New Fare

Thrilled to share that Sophie Michaels has joined New Fare for the summer as an MBA intern. Sophie is currently an MBA candidate at The Wharton School, where she's focused on #venturecapital, #entrepreneurship, and the intersection of #food, #wellness, and #women'shealth. Before business school, she spent four years at Sakara Life building influencer and brand partnerships. Sophie is also a key player in strategy and brand initiatives for her family's organic wild blueberry farm, Josh Pond. During her time at New Fare, Sophie looks forward to learning more about sourcing, evaluating, and supporting early-stage companies - as well as gaining a deeper understanding of how founders build and scale businesses and how investors can help them succeed. Sophie is especially excited about the food industry as it relates to women's health and the opportunity to use food as a tool for prevention, longevity, and overall well-being.

It’s a wild time in grocery. Food inflation is at its highest level since 2023, according to Food Dive. At the same time, we're watching Erewhon copycats - Nude Miami, Laurel Supply, Meadow Lane - pop up across the country, Prada collaborate with a fruit stand, and bottled water become a status symbol (looking at you, Loonen). On the surface, it feels a little crazy. But I don't think luxury grocery is really about groceries. One of the more surprising data points I came across while researching this: lower-income consumers are actually driving some of the fastest growth in natural and organic food spending (a la Whipstitch Capital’s State of Natural report). Meanwhile, higher-income consumers are increasingly spending their time cooking from scratch and treating premium ingredients as a lifestyle. The aspiration isn't just buying better food. It's having the time to wander a grocery store, cook an elaborate dinner, prioritize health, and not feel rushed. For decades, wealth meant convenience. Today, wealth increasingly looks like having the freedom to do things the slower, harder way. Maybe that's why an Erewhon haul or a fridge full of perfectly prepped produce resonates so much online. It's less about showing what you bought than signaling you have the time to care. I wrote more about this strange intersection of food inflation, luxury grocery, and changing consumer values in my latest Substack, linked in comments. I'd love to hear whether others are seeing the same shift. New Fare Hallie Bonnar Daisy Bowes Williamson Sophie Michaels Sabrina Wong

Amazing to be included on this year's Cherry Bombe Power List! Thank you Kerry Diamond and team. Incredible lineup of women I admire, from editors / a publication with the ultimate taste! 🍒💣 New Fare Cherry Bombe Jessica Ventura https://lnkd.in/eXmkxsWF

Better late! ... really looking forward to BevNET.com tomorrow, speaking with Martín Caballero, and connecting with this amazing list of brands and founders. Reach out if you'll be there! New Fare Hallie Bonnar Sophie Michaels Daisy Bowes Williamson Sabrina Wong Bill Shufelt David Kimmell Conor Begley Chuck Cotter John Lawson Jennie Ripps https://lnkd.in/evcBr88f

goop Kitchen just launched in New York City. It’s one worth a look given their financial performance and highly unique formula. What’s somewhat overlooked is the combination of team and approach supporting GK, and just how exceptional the players and philosophy are. A few data points worth paying attention to: +60% revenue growth in 2024 11 locations across LA + San Francisco (12th debuting this week in NYC) 700 sq ft kitchens generating $6–$9M in annual revenue Top units reportedly doing ~$20K/day That level of efficiency doesn’t happen by accident. There's precise choreography behind the scenes and an unusual combination of players: A leadership team largely from The Cheesecake Factory (decades of experience in menu engineering, ops, and scale) Michelin-level culinary input + tightly defined food standards (Kim Floresca, Gwyneth Paltrow) A delivery-first model engineered for quality (menus designed to travel, packaging optimized, food tested after ~45 mins) The product: Most dishes land around 650–750 calories, 40–50g fat, 7–10g fiber “Clean” without being punishing - craveable, repeatable, and consistent The positioning: Premium pricing (~$21 bowls) vs. fast casual peers But delivering on convenience + quality in a way few others do, and built for delivery Put simply, this is what happens when best-in-class restaurant operators meet a modern wellness brand - and execute. Congrats to the goop Kitchen team on their east coast launch, New York is thrilled! Read my love letter to goop Kitchen (admitted, huge fan and admirer of this business) at my Substack linked in Comments. New Fare Hallie Bonnar Daisy Bowes Williamson DFG Ventures goop Kitchen

