Mason Arnold

Consolidation is proving to be a viable alternative for some companies in the once-hot food tech space. David 🤝 Epogee PepsiCo 🤝 poppi Flowers Foods & Subsidiaries 🤝 Simple Mills The Hershey Company 🤝 LesserEvil Brand Snack Co. FoodYoung 🤝 MeliBio Big Idea Ventures 🤝 Vevolution Venture funding for food tech has fallen sharply in recent years, but M&A activity in the space appears to be on the rise. The funding and dealmaking trends indicate that in the face of declining investor interest, consolidation is proving to be a viable alternative for some companies in the once-hot food tech space. Nathan Cooper of Barrel Ventures shares, “Many of the companies that were funded were years, if not decades away from commercial viability. They were seeing tech valuations, and required substantial amounts of cap-ex, when at the end of the day what they were selling was a CPG (consumer packaged goods) product and should have been valued as such.” Andrew D Ive of Big Idea Ventures commented, “Valuations have normalized compared to two years ago, creating an attractive window for strategic buyers to acquire de-risked, well-funded companies with validated technologies — often at reasonable prices.” This is a great article by Crunchbase highlighting the consolidation activity of the foodtech space. My tip to startups who are struggling to fundraise. Start having serious M&A conversations because you might be surprised at the partnerships you may find! https://lnkd.in/gHVJ35nm

19

Redesign processed foods for metabolism first H/T Robert Lustig Consumer tools are turning nutrition from guesswork into data. Yuka’s latest impact survey reports 94% of users put back red‑rated items and 92% buy fewer ultra‑processed foods. In France, Intermarché reformulated 900 products and removed 142 additives to improve scores. Consumers are forming their decision before they enter the store. Yuka is sealing the deal in-store. Your front-of-package label is becoming irrelevant. The takeaway for operators and investors is simple. Measure nutrition. Publish it. Formulate for human metabolism with real data. Evolution gave whole food the market advantage. We’re investors in Edacious (See attached). We backed them because verified nutrient testing and software unlock consumer demand. That signal drives reformulation, rewards value‑added agriculture, and challenges the old healthcare model that monetized chronic disease. The biggest willingness to pay for better shows up in baby food, meat and meat alternatives, dairy and plant‑based yogurts and milks. It’s weaker in sodas and energy drinks. Reformulate where it counts. This won’t flip in months. System shifts take decades to touch the whole market. But returns show up in years for teams that align with nutrition, transparency, and measured quality, while the commodity markets race to the bottom. That’s how food moves from DIY Longevity to an integrated food‑is‑health stack across healthcare, pharma, wellness, and food, and from a niche to the mass market. https://lnkd.in/gsh2ffrZ

14

1 Comment

Palm wine is one of the oldest alcohol categories in the world. I'd never heard about it until I met Onye. Onye Ahanotu from Ikenga Wines wants to bring palm wine to the U.S. market that’s made 100% in the US. He has invented a bio-design process that recreates palm sap without the palm tree. He uses plants to recreate the properties of the sap and then runs it through a traditional fermentation process to produce palm wine in tanks. Onye’s vision is to use this bio-design/bio-manufacturing process to create an entirely new product category in the US. Full conversation up at Going Direct later this week.  Link in comments below.

43

3 Comments

🚨 FOOD INDUSTRY EARTHQUAKE: Walmart’s Great Value, the biggest packaged consumer food brand in the U.S., is unleashing a game-changing revolution in grocery aisles nationwide! Found in nearly every American household and generating billions in annual sales, this retail titan is eliminating synthetic food dyes—like Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, and Blue 1—and more than 30 additional artificial ingredients, including sodium benzoate, aspartame, synthetic vanillin, and other preservatives, sweeteners, and fat substitutes, from thousands of its products. Starting in 2026, with a full rollout by 2027, cereals, yogurts, sodas, snacks, candies, and baked goods will feature vibrant natural alternatives like beet juice, turmeric, spirulina, and carrot extracts for clean, plant-based color and flavor. While organic ingredients are what I require for my family, this is a seismic shift for the food industry. And the BEST part? Walmart attributes this bold change to MARKET PRESSURES—proof that America’s priorities are shifting toward healthier, transparent food choices! Fueled by consumer demand and petitions with over 200,000 signatures raising concerns about synthetic dyes’ potential links to hyperactivity and health concerns in children, Walmart is also axing artificial preservatives and flavorings. With Great Value’s massive reach—stocked in over 4,600 stores and dominating by sales and volume—this overhaul could redefine industry standards, pushing competitors like Target and Kroger to follow. Remarkably, Walmart pledges to keep prices steady as suppliers reformulate. This monumental pivot by the brand that feeds millions daily signals a cleaner, healthier future for grocery shopping, driven by the collective voice of American consumers. 🔗 Full announcement from Walmart: https://lnkd.in/gaxdsxKH

