• 🍎 Kroger, bitewell's Nutrition Scoring
• 💪 FITCRUNCH Acquired By 1440 Foods
• 🤝 Gopuff Now Accepting SNAP EBT
• 📰 Nerds Gummy Clusters, Food Inflation

The countdown to the new year has begun as evidenced by the flow of new trend predictions and reports aiming to bring our expectations up-to-date with future innovation. Today, we are breaking down the themes and ideas shared by the Specialty Food Association while taking a look at how early movers have already injected themselves into the realm of hot new products. 

First up: Girl Dinner 2.0. After more than a year growing within the cultural zeitgeist, Girl Dinner is already squaring up for a sequel (read: slightly more substantial snacks). According to SFA trend experts, Girl Dinner is shifting towards the realm of dumplings as a snack and pizza cupcakes for lunch, rather than its origins of a few crackers, cheese and random charcuterie items. Nuanced, innovative and “familiar with a twist” foods like Fishwife’s tinned seafood and Lotus Foods Forbidden Rice Ramen are primed to take the top spot.

Instant Global Gratification. Dumplings, dosa and Doosra's snacks are emblematic of the range of products trendspotters believe will be top consumer picks in 2025. The demand for Southeast Asian brands has definitely permeated this space, but the experts also pointed to other regions on the map – such as tapenade from Santorini or Xinca’s Salvadorian pupusas – in terms of where consumer taste buds are traveling. Easy-to-prepare, convenient, globally flavored foods is itself a melting pot of the trends we’ve seen rising since pandemic times. 

Those COVID-19 inspired cooking trends are as sticky as another key indicator from that era, high food prices. Third on the SFA’s list is “Yes, Chef” – a sentiment that indicates consumers are working to win their own at-home Michelin star when reaching for products like Todo Verde's Al Pastor Seasoning or Sabatino White Truffle Sauce. As food prices remain inflated, cooking a top-quality meal at-home in itself is the winning recipe. 

Functional foods as natural enhancers (think: Brook37 Wellness Teas or High Country Fungus Magic Cocoa), a cornucopia of chili pepper callouts (the evidence for this one is everywhere), new uses for vinegar (like American Vinegar Works Apple Cider Hot Vinegar) and consumers sweet on real sugars such as cane, honey and syrup (see the back panel of your new favorite treat for more) help round out these experts’ expectations for the year ahead. 

In addition to naming seven trends in total, the experts added some à la carte, flavor-related finds it expects to be big in the year ahead including oil-based hot sauces, black garlic, lavender and flavored cheeses. 

Check out some other trend spotting stories for a complete look at where the industry is headed.

The Kroger Co. has partnered with nutrition technology company bitewell to bring its FoodHealthScore nutrition scoring system to Kroger shoppers nationwide as the retail chain looks to advance its commitment to supporting food-as-medicine. 

🔢 FoodHealth Score rates foods from 1 to 100 based on factors like nutrient density and nutrient quality. Kroger customers can view the score of a product in-store by scanning its UPC code. Additionally, shoppers can view the scores online or within the Kroger app. 

👀 Customers with a digital account can view the FoodHealth Scores of their past purchases, as well as an analysis of their purchasing trends, through their “Nutrition Insights.” 

🗣️ What they said: “This initiative uses modern technology to give customers the knowledge they need to make better decisions every day. With this expanded service, Kroger and bitewell are setting a new standard for nutrition transparency.” - Jim Kirby, CCO of Kroger Health

🤔 The new partnership may be a viable private sector alternative to the FDA’s planned front-of-package (FOP) nutrition labels, which are still in the works. The agency is testing standardized color-coded labels that flag fat, sodium and added sugar levels using a traffic light system: green means low, yellow means medium, and red means high. 

Celebrity chef Robert Irvine’s protein bar and snack company FITCRUNCH has been acquired by 1440 Foods (formerly The Bountiful Company). 1440 Foods also operates sport nutrition brands MET-Rx, Pure Protein, Body Fortress and Balance, which produce high-protein nutrition products such as bars, wafers and powders. 

🙂 The active nutrition umbrella company is owned by New York-based private equity firm 4x4 Capital. FITCRUNCH CEO Patrick Cornacchiulo will assume the chief executive role at 1440 Foods per terms of the deal.

In Other M&A News:

• The Harvest Group announced its acquisition of Bold Strategies, Inc., a ecommerce and shopper marketing firm. The deal will add to Harvest’s presence in retail media and bolster its marketing and digital commerce capabilities.
• The Middleby Corporation has added 79-year-old tortilla production equipment system maker JC Ford. The Tennessee-based equipment manufacturer operates a 132,000 sq. ft. facility in the Nashville area where it makes automated machines for tortilla, chip and corn-based snack products.

Digital delivery service Gopuff began accepting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payment for all eligible online purchases nationwide late last week. According to Gopuff, the launch marks the first instant commerce company to gain USDA approval for accepting SNAP payments. 

👀 Access to online groceries is not just a convenience for many SNAP shoppers, it is necessary because many members live in food deserts with limited transportation options, the company claims. 

📲 To enable SNAP payment on its platform, Gopuff teamed up with Forage, the only USDA-approved third-party payment processor. Orders are prepared in Gopuff’s local micro-fulfillment centers and brought to customers’ doors by delivery partners in as fast as 15 minutes.

💭 “For more than a decade, we have been bringing high-quality, affordable food and pantry staples to customers in minutes. As we continue to advance our efforts to provide meaningful value to our customers, we are honored to now allow SNAP-eligible families access to the groceries they need in the fastest and most affordable way,” said Yakir Gola, co-founder and co-CEO of Gopuff, in a statement. 

🤓 The Wall Street Journal charts the unlikely rise of Nerds Gummy Clusters, a crunchy-chewy candy with more than $500 million in sales this year alone, propelled by the explosive gummy trend and an surprise endorsement by Kylie Jenner. 

💰 Bloomberg Businessweek’s Deena Shanker unpacks the impact of Trump’s immigration policy on food inflation. With nearly 1.7 million undocumented immigrants working in the food supply chain, mass deportation would almost certainly lead to higher grocery costs, Shanker writes.

🛒 Speaking of supermarket sticker shock, WSJ outlines how distributor fees are forcing packaged food makers to raise prices – and subsequently frustrating shoppers.

🔻 Inc. details the host of financial challenges packaged food and beverage companies face today, from a tighter fundraising market to higher production and shipping costs.