• 🤑 Refresh Gum Lands $2M
• 🐄 Beef Tallow Is Building
• 🔀 Hershey Talks Alt-Cocoa 
• 📈 Kellanova's Last Earnings
• 🤔 How Will Tariffs Impact CPG?

The resurgence of avian flu has left consumers grappling with elevated egg prices and empty refrigerated egg sets at the grocery store, but the virus is also having a surprising impact on some corners of the CPG food business. We spoke with several brands to get their insights.

For Lex Evan, founder and CEO of Lexington Bakes, it’s not just the surging egg prices that have him working toward eliminating the ingredient from his brand’s cookies and brownies entirely. 

• Evan said he “desperately” wants to move away from using eggs but hasn’t yet had time, as the brand introduced a scaled-down portion size of its baked goods, opting for 2 oz. treats as opposed to its previous 5 oz. size just last fall. 
• “My brand is all about ethical sourcing, and I no longer believe that any kind of egg production is ethical, so I desperately want to move away from it,” said Evan. 

To combat surging cocoa and egg prices and future-proof the business, Lexington Bakes has also introduced a new cacao- and egg-free product line: Oat Bars. The new offering, which Evan describes as “oatmeal on the go,” moves the brand into an everyday treat rather than just dessert. 

“The oat bars were part serendipity, part strategy, in the sense that I’ve wanted to make them for so long. Retailers are responding well to it,” said Evan, adding that the products are set to launch in Lazy Acres Natural Market in March. 

On the other end of the spectrum, Eat Just – which produces plant-based egg replacer Just Egg – has seen an uptick in velocities and orders from distributors and retailers as the avian flu outbreak rages on. 

• In 2023, conventional eggs saw unit sales drop 4% from 2021 to 2023, while plant-based eggs saw unit sales rise 8% over the same period, according to the Good Food Institute (GFI). 
• That same year, Just Egg unveiled a widespread campaign using the slogan “Plants Don’t Get the Flu.” Amid the 2025 outbreak, the brand has spread similar messages on social media such as: “It’s okay to cheat on chicken eggs (they won’t even know, they’re not even on the shelves)” and “Yo chicken eggs, we got it from here.” 

According to co-founder and CEO Josh Tetrick, his plant-based egg alternatives (made from mung beans) are “reliable eggs” and account for 99% of plant-based eggs sold around the world.

“We compete not with other plant-based eggs but with the chicken egg. And, unfortunately, we see avian flu as something that continues to have a reasonable probability of happening moving forward [due to caging practices],” he said. 

Hema Reddy, founder and CEO of WunderEggs producer Crafty Counter, echoed the sentiment: “Consumers are going to be looking for different kinds of form factors. They are going to start thinking, ‘What if I don’t have access to eggs?’ Every form factor will be in question and more attention will be placed on eating more plants.” 

How is your business grappling with bird flu and other supply chain challenges? Let us know at sgolden@bevnet.com.

Go Deeper: Consolidation Comes To Specialty Eggs, But Bird Flu Isn’t To Blame.

Plant-based, clean-label brand Refresh Gum has closed a $2 million seed round, led by Santatera Capital, which supplied half of the capital in the round. 

👣 The new cash will be put toward expanding its retail footprint and marketing efforts in addition to optimizing the supply chain, scaling production and accelerating innovation. 

👓 According to founder and CEO Ryan Stafford, partnering with Santatera is “about having a strategic ally who shares our vision.” 

• The early-stage food and beverage focused VC firm has invested in Tia Lupita Foods, wildwonder, Mezcla, Little Sesame, hiyo and cure, among others. 

🌴 Refresh makes plant-based, clean-label chewing gum from natural tree sap chicle. It is sold at retailers such as Whole Foods, Wegmans, Meijer, Raley's, Giant Food, Erewhon and more. 

Catch Up: Refresh Gum Tapped Nostalgia To Rethink BFY Candy

Coast Packing Company has broken ground on a new edible fats and oils refinery in Amarillo, Texas, where it will produce animal fat shortenings including lard and beef tallow. The facility will also have packaging capabilities. 

🏭 The factory is set to open next summer and will create 30 new jobs initially with plans to double its workforce in the coming years. The site includes a 10,000 sq. ft. refinery building and a 36,000 sq. ft. packaging and warehouse building.

🍳 Beef tallow is benefitting from consumer momentum against seed oils, perceived by some as a healthier and natural option. It has made its way into a range of new products spanning tortilla chips, potato chips and frozen fries.

Go Deeper: Jesse & Ben’s Take Aim At ‘Big Potato’

Despite the challenging operating environment Hershey beat analysts earnings and revenue expectations as its stock price rose 5.18% this morning following its fourth-quarter earnings release. Let’s take a look at the top line numbers:

• Net sales increased 8.7% to nearly $2.9 billion in Q4
• Confectionery segment net sales grew 6% to $2.3 billion in Q4 while volume rose approximately 2 points.
• Salty Snacks sales rose 35.9% to nearly $279 million in Q4 as volume increased about 41 points
• Gross margin increased 1170 basis points to 54.0% in Q4
• Consolidated net sales for the full year increased 0.3% to $11.2 billion

🍫 However, CEO Michele Buck emphasized that even though the company has visibility into its supply chain, volatile cocoa prices will put significant pressure on its 2025 earnings and emphasized that the company is investing in its cocoa science program and keeping an eye on cocoa alternatives. 

💡 On a broad basis, Hershey’s innovation efforts will focus on price-pack architecture including multi-brand multipacks as it looks to mine growth opportunities in the year ahead. 

Stay tuned for the full story and more insight into how Hershey is hedging against cocoa costs with its surging Salty Snacks business.

Kellanova may have just closed out its first year as a standalone company, but it is already awaiting the close to join another with its acquisition by Mars expected to be official in the first half of this year. In the meantime, Kellanova reported that operating profit is up 62.2% as net sales decreased 2% year-over-year. Let’s take a look at the numbers:

• Net sales were $3.12 billion in Q4 2024, compared to $3.17 billion in Q4 2023
• Operating profit rose to $552 million from $328 million in the previous period last year
• Earnings per common share rose from $0.08 to $1.04

“Led by our strong emerging markets presence, we sustained better-than-expected top-line growth amidst challenging industry conditions, and we improved our profit margins faster than we had anticipated,” said president and CEO Steve Cahillane in a statement.

Despite the 30-day pause on Canadian and Mexican tariffs, the CPG industry is still preparing for the impact of a potential trade war. The announced 25% import taxes on goods from our neighbors to the north and south have many brands and manufacturers preparing for the worst. 

🤝 The CPG Week team is joined by BevNET Editor-in-Chief Jeff Klineman to discuss what to expect if and when tariffs arrive and the best practices for securing supply chains and preparing for cost increases in the meantime. 

🍽️ Plus, listen to Jeff’s plans to practice gluttony this coming Super Bowl Sunday (spoiler alert: it includes indulging in the two participating teams’ hometown dishes - maybe at once).

Click here to listen to this week’s episode. Also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.