22

6 Comments

Generous Brands, the powerhouse behind Bolthouse Farms, just acquired Health-Ade for $500M. This isn’t just a deal—it’s a signal that functional beverages are no longer niche. With Health-Ade’s stronghold in kombucha and probiotics, and Generous already leading in smoothies, cold-pressed juices, and protein drinks, they’re building a modern wellness beverage empire. At a time when consumer demand is shifting from “free-from” to “full-of”—think gut health, clean energy, and added function—this acquisition positions Generous as a frontrunner in modern nutrition. This also raises the stakes for brands like Poppi and Olipop. The category is heating up fast, and distribution, speed to market, and real brand storytelling will be key to standing out. Read More: https://lnkd.in/eZbyGZBz #Hospitality #Insiders Branded Hospitality #FunctionalBeverages #Kombucha #Health Hospitality Headline Newsletter Steve Cornell Amy Shoemaker Charlotte Mostaed Justin Trout Vanessa Dew Dustin Beck

7

1 Comment

FOUNDER BEWARE: It's time I write about this again. YET AGAIN -- I spoke to a CPG founder getting nothing after the sale of her company. Her company was raking in tens of millions with very healthy EBITDA. It was due to expedience for the PE to sell quickly and at a loss -- they needed to close out that fund. It didn't matter to them because they had done so well with the other companies in the fund. The acquiring PE didn't care, either -- no, they celebrated the pennies-on-the-dollar acquisition. All upside to them. The founders got nothing after years of building a well-known and profitable brand (which is rare these days). And of course, the early investors -- the friends and family who believed in the mission -- got nothing, either. Just a few months ago, another founder/CEO I know was unceremoniously booted out of his company with nothing. No longer needed. "We'll take it from here." This was a brand starting to build traction, with unparalleled innovation in alt-dairy. No one in the world knows why their most exciting product simply disappeared from the marketplace, not even that he was kicked out of his own company. Then there was another booming company whose young founders had their company sold from under their feet for pennies on the dollar just like the one I mention above. Their company was also profitable, but needed just a small infusion of cash. Instead of allowing for further investment, the company was sold for a song in a deal where the lead PE got it all and the founders nothing. And the PE couldn't have timed it better when the couple was pregnant. I've heard these stories time and time again. Why does every founder in the food space think that as long as they are successful, they will have a great exit? And why is no one talking about it? BECAUSE THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT IT. It's a dirty secret and it's in the interest of investors not to let you know about it as they feign "founder friendly." If the truth were known about your chances of EVER cashing out, then you'd likely be deterred. It's basically high-stakes gambling. You put your heart, sweat, and tears to build a company, and if you're lucky, you actually get on shelf and build an established brand. A founder has less than a 10% chance of that ever happening, but it's likely a risk worth taking for that promise of a successful exit. Only the chances of getting anything from that exit is also less than 10%. Yes, you hear a lot of fanfare about the entrepreneurs who actually walked away with millions -- but you hear about them because they are the exception. Ultimately, perhaps this isn't the system we should be building. Perhaps the whole model is wrong. Perhaps the pursuit of riches itself is the problem. If we're all truly involved for the "mission" or "impact," then maybe we should be building businesses that model that -- with balanced fairness to founders, employees, and investors. I have a lot more to say on this. Later.

563

173 Comments

Most founders focus on scaling the business. But what happens when the business grows faster than you do? If your calendar is full, decisions are stalled, and you feel like the bottleneck—you don’t need another hire. You need better systems. In this week's blog, I explore what it really means to scale yourself as a founder: Build a founder operating system that protects your time, energy, and focus Establish team rhythms that create alignment without adding noise Design for exit optionality—even if you never plan to sell Because sustainable growth doesn’t come from doing more. It comes from doing less, better, and building systems that outlast you. 👉 Read: “Systems for Growth: Scaling You, Not Just the Business” https://lnkd.in/gAwpWE8t #founderlife #leadership #highperformance #startupgrowth #entrepreneurship #cpgfounders #coaching TIG Brands TIG Collective

15

1 Comment