• 🏭 Why TruFoods and Bar Bakers Tied the Knot
• 🌭 Impossible Introduces New Marketing Campaign
• 🥩 L2 Capital Acquires BBQ Brand Kosmos Q
• ❌ CPG Startup App Feed Fails
• 💳 CPG Week: Cannabis and Credit Woes

With the “Ozempic Era” in full swing, an increasing number of U.S. consumers are using appetite-suppressing GLP-1 drugs and, overall, eating less, especially when it comes to sweets, sugary drinks, carbs, and dairy products. But is this paradigm shift temporary, or does it signal a lasting impact for CPG food and beverage? 

In a webinar last week, food and beverage development firm Mattson shared findings from a recent study of over 100 current and past anti-obesity medicine (AOM) users. Here’s a top-level view: 

• In terms of beverage habits, 59% of surveyed consumers increased their water consumption while 66% reported drinking less soda and alcohol. 
• Ninety-two percent of respondents said they were regularly eating less, with 61% eating fewer meals and 51% consuming fewer snacks. 
• Consumption shifts are also reflected by changes in buying behavior; AOM users bought more whole and organic foods, more ingredients for cooking at home and grocery shopped less frequently. 

We’ve already seen companion products that aim to support this consumer group (like Daily Harvest’s GLP-1 Food Companion Collection), but how can brands go further?

According to Mattson’s findings, AOM users are seeking smaller portion sizes, hydrating properties, greater protein content, and anything to help with nausea or GI discomfort associated with the drugs. Traditional diet foods of the past have been deemed “irrelevant” to this consumer, Mattson found, and new products are needed. 

Using AI, Mattson generated 22 food and beverage concepts to test which ones resonated best with AOM users. Broadly speaking, simple and versatile products – like mini meal cups, grilled chicken strips and yogurt pouches – were favored the most by respondents. 

“What we have seen throughout all of this work is that these drugs have fundamentally changed the way people interact with food when they are on them. There’s an opportunity to be building products that are better designed for people who are on the medication,” said Jennifer Pagano, Mattson senior insight manager, during the webinar. 

Go Deeper: Ozempic & CPG: Fear & Loathing, Or False Alarm?

Pittsburgh-based TruFood Manufacturing and California-based Bar Bakers, LLC announced the closing of a merger between the two specialty foods manufacturers last week.

🍫 Both manufacturers specialize in nutritional foods. TruFoods focused primarily on bars, chocolate and baked granola while Bar Bakers makes all the snacks.

🦾 Steve Young, managing partner at growth equity firm Manna Tree (which invested in the newly combined company), said the timing for the deal is ripe, citing continued growth of the better-for-you foods space and a regular influx of new brands.

🍴 Young told Nosh on Friday: “It feels like there is more and more activity in this nutrition bar and nutritional baked goods space every day. Every day there’s a new brand that crops up with a unique twist on the consumer needs.”

Insiders can learn more about the marriage of these two co-manufacturers in the full story on Nosh.

Impossible Foods has jumped on the May marketing bandwagon with a new campaign that is centered around the claim: “We’re solving the meat problem with more meat.”

🍝 The new 30-second commercial spot is the brand’s first advertising campaign featuring its new red-centric brand identity and highlights the range of Impossible’s plant-based meats including hot dogs, burgers and meatballs. 

🍔 The activation will also feature shorter, product-focused advertisements as Impossible works to broaden its reputation beyond burgers, engage with flexitarian eaters and position around the products’ cholesterol-free claim.   

🗣️ “We see this campaign as a way to let meat eaters know Impossible meat is the best way to keep eating meat you love, just without a lot of the problems associated with animal meat. Whether you’re a vegan, hardcore meat eater or somewhere in between, we have you covered,” said CMO Leslie Sims, in a press release. 

Middle-market private equity firm L2 Capital announced today it has acquired barbecue brand KosmosQ. Alongside the deal, Scott Jensen, co-founder and former CEO of Stubb’s BBQ and Rhythm Superfoods, has been appointed CEO of the new brand.

🐷 KosmosQ was founded in 2009 by world champion pitmaster, Darian ‘Kosmo’ Khosravi, and sells premium barbecue rubs, sauces, brines, injections, glazes and accessories both direct-to-consumer and at retailers such as Walmart, Ace Hardware, Buc-ee’s, Scheels and Bass Pro Shops/Cabela’s.

🛒 In addition to Jensen, food industry sales veteran Terry Meyer has joined to increase the brand’s retail penetration. 

🤝 Oxer Capital Partners and Salem Investment Partners provided debt financing and co-invested in the transaction.

Another platform that supported emerging food and beverage discovery has shut down. Social commerce app Feed, which linked consumers browsing food recipes with a delivery platform for local organic produce, meats, cheeses, baked goods and other groceries, announced its closure late last week.

🛒 The California-based social media platform launched a year ago and allowed users to post recipes and reviews and build a following among food producers. The company delivered groceries to consumers in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles regions.

🚚 Coming to the rescue, GoodEggs and Pod Foods have swooped in to offer discounts to both platform users as well as supplier brands. As for Feed, the app “just couldn’t get the sales we needed to grow,” said a former procurement manager in a response to a LinkedIn post. 

In this episode, the CPG Week team talks about Beverage Forum insights, the state of the cannabis industry after the drug is potentially rescheduled, and the troubling signs from fintech consumer brand lender Ampla. 

🥤 BevNET Editor-in-Chief Jeff Klineman and senior reporter Brad Avery discuss celebrity beverage brands, why industry stakeholders are high on next-generation drinks and one big producer’s thoughts on future diversification.

🪴 What would it mean if marijuana went from a Schedule I to Schedule III drug and how might it impact emerging cannabis products and the broader marketplace?

😬 What is going on with CPG credit provider Ampla and how does the state of lending for food and beverage brands relate to its woes?

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