• 🏭 Post Closes Cereal Sites
• 🕵️ Texas Looks Into Kellogg's Dye Use
• 🥚 Cal-Maine Buys Into Value-Adds
• 🎥 Hershey Heads To The Big Screen
• 🆕 What Else Is New?

We are tracking the impact on emerging food brands of the escalating trade war. Today’s story examines how a single-origin spice company is navigating new supply chain shocks.

“We import from 30 different countries, and that’s just spices,” Burlap & Barrel co-founder and co-CEO Ethan Frisch told Nosh. “We import from other countries for packaging. We get our towels from China and our jars from Taiwan.”

Across the packaged food industry, operators are working to reduce the impact of duties on their businesses, scrambling to reshore supply chains where they can and, at least in one case, liquidating inventory to weather sweeping and erratic tariffs in the meantime. 

New York-based Burlap & Barrel sources spices directly from smallholder farmers in several dozen nations, paying multiples over commodity prices for Vietnamese cinnamon, Zanzibar black peppercorns and Hungarian paprika. 

As a public benefit corporation committed to improving the livelihoods of growers globally, reducing payments to its partner farmers is not an option. Neither is raising prices on its broad assortment of premium pantry staples, which span standard seasonings, culinary blends and single-origin sweeteners.

In response to President Trump’s tariff plan last week, Frisch, along with co-founder and co-CEO Ori Zohar, decided to extend a sitewide “spring cleaning” sale, hoping the proceeds would help finance the upcoming purchasing cycle and offset additional tax-related costs.

“We saw a truly shocking response. The post went viral. Our sales numbers have been truly insane,” said Frisch, adding that the number of orders matched or surpassed the spike in sales following the brand’s “Shark Tank” appearance two years ago. 

Read the full story to learn how Burlap & Barrel is blunting the impact of tariffs on its bottom line.

Post Holdings said today it will close two cereal manufacturing facilities by the end of the year, affecting 300 jobs, as the category continues to face declines.

• The plants are located in Cobourg, Ontario and Sparks, Nevada. Production will be transferred to other Post Consumer Brands manufacturing locations. 
• The company expects to incur charges between $63.5 million to $67.5 million in connection with the closures, but expects to derive about $21 to $23 million in annual cost savings beginning in 2026. 

Go Deeper: For Post, Bird Flu Means Uncertainty, Consumer Portfolio Dips in Q1 Earnings

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton publicized details of an ongoing investigation on Saturday into WK Kellogg Co. for potentially violating consumer protection laws by advertising cereals filled with petroleum-based artificial dyes as “healthy.” 

👀 Several of the company’s cereal brands – Froot Loops, Apple Jacks, Frosted Flakes and Rice Krispies – contain types of blue, red, yellow, green and orange artificial food colorings. Paxton claims these inputs have been linked to hyperactivity and autoimmune disease, among other health issues.  

⏪ In 2015, Kellogg pledged to stop using artificial ingredients by 2018, as reported by USA Today. The ingredients have been removed in Canada and Europe but not the U.S. 

🗣️ What Paxton said: “A critical part of fighting for our children’s future is putting an end to companies’ deceptive practices aimed at misleading parents and families about the health of food products. Artificial food colorings have been shown to have disastrous impacts on health, and in no world should foods that include these dyes be advertised as healthy.” 

❌ The bans come as MAHA messaging against food dyes is galvanizing against food producers on a state-by-state basis with nearly 20 states actively considering restrictions on synthetic dyes. West Virginia and Utah have already passed legislation to restrict the use of these inputs. 

Go Deeper: FDA Moves to Ban Red Dye 3

Cal-Maine is weathering the impact of avian flu, adding new hen houses and increasing capacity while also diversifying its core business further through value-added items. 

Alongside increasing its laying hen capacity by 14% in the quarter, Cal-Maine also announced the acquisition of ready-to-eat egg products and breakfast foods producer Echo Lake Foods for approximately $258 million. 

• Echo Lake pulled in annual revenue of about $240 million in 2024 and is growing at a CAGR of nearly 10%.
• The Wisconsin-based company produces egg-based items including waffles, pancakes, scrambled eggs, frozen cooked omelets, egg patties, toast and diced eggs.
• The deal builds on Cal-Maine’s recent minority investment in egg-based CPG company Crepini. 

🐣 In addition to the deal, Cal-Maine said its Kansas and Texas facilities have recovered from avian-flu related shutdowns and it has successfully converted a new egg processing facility and hatchery in Dexter, Mo., that will add capacity of about 1.2 million free-range hens by the end of the year. 

• The company and several others are currently under investigation by the Department of Justice over rising egg prices – which reached a peak of $5.90 per dozen in February.
• Cal Maine, which supplies about 20% of the country's eggs, claimed to double profits due to price increases, despite significant supply shortages and the ongoing impact of the avian flu, prompting the federal investigation. 

Go Deeper: Cal-Maine Invests In Crepini

Mean Girls director Mark Walters is set to bring a sweeter story to the big screen in 2026. HERSHEY, a motion picture to capture the story of “chocolate pioneer” Milton Hershey and his wife, Kitty, begins production this spring.

• Milton will be portrayed by Finn Wittrock while Alexandra Daddario will star as Kitty.
• The story will break down both Milton’s invention of a chocolate bar for the masses as well as his “revolutionary business model as a force for social good” under which he established the Milton Hershey School. 

💬 "Against all odds, Milton achieved great success, but unlike a lot of other wealthy men of his time, he shared his success with the working people and community around him," said Mark Waters.

It’s Hump Day! Here’s a taste of the new drops and activations from the first half of the week.

🥨 Reese’s is going deeper into the snacking set with the launch of Reese’s Filled Pretzels. The new offering is available nationwide in three sizes: 5 oz. bags, 9 oz. pouches and 18 oz. jars. 

🍪 Known for its thin and crispy cookies, Tate’s Bake Shop has diverged into Soft Baked Cookies in two flavors – Chocolate Chip and Dark Chocolate Chunk. 

⚾ Farmer-owned cooperative Cabot Creamery joined the Boston Red Sox roster as the team’s official grilled cheese. The partnership will see Cabot serving up Traditional, Pimento and Classic Gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches on Jersey Street. 

🚚 Distributor Pod Foods has undergone a brand refresh and is now simply “Pod.” Co-founder Fiona Lee said the move “marks a pivotal point in our journey as we go beyond ‘Food’ and continue to build an ecosystem from which innovation thrives in all aspects” in a LinkedIn post 

🧁 Hostess is taking its sweet treats on the road with its Munchie Mobile. The brand will use the truck to serve up snacks in New York City before embarking on a “Route 420” road trip with stops along the East Coast. Blaze on, kids!

Catch up on more new product announcements on Nosh.