Source: Food Navigator

Every week we track the business, tech and investment trends in CPG, retail, restaurants, agriculture, cooking and health, so you don’t have to. Here are some of this week’s top headlines.

Investments abound in the CPG and retail sector. Blue Bunny maker Wells Enterprise acquired Halo Top for an undisclosed sum to Wells Enterprise.  UK startup Strong Roots received $18 million in funding to expand its frozen vegetable products into the U.S. Plant-based dairy maker Kite Hill has raised $15 million, bringing total funding to $80 million. Simbe has raised $26 million to deploy its inventory robot. Swiftly is launching its supermarket OS system with its $15.6 million round. Caper has raised $10 million to roll out its smart grocery carts to more locations.

In the realm of alternative meats, Kroger announced the launch of its own plant-based line. Novameat and Redefine Meat both received funding to develop and finalize their 3D printing meat platforms. Just Salad has just announced that it will be removing its beef offering and replacing it with Beyond Meat nationwide. Impossible Foods is set to release a ground “meat” product soon, launching in a city like Miami or Los Angeles.

Lastly, a new report found that natural foods and beverages grew 5 percent within the same three year period, reaching $47.2 billion in dollar volume. Organic food and beverages outpace the total market at 2.8 percent growth.

Check out our weekly round-up of last week’s top food startup, tech and innovation news below or peruse the full newsletter here.

1. Blue Bunny Ice Cream Maker Wells Enterprise to Buy Halo Top – Food Dive

Financial terms are undisclosed. While Eden Creamery was looking to sell Halo Top for the past couple of years for as much as $2b, Halo Top’s CEO showed little interest in the brand getting acquired by a multinational CPG company.

2. The Epstein-Funded MIT Lab Has an Ambitious Project That Purports to Revolutionize Agriculture. Insiders Say It’s Mostly Smoke and Mirrors. – Business Insider

The “personal food computer,” a device that senior researcher Caleb Harper presented as helping thousands of people across the globe grow custom, local food, simply doesn’t work.

3. UK: Food Tech Startup Strong Roots Raises $18M for Vegetable-Based Frozen Products – VentureBeat

Goode Partners led the round. Funding will cement the startup’s global expansion, particularly in the US.

4. Kroger Launches Plant-Based Collection – Food Dive

Kroger announced a new private label collection, Simple Truth Plant Based. The line will include fresh meatless burger patties and grinds along with plant-based products.

5. A Popular Salad Chain Is Ditching Beef for Good and Replacing It With Beyond Meat – Business Insider

Just Salad’s new Beyond Beef Meatball will be available nationwide as a topping for wraps and bowls. Just Salad will become the first chain to eliminate beef entirely from its menu in favor of a plant-based alternative.

6. Seattle Startup Swiftly Raises $15.6M, Launches Supermarket OS to Help Retailers Battle Amazon – GeekWire

Investors included Novel Private Equity, Mendacre, Ron Burkle, Sam McBride, The Ward Family and more. The funding round coincides with its debut of its checkout system for brick and mortar stores.

7. Simbe Raises a $26M Series A for Its Retail Inventory Robot – TechCrunch

The round was led by Venrock, and will go towards growing its headcount, exploring new markets and accelerating the deployment of its existing robots.

8. Kite Hill, Co-Founded by the Creator of Impossible Foods, Looks to Be Gaining Traction, Too – TechCrunch

The nine-year-old company is sealing up $15m in funding, bringing total funding to $80m.

9. Israel: Redefine Meat Raises $6M for 3D Printed Meat Alternatives – The Spoon

CPT Capital led the round. New capital will be used to finalize its alternative meat 3D printer and ensure that it hits its timeline release goal of 2020.

10. Magic Spoon Gets $5.5M in Seed Funds to Reinvent the Cereal Category – Food Dive

Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round. The funds will be used to expand the business, hire more people, increase marketing and create new flavors.

11. Impossible Foods Teases Location for Retail Launch, Reveals First Product – The Spoon

Its first retail product will likely be packaged around ground “meat” and launch in a city like Los Angeles or Miami.

12. SPINS Releases First State of the Natural Industry Report – Nosh

While overall food and beverage grew only 1.7% year over year, natural grew 5% within the same three year period, reaching $47.2b in dollar volume. Organic food and beverages outpace the total market at 2.8% growth.

13. SPINS Releases First State of the Natural Industry Report – Nosh

While overall food and beverage grew only 1.7% year over year, natural grew 5% within the same three year period, reaching $47.2b in dollar volume. Organic food and beverages outpace the total market at 2.8% growth.

14. Regenerative AgTech Meetup

Join us at Regenerative AgTech on September 19th to learn about the state of regenerative agriculture and how technology is helping farmers regenerate their soils. RSVP here.

15. 2018 U.S. Food & Beverage Startup Investment Report

Over $1.45B was invested across 247 deals in 2018, according to the research in our second annual investment report produced in partnership with Ryan Willams.  Check out the report for a deep dive into the investor and investment trends. We also share a complete list of deals and acquisitions.

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