Image Credit: Forbes
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.
The Boar’s Head deli meat empire is facing significant turmoil as it grapples with multiple crises, including a fatal listeria outbreak, the shutdown of a key plant, and internal conflicts between its founding families. These challenges have cast uncertainty over the billion-dollar brand’s future. Meanwhile, restaurants across the country are navigating their own struggles, as climate change causes supply disruptions and ingredient shortages. Restaurateurs are adapting by reconsidering staple ingredients, fostering stronger relationships with suppliers, and finding innovative solutions to rising food costs to remain resilient in an increasingly unpredictable food supply chain.
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. Inside the Chaos at Boar’s Head – Forbes
How a fatal listeria outbreak, a plant shutdown and a nasty beef among the founding families has left the billion-dollar deli meat empire in peril.
2. Weathering Climate Shocks: How Restaurants Survive Supply Disruptions – Civil Eats
To overcome ingredient shortages and high food costs, some restaurateurs are rethinking their staple ingredients and strengthening their relationships with suppliers.
3. Asheville Restaurants Jump Into Action After Hurricane Helene’s Massive Destruction – Eater
How to help communities in Western North Carolina recover from the storm.
4. Helaina Raises $45M to Launch Effera Human Lactoferrin with Kroma Wellness, Mitsubishi & More – Green Queen
The company describes the ingredient as the first bioactive protein to be used in functional foods, beverages, and supplements. It is said to boost iron homeostasis and metabolism, and promote a balanced immune response and beneficial microbiome.
5. Israel’s DairyX Foods Unveils ‘Self-Assembling’ Animal-Free Casein Micelles, Eyes 2027 US Launch – Green Queen
To deliver stretchy, melty cheese and firmer, creamier yogurt free from cows, DairyX Foods has come upon a novel solution for its precision fermentation technology.
6. Global ‘Slow Food’ Movement Embraces Agroecology – Monga Bay
Edward Mukiibi emphasizes the need to unite farmers globally through networks like Slow Food Farms, promoting agroecological practices to reduce dependency on harmful, input-driven agriculture.
7. California Becomes First State to Ban “Sell By” Dates on Packaged Foods – CAW Recycles
Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 660, which bans the use of consumer-facing “Sell By” dates and requires the use of standardized food date labeling terminology.
8. FDA Looks to Check Up On Food Chemicals, But Where’s the Money? – Food Fix
State bans and consumer uproar have put pressure on FDA to review the safety of numerous chemicals already in the food supply. The agency now has a plan to step up oversight, but warns it lacks the resources to carry it out.
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