding to further scale up its production process.
Agrifoodtech funding in Europe may be declining, but Europe’s total share of global investment is increasing, from 23% in 2021 to 36% in 2023.
The rapidly growing food trend combines the popularity of organic certification with the social and climate benefits of regenerative agriculture.
The restrictive nature of current crop insurance programs presents an opportunity to develop regenerative crop insurance that encourages sustainable agricultural practices while reducing producer risk.
