• 🆕 This Week’s Notable New Products
• 💰 Plantible Lands $30M Series B
• ⛔ Lunchables Flunk Out of School
• 🥣 Post Holdings’ Q4 Aided By Acquisitions
  

Tensions are rising once again between Ben & Jerry’s and its parent company Unilever. 

The mission-driven ice cream maker filed a breach-of-contract suit against the multinational conglomerate, claiming it has repeatedly blocked the brand’s attempts to take a public stance on the war in Gaza.

B&J claims that Unilever attempted to dismantle its independent board (responsible for upholding its “social mission and brand integrity") and intimidated individual team members with threats of legal action if they spoke up. The ice cream maker also alleges Unilever blocked its attempts to donate money to humanitarian organizations involved in the conflict. 

Rewind: B&J was acquired by Unilever in 2000 and, per terms of the acquisition, was granted the right to maintain and operate its mission-based independent board. But this isn’t the first time B&J has claimed Unilever interfered with that function.

• In 2021, B&J said it would discontinue selling products in “Isreal-only” settlements in the West Bank, which later prompted an Israeli businessman to sue the company. Unilever then granted the individual a license to sell the products with slightly different branding.
• B&J then sued to block that agreement; in 2022, they reached a settlement that B&J claims was “expressly conditioned” on Unilever respecting the independent board’s authority, according to the filing this week.

But B&J is now saying that Unilever has done anything but that, alleging that in December 2023 it blocked the brand’s attempt to issue a statement calling for “peace” and a “ceasefire.” Also part of the 2022 settlement: a promise for a $5 million donation, to be disbursed by B&J, to human rights and humanitarian organizations. This latest suit claims Unilever would not allow for the money to be donated either. 

However, the conflict comes as Unilever prepares to spin off its ice cream business into a separate, standalone publicly-traded company in 2025. It remains to be seen how this transition would impact the leadership and oversight of Ben & Jerry’s moving forward. 

Nosh Insiders can access the full story to learn more about the latest lawsuit and what this means for B&J’s mission.

From snowflake-shaped pasta to apple cider donut muffins, the latest edition of Nosh’s weekly New Products Gallery features all seasons of innovation. Here’s a sneak peek at what’s inside:

❄️ Just in time for winter, Barilla has dropped a new limited-edition pasta: Snowfall. Each box features three different snowflake shapes representing different elements of the season: a traditional snowflake for tradition, poinsettia-inspired ridges for joy, and a heart at the center for love. 

🍎  Abe’s has turned a classic fall treat, the apple cider donut, into an inclusive vegan muffin. The new dairy-, egg-, nut-, soy-, and sesame-free offering features a moist cinnamon cake baked with apple cider and topped with cinnamon sugar. 

🤝 Single-origin spice and sugar purveyor Burlap & Barrel has teamed up with media maven Martha Stewart to launch its Good Thing for Pork & Poultry spice blend. The new blend, which pays homage to Stewart’s classic poultry seasoning, features sage, oregano and ginger.

Check out the full roundup of new products on Nosh later today.

Food tech outfit Plantible announced it had closed a $30 million Series B funding round co-led by Siddhi Capital and Piva Capital with participation from new investors Betagro Ventures, Cultivate Next (Chipotle Mexican Grill VC arm), Nourish Ventures (Griffith Foods VC) and existing investor Astanor Ventures.

🦆 Plantible uses proprietary technology to grow functional Rubi Protein from duckweed, a small flowering aquatic plant found on ponds and wetlands.

🧑‍🌾 The new investment will allow Plantible to expand operations at “The Ranchito,” a 100-acre West Texas facility.

🏭 The company claims the new capital will provide runway to deliver on its multi-million dollar agreements with several large food companies, which will increase revenue “tenfold over the next 12 months.”

A year after Kraft Heinz launched Lunchables into schools, the company is learning its prepackaged meal kits didn’t make the grade, according to The Wall Street Journal.

🍕 The company had engineered new versions of its turkey-and-cheese and pizza offerings to comply with federal guidelines for the National School Lunch Program (i.e. adding whole grains and protein and reducing saturated fat). 

👎 Kraft Heinz confirmed this week it is no longer offering Lunchables to schools due to lower-than-expected demand.

Go Deeper: Kraft Heinz Misses Q3 Estimates As Lunchables Struggles.

Post Holdings’ Q4 revenue was boosted by last year’s acquisition of Perfection Pet Foods, which contributed $67 million to the top line. Excluding that benefit, net sales dipped slightly as declines in co-manufactured pet food, Weetabix and retail egg and cheese products offset growth in foodservice.

• Net sales increased 3.3% to $2.01 billion in the fourth quarter; full-year net sales advanced 13.3% to $7.92 billion. 
• Net earnings for the quarter were $81.6 million, up 24.4% year-over-year; full-year net earnings increased 21.7% to $366.7 million. 
• The prior-year quarter included a non-cash goodwill impairment of $42.2 million driven by the narrowing of the pricing gap between branded and private label offerings that resulted in distribution losses.

📊 Post’s results surpassed Wall Street expectations; analysts predicted Q4 revenue of $1.96 billion and earnings per share of $1.19, which compared with reported EPS of $1.53.