It seems Patriot Pickle did in fact pack a peck of preservative-filled pickled peppers. In the latest #picklegate update, Patriot Pickle has admitted in court filings that its Wahlburgers pickles did, in fact, contain artificial preservative sodium benzoate. The admission comes after Boston-based Grillo’s Pickles filed an injunction in a New Jersey federal court claiming that hamburger chain Wahlburgers misled consumers with its Wahlburgers At-Home packaged pickle line – produced through Patriot Pickle – by falsely claiming their pickles are “fresh,” “all-natural” and contain “no preservatives.”

• In June, Patriot Pickle filed a memorandum supporting a motion to dismiss the injunction, claiming Grillo’s failed to provide facts “satisfying the injury prong of the Lanham Act false advertising claim.” 
• After admitting the pickles contained sodium benzoate, Patriot Pickle also said that it has taken actions to ensure future shipments of Wahlburgers pickles will be sodium benzoate-free, according to the motion. The company also alleged that any Wahlburgers shipped prior to the admission are now past their best-by date and therefore are “unlikely to be on store shelves.” 
• Following these developments, The United States Court for the District of New Jersey has decided to set aside Grillo’s preliminary injunction motion. However, Grillo’s will continue to pursue its claims against Patriot Pickle, ARKK Food Company and Wahlburgers, LLC for damages under the Lanham Act and unfair competition law.

Grillo’s will also continue to pursue its other lawsuit against Patriot Pickle alleging theft of its proprietary recipe to produce a line of “nearly identical” products for Whole Foods Market, filed last month.

CPGs continue to bear the majority burden of operational costs while retailers and suppliers along the value chain have unlocked automation and efficiencies to combat the rising cost of doing business, according to a new report from The Food Industry Association (FMI) and the Boston Consulting Group. The 2023 Supply Chain Benchmarking Report surveyed 25 food industry businesses including 12 CPGs, 4 wholesalers and 9 retailers.

Highlights: 

• Labor and transportation shortages continue to impact on-shelf availability. Meanwhile, raw material supply chains have largely normalized, but are still performing below optimal levels
• Costs have risen quicker than revenues, putting more pressure on CPG’s who bear the largest share of “plant-to-shelf” across the value chain
• Retailers were able to grow margins due to more efficient store labor models and tech investments while CPGs lagged in growth. 
• According to the report manufacturing labor is 2x “tighter” than it has been in the past two decades.  
• In 2023, analysts expect cost logistics will improve across the value chain. For retailers and manufacturers, investments in automation and labor retention are essential. 

Ready to get the TL;DR on the sale of noodle brand Nona Lim? The NOSH team has you covered with an interview about the deal. According to founder Nona Lim, discussions with acquirer DDC, founded by Norma Chu, began when the two founders spoke on a panel together last year and connected over their shared experiences as Asian female entrepreneurs.

With DDC looking to enter the U.S. market, and Nona Lim in need of supply chain resources to ramp up new product innovation, Lim said the conversation continued for nearly nine months before the duo decided that joining forces made sense for both businesses. “This is not about selling to retire, it is more about finding somebody that I can go the journey with together," said Lim. "It was really enticing as well because being a solo founder it can be lonely sometimes and to meet another fellow female, solo founder – I think it was the right time, right place, great fit.”

Want more details? Read the full story.

YouTube influencer MrBeast, also known as Jimmy Donaldson, has filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Virtual Dining Concepts, the company operating his ghost kitchen fast food chain MrBeast Burger. The suit alleges that poor product quality controls led, in some cases, to consumers being served “inedible” meals including entirely raw or undercooked hamburgers. Donaldson further believes this has “irreparably harmed” his reputation. 

The YouTuber opened a physical location for the concept in New Jersey last September after two years of selling the food chain’s products via 1,700 ghost kitchens in the U.S. Donaldson claims VDC was more interested in using his business as a platform to “rush” expansion and attract other influencer partners. The news comes only two months after Donaldson announced he would step away from being actively involved in the restaurant business, instead devoting his attention to growing his snack platform Feastables.

Girl dinner or Dad Bod dinner? The NOSH team shares their thoughts on TikTok’s latest food trend while also running down important news from the plant-based sector this week. Then….How can you make sure your company’s mission carries on well regardless of corporate changes? Well, for one chocolate maker that meant adopting a new “future-proof” business structure that locks its mission into place even if the company sells and all shareholders are cleared out. This week, we spoke to Tony’s Chocolonely Mission Guardian Anne-Wil Dijkstra to learn why the company went this route and how the concept of a Mission Lock came to be. Dijkstra then shares some tips for emerging brands, including at what phase of growth they should begin thinking about locking in their impact and what she hopes large corporations take from the move as well.

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Here’s what we’re reading and pondering as we head into the weekend.

• We’ve never thought about it, but why is flour sold in bags? What other products have terrible packaging, in your humble opinions? 
• Diamond Salt had a glow up. Now home chefs are discovering what restaurants have known for years, Diamond is in fact a girl’s (or anyone’s) best friend. Just goes to show what a little packaging love and a new pack size can do for a brand. 
• Shout out to Feastables VP of customer service Jess Cervellon whose phone number somehow leaked to customers, all of whom wanted to reach none other than Mr Beast. After getting, reportedly, hundreds of calls, Jess’ hot tip is to never use a personal phone number when setting up company systems. 
• The best lunch right now is clearly a tomato sandwich. Bread, mayo, tomato, maybe a little salt. This is not the time to add adaptogens (we’ll maybe give you some avocado oil mayo). For those who want to preserve the memory year-round, Duke’s has released a “Hot Tomato Summer” candle, get 'em while they're ripe.