Image Credit: AgFunder News

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.

In recent industry developments, the founders of Perfect Day, a company known for its innovative approach to producing whey protein through fermentation, have announced their departure as the company finalizes a substantial $90 million Pre-Series E funding round. An interim CEO has been appointed, and the company has hinted at an imminent collaboration with a prominent CPG company set to leverage their groundbreaking whey protein technology. In another breakthrough, engineers at MIT have introduced a vibrating, ingestible capsule designed to potentially aid in treating obesity. Ingested before meals, the capsule aims to induce a sensation of fullness, fooling the brain into perceiving satiety and curbing overeating.

In other news, we’ve wrapped the first season of our podcast in partnership with AgFunder: New Food Order, a nuanced investigation into the business of tackling our climate and social crises through food and agriculture. Read all about why we launched the podcast, and be sure to subscribe and share!

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1. Perfect Day Founders Step Away As Company Finalizes ~$90M Pre-Series E, Installs Interim CEO – AFN

Both founders are stepping down, and the company is teasing a launch with a leading CPG company that will be using its whey protein from fermentation.

2. Engineers Develop a Vibrating, Ingestible Capsule That Might Help Treat Obesity – MIT News

Swallowing the device before a meal could create a sense of fullness, tricking the brain into thinking it’s time to stop eating.

3. From Clinique to Kraft, How TikTok Became a Kingmaker of Brands for Gen Z – Fast Company

“TikTok made me buy it” is the new mantra for marketers going into 2024. Do they risk sapping the platform of the authenticity that made it popular to begin with?

4. Beyond Meat in ‘Survival’ Mode, ‘Jaundiced’ Indoor Ag Investors, AI in Every Pitchdeck… – AFN

2023 has been a challenging year for agrifoodtech startups, with high interest rates, inflation and fundraising challenges.

5. COP28 Leaders Deliberate the Way Forward for Food Systems – Forbes

One hundred and fifty-nine countries have now pledged to incorporate food into their climate strategies by the year 2025.

6. The Top 20 Agtech Deals of 2023 – AFN

Agtech deals of 2023 followed much the same trajectory as other tech sectors, with lower valuations and far fewer mega-rounds than seen in the VC heyday of 2021 and early 2022.

7. Major French Retailer Drops PepsiCo Products Over High Prices – New York Times

Carrefour, a supermarket chain, said the maker of Pepsi, Lay’s and 7-Up was keeping its food “unacceptably” expensive despite falling inflation.

8. Branded Hospitality Launches New $50M Foodservice Venture Fund – FoodBev

Branded operates as an integrated platform that invests, supports and accelerates technology and emerging brands in the food, beverage and hospitality sector.

9. Gen Zers Who Want the Buzz But Not the Hangover Are Fueling a Nonalcoholic Spirits Boom – Bloomberg

Sales of nonalcoholic spirits are poised to grow at five times the rate of conventional ones.