How Hampton Creek Got into 20k Stores in Under 1 Year, Grow Your Food Biz This Holiday + More

Every week we curate and deliver the latest food tech news, trends and startup resources to our readers’ inboxes. Tracking the top technology and innovation happenings across agriculture, CPG, retail, restaurants, cooking and health, our newsletter is the absolute easiest way to stay on top of the emerging sector.

From Food Genius’ 10 foodservice trends of 2015 to Climate Corporation’s acquisition of 640Labs, these are last week’s top food tech news and innovation stories. Like what you read? Feast your eyes on the full roundup here. Or better yet, sign up for Food+Tech Bytes and get the latest and greatest in food tech delivered to your inbox every week.

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1. How Branding Helped Hampton Creek Get Into 20K Stores in Less Than 1 Year [Video]

How did the startup cultivate its cult following and explosive market share? We caught up with Hampton Creek’s Jordan Tetrick to chat about the role branding has played in the startup’s meteoric success.

2. Learn How to Grow Your Food Biz This Holiday Season

We want to help you stay on track this holiday season. Which is why we’re offering our community 25% off ALL of our online food business courses through Jan 1 with code “giftofsuccess.”

3. Food Genius’ 10 Foodservice Trends of 2015

Will mobile ordering take over the restaurant industry? Are grocery stores the dining destinations of the future? Will Big Food companies launch small-batch, artisanal offerings? This graphic from Food Genius has answers.

4. Hyperlocal M&A in 2015 — Here’s What Some Potential Acquirers Are Looking For – Streetfight 

Here’s a quick look at a few areas, and some major players, where we may see an uptick in M&A activity in the year to come.

5. 2014: The Year That Online Grocery Shopping Got Local – The Star Online

With Google, Amazon and Uber jumping on the trend of supporting local businesses, we saw an increase in the number of services offering super speedy food delivery.

6. Drizly Opens Its API to Bring Alcohol Delivery to the Likes of MillerCoors & Foursquare – Bostinno

The deal marked the first time a major American brewer has partnered with an e-commerce company to sell its beer online.

7. 640Labs Acquired by Monsanto’s Climate Corporation – AgFunder

Details were not revealed, but Climate Corp aims to strengthen its efforts to build the industry’s leading farmer data platform with the acqusition.

8. Was 2014 a Watershed Year for Food Politics? – Beyond Chron

Is this really the year when the pendulum began to swing back in favor of consumers, workers and health? Marion Nestle, Margo Wootan, Michele Simon and more to weigh in.