Happy early Thanksgiving! This year, why not bestow upon your family the gift that keeps on giving - a ticket to the fast-approaching NOSH Live Winter 2023? Hey - an editor's gotta hustle, ok?

Meanwhile over the pond things are heating up in the world of chocolate as Mars has purchased Hotel Chocolt for a tempered $665M. That's a lot of truffles.

And, if you're within 1000 miles of Columbus Ohio you need to pick yourself up tickets for the inaugural Guy Fieri's Flavortown Fest.

Alright! On with Sunday newsletter.

FIRST UP! Tied to a post: Post Holdings is holding strong after a tough 12 months - but is it out of the woods yet?

Cereal fiend Post Holdings has released a strong quarterly sales report after a tough year of volume declines and increased expenses, writes Weetos Editor Lukas Southard.

The company posted Q4 net sales of $1.9BN - up 23% YOY. Add in higher expenses and operating costs and net earnings were $65.7M, down 21.7% Post had picked up some pet food brands from J.M. Smucker in February and this is where much of the sales increase came from.

Incoming interim CEO Jeff Zadoks is still predicting growth in ’24 despite, as he put it on the earnings call, consumers pulling back due to ‘inflation, higher interest rates, reduced SNAP benefits, restarted student loan payments and lower savings’. Happy Thanksgiving?

Read the full report at NOSH.com.

🥡 Key Takeaway: Despite difficulties, Post has maintained its foodservice foothold - volumes only slipped 1.1% in the face of pesky supply chain issues (thanks, avian flu) with full year net sales up 15.8%. In CPG the company is looking at taking advantage of consumers’ move to private label brands of which Post is deeply involved in by way of its 8th Avenue Food & Provisions wing.

Low-FODMAP condiment king Fody Foods has closed a series B equity investment and appointed Joel Warady as board chairperson, writes a very gut-friendly Lukas Southard.

CEO Steven 'Sensitive Salsa' Singer declined to reveal the exact amount raised but called it 'significant', as Fody prepares to push into over 2,000 Walmarts. The company last raised $6.6M in late 2020.

Fody has found success in marketing its sauces (and bars and chips - although oddly Singer says it's "not a snack brand at all") as 'sensitive food' products, rather than something aimed at consumers with specific dietary needs.

Grab a sensitive jar over at NOSH.com.

This week's Community Call sees Kim Greenfeld, former private label buyer for Whole Foods Market and Trader Joes, reveal the secrets of running a successful private label business. Discover what categories have the most potential, how to grab a buyer's attention and protect your brand equity at the same time.

Listen up: Community Call open meetings are free to take part in and are as easy as hopping on a 30min Zoom call - except way more exciting, obviously.

Click - hey! - here to register.

NOSH Live alert: At NOSH Live Winter 2023, taking place on November 30 and December 1 in Marina del Rey, don't miss this essential Gen Z investors discussion panel featuring Patrick Schwarzenegger, Mel Li and Elizabeth Brown.

If you're looking to raise capital, understanding how to pitch to this new generation of investors is a must.

Grab a seat at the front by clicking here.

On this week's NOSH Podcast, NOSH editor Carol Ortenberg crunches the numbers with Zack Gazzaniga, founder and CEO of Zack's Mighty. The celebrity duo discuss the brand's origins and the difficult supply chain choices Zack had to make, and how that appealed to investors.

Spin this week's podcast here.

"There [is] a question of if technology will change how Gen Z will cook"

This week's deep dive comes from a recent Mintel report predicting the major trends we can expect in 2024, including transparency over ultra-processed foods, redefining healthy aging and using new tech to improve convenience.

The report recommends that companies be fully transparent over their ingredients and use of processed goods, so consumers can make informed decisions. We can also expect Gen X to spearhead new approaches to healthy eating after decades slamming sweet tallboys.

Most interestingly Gen Z is slated to embrace AI as a way to make meal prep more convenient - by which we assume robot chefs will be as common as dishwashers in 10 years.

Read the full report over on NOSH.com.

What are your thoughts, Sunday readers? What trends can we expect to pick up steam in 2024, and which demographic is most likely to click with each one? Click here to send in your comments.

Notable new products: cauli-coated chicken, miso peanut butter cookies.

A roundup of some of the more interesting product launches this week.

Distro: B.T.R heads to CIBO, GoodSAM brewing at Sprouts.

A look at what's filling up the big rigs this week.

CPG vet teams up with Twitch streamer to launch Myna Snacks.

Former Noosa GM Darcey Macken and streamer Pokimane hope the better-for-you line will reestablish 'positive relationships with snacking', says Positivity Expert Shauna Golden.

Director, Innovation - Zevia

Encino, CA

SanTan Operations Manager - SanTan Brewing Company

Chandler, AZ

Brewer - Talyard Brewing

Sugar Land, TX

(Formerly) vegan frozen food brand MingsBings has jumped onto the beef bandwagon with four new meat-based SKUs, writes NOSH's Omnivore Editor Carol Ortenberg.

Co-founder and CEO Stephen Osipow said the move was a response to consumers' concern over the often ultra-processed nature of some not-meat products. In keeping with the MingsBings ethos, the new products will be bulked out with better-for-you ingredients like riced cauliflower, tomatoes and c̶a̶n̶d̶l̶e̶ ̶w̶a̶x potatoes.

Osipow also came out with frankly the quote of the decade: "I don’t know who’s running the campaign against alternative meats and alternative cheeses, but they’re doing an excellent job". Yeouch!

Click here to discover what a 'bing' is anyway on NOSH.com.

🥡 Key Takeaway: MingsBings is saying what we're all thinking: that consumers remain wary of not-meat products. Beyond Meat and Impossible's difficulties are well noted, while other playes such as Coconut Bliss relaunched in 2022 as Cosmic Bliss, adding dairy to its ice cream line. By adding meat yet not abandoning vegan alternatives, MingsBings is broadening its retail footprint.

If this new campaign is anything to go by, someone at Hidden Valley Ranch is seeing double (presumably from overdosing on ranch) - meet the limited release double ranch bottle. And no, it's not April 1st.

The two bottle fusion is a celebration of the brand's new Double Ranch product - double the herbs and double the spices. There are 222 bottles available exclusively via a Snapchat promotion. I reckon I've used the word 'ranch' enough today, so I'll leave you with this image that may have been generated by an overactive AI bot:

AND FINALLY: BUT WILL IT CURDLE? Shout-out to my BevNET bros for spotting this Coffee Mate Eggo Waffles and Maple Syrup Flavored Creamer. In an age of clean ingredient lists and better-for-you products, it's heartening to see Nestlé firmly on the 'chaotic good' side of life.

If anyone needs me, I'll be blending up a case of frozen White Castles for my famous Thanksgiving slider stuffing - á la rum. Until next week, your host,

Mark Murphy

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