• 🥔 Little Latke's Potato Pancake Snacks
• 🔐 Keychain Lines Up New Capital 
• 💸 Meatable Secures New Investment
• 📉 ADM Posts Profit, Revenue Declines
• 🥔 Consumers Take on Potato Price Fixing
• 🎧 The Fees Inflating Your Grocery Bill
• 🔑 The Keys To Building An Iconic Brand? A Bit Of ‘Luck’ & And A Long-Term Vision.

Hanukkah comes late this year (in time for a true Chrismukkah!), but startup snack maker Little Latke got out ahead of the season with the launch of its shelf-stable potato pancake crisps. The new product is the brainchild of first-time founder Taylor Blue, who talked with Nosh recently about her journey in CPG.

🕎 The idea for the brand came from a beloved family recipe and a desire to bring the love of latkes to a broader audience of consumers. Blue spoke about how her launch strategy has revolved around feedback from consumers and talking with other entrepreneurs.

🛒 Her 2.2 oz. pouches of latke crisps launched DTC last week and are also available in a growing number of independent grocers in her Chicagoland area as well as the Northeast.

🗣️ What she said: “I tell people we would feel out of place in the chip aisle. We lean more on that premium cracker crisp. I look forward to seeing how people are going to respond to this style of packaging. It is a pinch-to-close, resealable bag. I didn’t want it to be something that you can rip open and then figure out how to store. Some people are going to eat it all in one go or some might want to come back to it later.”

Read how Blue is helping carve out a niche in next-gen Jewish food on Nosh.

Fresh off a $2.5 million infusion from The Hershey Company, manufacturing matchmaker Keychain announced today another $15 million in additional funding led by BoxGroup. The round also included investment from General Mills and Schreiber Foods, bringing the company’s total funding to $33 million in about a year since its launch.

☑️ Existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners and SV Angel also contributed on the round.

🤝  Keychain claims it will help facilitate over $500 million per month in projected volume through its platform.

Dutch cultured meat maker Meatable has added new investors as part of a $30 million Series B extension. Betagro Ventures – the venture arm of the Thailand-based food company – and Desmos Capital Partners – an investment bank launched by former UK Energy Minister Chris Skidmore – contributed to the round.

🥩 Meatable brought on meat industry executive Jeff Tripician over the summer to begin transforming the food tech company into an asset-light ingredient provider that will license its technology to animal-meat companies. 

🤑 The extension round will not replace a planned $35 million Series C round but will buy time for the company to scale its processes for the new investment, Tripician told Axios.

🇸🇬 Like many in the still-nascent cultured protein category, Meatable is targeting Singapore as one of the first places to show its commercially-viable products. Tripician posted last week on LinkedIn that it is hiring a Head of Asia role to spearhead its growth in the region.

🐦 In other cultivated meat news: Cell-grown startup Vow today announced the launch of the first cultured quail ‘Foie Gras.’ The company launched its first cell-grown meat product, Forged Parfait, in April 2024 and claims it remains the only company actively serving cultured meat. 

After abruptly postponing its Q3 earnings call earlier this month due to accounting errors, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) today posted quarterly profit and revenue declines in line with its previously announced primary results. Here’s a look at the numbers: 

• Net earnings dropped 23% year-over-year to $18 million. 
• Earnings before income taxes were $108 million, down 90% compared to Q3 2023.
• Earnings per share (EPS) were $0.04, and adjusted earnings per share was $1.09, both down versus the prior-year period. 

🔍 ADM has been under fire this year after an internal investigation found sales between its nutrition business and other core units weren’t recorded properly, reported Reuters. In March, the company was forced to correct six years of financial data. 

🗣️ What they said: “Accuracy and transparency are important to the company, and we are pleased to have now completed the restatement and be current with our financial filing. We continue to focus on implementing enhancements to internal controls to ensure integrity and accuracy of reporting.” - Juan Luciano, CEO and chairman of the board

A group of consumer-led class actions are aiming to take on an alleged “potato cartel” – consisting of Lamb Weston, McCain Foods, J.R. Simplot Co. and Cavendish Farms – which it claims have conspired to raise prices of potato products including French fries, hash browns, tater tots and other frozen potato items.  

📲 These potato giants have been targeted by three separate complaints, which claim the companies directly communicate competitive pricing data with one another. 

📊 One of the suits also names research firm, Circana, which operates a "PotatoTrac" statistical analysis with data provided by these four companies, and trade association National Potato Promotion Board, as defendants.

🍟 The companies control nearly 98% of the potato market with Lamb Weston holding 40%, McCain at 30%, JRS with 20% and Cavendish holding 8%, the complaint states. 

Go Deeper: Jesse & Ben’s Take Aim At ‘Big Potato’.

The Wall Street Journal has been digging into a challenge you likely know about all too well: chargeback and deduction fees from distributors. In addition to a feature story earlier this month, today The Journal podcast sat down with Kyle Koehler, the founder of granola brand Wildway, to understand how those fees are contributing to higher prices at checkout.

Go Deeper: Revamped UNFI Supplier Pact Stirs Industry Debate.

Luke Boase, the founder of Lucky Saint, a fast-growing brand of non-alcoholic beer from the U.K.,  talks about why the brand’s potential for an iconic future has always been top of mind. He also explains how the company incorporates consumer insights and data into its retail pitches and how he thinks about competing with beer companies owned by or aligned with large strategics. 

Listen to the episode now.