We're thrilled to welcome MBA Associate Daisy Bowes Williamson aboard team New Fare! After leading innovation at her family's food business, Forager Project, Daisy moved to Stanford University Graduate School of Business to broaden her network and gain perspectives from diverse geographies, industries, and company stages. While at New Fare, Daisy looks forward to exploring the macro themes shaping the #consumer and #CPG landscape and supporting #founders that are driving innovation across the industry. In her free time, you can find Daisy on a trail run, hiking, skiing or exploring the aisles of Birite and Good Earth to procure ingredients for a new recipe. Elly Truesdell Hallie Bonnar Jacqueline Clark #MBA #Interns

Thrilled to see Jess Haghani’s Lucille Nutrition out in the world this week! We’re so proud to be early partners in this business. There’s nothing better than a founder experiencing a problem and creating the solution - in Jess’s case, in less than a year. When her grandmother was in and out of the hospital recovering from atrial fibrillation, she was given conventional, highly processed drinks (won’t name names), full of additives she didn’t need, and free from any joy. Jess and her team are building a platform for seniors - a group that can easily go overlooked, inspired by her grandmother, the sweetest muse. Can’t wait to see Lucille enter more households with their focus on real nutrition and - pure joy. Congrats Lucille team! Find it here: https://lucillehealth.com/. New Fare Hallie Bonnar Jess Haghani Jesse Merrill Jacqueline C.

I’ve been wanting to have Elly Truesdell speak at BevNET LIVE forever! She’s built several great careers and has a lot of insight on brand-building. Truly a “value added investor.”

Great conversation with Matt Rodbard on the Taste Podcast. He has a great way of guiding a discussion about grocery 🛒 into something far more nuanced - and genuinely interesting. We cover: - New ways of cooking - Digital zealots & shared values - Affordable luxury - Compression of time - Substack(s) - Product launches & consumer choice - Alison Roman's pasta sauce Such a fun chat! Can listen here: https://lnkd.in/em8KenbT New Fare Matt Rodbard Bachan's Substack

Southern California was abuzz last week. Among the halls in Anaheim, the aisles of Erewhon, and the Snaxshot “People’s Expo” kickoff in Santa Monica, a few clear themes emerged. As always, the real gold wasn’t necessarily in the expo halls - it was in the side conversations, unmarked coolers, products being pulled from backpacks, always in limited supply. 2026 #ExpoWest was a year of innovation, custom totes, data, and �� beef tallow. Some observations from the floor and beyond: 1. There’s an Expo game and some are playing at the highest level. GOODLES might just be the Expo champs. From the team uniform to the multicolored shag backdrop to the immersive noodle pit, this brand oozes virality. Interestingly, several other large brands skipped booths entirely (Graza, Magic Spoon) not seeing the ROI, raising the question of how Expo’s role continues to evolve. 2. Energy is in high demand. The country must be exhausted. From natural caffeine and magnesium-based “calm energy” to coffee hybrids and gummies, brands are attacking the energy category from every angle - with even more concepts quietly circulating off the show floor. We saw ESSPO, Odyssey, Thunder Coffee and Elos, to name a few. 3. The merch bandwagon is real. The viral Belgian Boys tote moment of 2025 struck a chord. This year, it (literally) struck me - as custom bags were barreling around every corner. The adoption of the tote is a reminder of how quickly ideas (product and marketing) are borrowed across the #CPG ecosystem and those who develop a truly unique and creative launch (bravo Anouck and team) are the outliers. 4. Data is becoming the industry’s currency. With ~80,000 attendees and more products than ever, buyers and brands are leaning harder on data. This is a far cry from where things were during my Whole Foods Market tenure (we hardly had any data and relied on white space as our guide). Today, platforms like WISEcode, NielsenIQ, and Instacart are offering a sophisticated analysis of attributes and claims, some of the industry’s most valuable assets. 5. Useful Innovation is back. After a few years of pragmatic line extensions, this year brought thoughtful new formats - from saucy noodles (FLY BY JING) and labneh snacks (BEZI) to Actual Veggies’ new veggie-packed dinosaur-shaped nuggets for kids (a NEXTY award winner!). 6. And yes… it was the year of beef tallow. Beef tallow - chips, bars, you name it - was everywhere. A surprising explosion given the price point but there's no doubt, tallow is here. My prediction: we’ll look back at this moment the way we now look back at the peak plant-based wave of 2019 just as that, a moment. #Expo remains one of the few places where the entire natural foods world collides in the same week - and those collisions still matter. I love the time in person and unexpected run ins that make this conference relevant and still, irreplaceable. Read more detail on my Substack, linked in comments. New Fare Hallie Bonnar