• 💸 Hershey To Acquire LesserEvil
• 📲 Could Amazon Buy TikTok?
• 📉 Conagra Brands: Sales, Profit Slip 
• 🚚 Distribution: Actual Veggies, Zesty Z
• 🍫 Tony’s Chocolonely Recalls Products
• ⚠️ The War On Ultraprocessed Foods

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has effectively ended the Hardship Accommodation Plan (HAP) for COVID-19-related Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) as of March 19. 

Rewind: The EIDL program was the predecessor to the later-forgiven Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and, due to its strict terms, put enormous financial pressure on many of its recipients, including a lot of food companies.

HAP served as a lifeline for many of the small business owners Nosh spoke with last year about the challenges they faced while paying back borrowed EIDL funds.

The program allowed small business owners to make reduced payments toward their loans over a six-month period with the ability to reapply up to five times.

EIDL recipients are largely unable to raise outside capital to continue funding their businesses without defaulting on their loans due to a specific clause forbidding ownership and equity transfers without SBA approval.

Making matters worse, communication with the agency is likely to become more difficult after 43% of its workforce has been eliminated under the Trump administration’s attack on the federal workforce.

Get all of the details on HAP’s abrupt end and what this means for outstanding EIDL loans on Nosh. 

The Hershey Company has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire organic snack maker LesserEvil. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The acquisition would expand Hershey’s snacking portfolio, which includes SkinnyPop, Dot’s Homestyle Pretzels and Pirate’s Booty, while adding manufacturing capabilities and capacity.

💬 What they said: “Hershey's century-long legacy of excellence creates not just strategic alignment but a true cultural home where wecan continue to grow and make an impact." – Charles Coristone, CEO of LesserEvil

Stay tuned for a full story on Nosh later today.

Tick tock. As the deadline for a TikTok ban approaches, several potential buyers – including Amazon.com – have emerged. 

• The ecommerce giant entered a last-minute bid to acquire the platform via an offer letter addressed to Vice President JD Vance and commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, the New York Times reported. 
• Parties involved in the talks said the White House does not view Amazon’s bid as likely to progress, according to the Wall Street Journal.

💰 Mobile technology company AppLovin has also made a bid for TikTok. Others in the running include cloud computing company Oracle and private equity firms Silver Lake and Blackstone. 

Catch up: TikTok On The Chopping Block: How To Prepare For A Ban

Against a backdrop of lagged consumption and “discrete” supply chain constraints, Conagra Brands posted a 6.3% sales decline and a 17.3% drop in gross profit during Q3, according to its quarterly earnings report released today. Here are some key numbers: 

• Reported operating margin was 8.4%, representing a 712 basis-point decrease. Adjusted operating margin was 12.7%.
• Reported diluted earnings per share (EPS) was $0.30, a 53.1% drop.
• Conagra’s fiscal 2025 guidance remains unchanged, with the company expecting a 2% decrease in organic net sales compared to 2024. 

💭 “We are making solid progress in restoring inventory and improving customer service levels. We continue to monitor the dynamic external environment while remaining focused on execution,” said Sean Connolly, CEO, in a prepared statement. 

A full earnings recap will be available on Nosh later today.

🍔 On the heels of its $7 million Series A round, chef-crafted veggie burger brand Actual Veggies has announced a partnership with Eurest, a leader in the non-commercial foodservice space that serves the majority of Fortune 100 companies.

🍨 Beaded ice cream maker Mini Melts has expanded its c-store presence through a new partnership with Royal Farms. The brand’s frozen novelty treats will be available in six flavors in nearly 300 Royal Farms locations across seven states.

🛒 Zesty Z has introduced its Perfect Pita Chips in Sea Salt and Parmesan Garlic flavors to all 280 Meijer stores across the Midwest. The brand’s snacks feature twice-baked fresh pita and contain 25% fewer carbs (14 grams) and five times more fiber (6 grams) per serving than its competitors. 

Check out the full distribution news roundup on Nosh. 

Those aren’t nuts: Tony’s Chocolonely is recalling two of its chocolate products because they may contain small stones.

• Affected products include the brand’s Everything Bar (6.35 oz.) and Dark Almond Sea Salt Bar (6.35 oz.) distributed nationwide between Feb. 7 and March 24. 

• The company initiated the recall after receiving 12 reports of consumers finding small stones in the product that were not filtered during third-party almond harvesting and processing.
• The complaints occurred outside of the U.S. and Canada, and no injuries were reported.

In this episode, the CPG Week team discusses industry and regulatory efforts to define and restrict ultraprocessed foods in the U.S. food supply.

🫨 But first, the team chats about standout April Fools’ brand pranks – as well as which real product left a bad taste in one podcaster’s mouth.

🍟 The group unpacks recent bans on certain food additives and why a state-by-state patchwork could create major headaches for food manufacturers.

Click here to listen to this week’s episode. Also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

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