The founders of Kevin’s Natural Foods are preparing a second act in better-for-you snacks, two years after selling their clean label meal company to Mars, Inc.

The new brand – known as Wild Fox – launched today with a differentiated approach to roasted nuts, trail mixes and protein bars that leans heavily into its no-seed-oil status and adopts a familiar approach when held against the co-founding duo’s previous packaged food business.

Co-founders Kevin McCray and Kelsie Costa (who were both behind the former’s namesake brand) are kicking off with three roasted nut varieties and four trail mixes as well as three indulgent bar flavors that each pack 15 grams of protein and 11 grams of fiber. 

But it’s small tweaks to the production process that skew the product from category norms – such as only using its nut roasting oil one time and forgoing the use of refined sugar. 

• Instead, the nuts are roasted in single-use avocado oil and sweetened with coconut sugar and monk fruit. 
• As for the bars, protein isolate crisps were worked in rather than powders for a lighter mouthfeel and added crunch.  

As for the impetus for the new self-funded project, McCray and Costa said that after spending a year helping to integrate Kevin’s into its new multinational owner’s framework, they felt there was still space to execute against their initial mission.

“With Kevin’s, we started with this mission of empowering people to eat clean without sacrificing flavor,” McCray said. “But when we looked at what to do next, it’s not like that mission went away.”

Insiders can access the full story to understand the duo’s strategic decision on locating the business and how it made a ‘pivotal’ choice on its manufacturing arrangement.

A slow and steady growth strategy is Dress It Up Dressing’s secret sauce as it works to capture the “sleepy” salad dressing category, said founder and CEO Sophia Maroon.

🍑 At Natural Products Expo West this week, Dress It Up will debut its first new products in over seven years: A Green Goddess dressing and Peach Vinaigrette.

🆕 The 15-year-old brand has grown incrementally without innovating on flavor over the past five years, adding new formats, securing a bit of funding and, most recently, retooling its business structure to protect margins.

🔊 “The best thing that [retail partners] can do is give us a reason to innovate and help an emerging brand understand the market in a way that only they can offer,” Maroon said.

Insiders can access the full story to understand how Dress It Up cut its freight and supplier costs, snagged new cash and is now strategizing for foodservice growth.

Meal kit brands once dominated the online direct-to-consumer market, but changes in consumer behavior and high input costs pushed these companies toward traditional brick-and-mortar retail and new product formats as they work to sustain growth.

⏪ Last week, we took a look at why and how Blue Apron, Daily Harvest and more have pivoted and what their evolution means for the broader meal kit category.

Insiders can read the whole story on Nosh.

Supergut is scaling for “a year of full omnichannel proliferation” after raising $22 million in equity funding and appointing a new CEO.

🫡 Former Vital Proteins leader Tracey Warner Halama will lead the gut health brand while founder Marc Washington will move into an executive chairman position.

📈 Full Frame Growth Partners (of which Warner Halama is an operating partner) led an undisclosed investment round to fund the brand’s distribution goals.

Insiders can read the full story to learn more about Warner Halama’s plans for the company’s new capital.

What’s the difference between “JUST” and “Just”? A little over half a million dollars, in the case of JUST Water vs. Eat Just. 

⚔️ The vegan egg startup’s decade-long tussle with actor Jaden Smith, co-founder (with father Will Smith) of sustainable packaged water company JUST Water, over the “Just” trademark took another turn when a U.S. District Judge ruled that Eat Just and founder Josh Tetrick must pay $575,000 for violating an agreement governing its use of capitalization on the word “Just.”

💰 The latest update comes after Judge William Orrick issued a $5,000 per day per diem fine on Eat Just for selective use of capital letters in 2023; that total now stands at over $2.8 million, an amount Orrick deemed “excessive.”

📝 The new total was determined after Eat Just provided financial information to the court and in consideration of the company’s “financial resources and… seriousness of the burden.”

Private investment firm New Water Capital Partners has acquired Dutch Gold Honey and related businesses McLure’s Honey & Maple Products, Gamber Container Company, The Bacon Jug Company and DGH Logistics.

🐻 Founded in 1946, Dutch Gold notably invented the Iconic squeezable honey bear container. 

💰 New Water Capital’s previous investments include Klosterman Baking Company, The Perfect Bite Co. and Pegasus Foods.

Here’s a taste of the people moving around the industry to start off your week. 

🛒 Kroger CEO and chairman Rodney McMullen has resigned after a board investigation deemed his personal conduct “inconsistent” with the grocery company’s policy on business ethics. Lead director Ronald Sargent will serve as chairman and interim CEO while the board searches for a replacement.

🍅 Carbone Fine Food has promoted sales executive Christopher Wendling to EVP of marketing. 

🍬 Issei Mochi Gummies has added Bobobam founder and longtime finance leader Brian Khoddam as a strategic advisor.

🍪 Mondelēz International has elevated former PepsiCo executive Norberto Chaclin to the role of EVP and Chief R&D Officer.

🌯 Tortilla maker COYOTAS has appointed Ponder Foods founder and former Siete Foods COO Ben Ponder as executive chairman.

🧇 Ayo Foods co-founder Perteet Spencer is joining waffle brand Evergreen as VP of sales.