With the cold weather slowly coming down across the land, it's an opportune time to focus on the freezer aisle and the potential it still presents for CPG brands. But, plenty on that below.

Shout-out to rep Dean Phillips (D-MN) for throwing his hat in the democratic ticket ring. Although, you may be more familiar with him as the former CEO of Philips Distilling and former co-owner of runaway success Talenti. Yeah. H/T Jeff 'I might vote for him' Klineman.

And, get this: the powers that be (hi guys) have extended the nomination deadline for the NOSH Best Of 2023 Awards. The high profile awards the brands, people and trends that have made the biggest impact this year. Have your say here.

Alright! On with the Sunday newsletter.

FIRST UP! Hershey & me: conglomerate looks for growth in satiating salty snacks.

The Hershey Co is flying high this Q3 with reported net sales of over $3BN, driven largely by seasonal demand and a new Salty Snacks ERP system writes Pretzel Mogul Shauna Golden.

The company's Salty Snacks segment saw the biggest increases - up 25.5% to $345.2M in sales. According to prez and CEO Michele 'Reese's Pieces' Buck, consumers are looking for satiating snacks as affordability continues to define shopping habits.

Conversely, the company is seeing less interest in aerated snacks like popcorn - a surprise, given Hershey bought SkinnyPop's copacking facilities in April.

Read the full report over on NOSH.com.

🥡 Key Takeaway: Hard-hit consumers are nervously buckling down for the oft-expensive holiday season, something conglomerates like Hershey are well aware of. Keeping consumers engaged with value after several years of high inflation is a priority. Hershey is in turn focusing on distribution (especially Dot's Pretzels), with no price hikes planned.

The company may sadly be no more, but Smashmallow founder Jon Sebastiani has found 'a sense of redemption' in winning a $21M lawsuit against an equipment supplier writes Legal Eagle Carol Ortenberg.

In 2018, Netherlands-based Tanis Food Tec B.V. was contracted to build custom mallow equipment which, ultimately, never worked to spec. This triggered a series of events that led to Smashmallow closing shop at the start of 2023.

Tanis Food Tec is now on the hook for a satanic $6.66M in past losses and $14.3M in expected future losses. Oof.

Read the full tale over on NOSH.com.

The Community Call series is taking a break this coming week: the perfect time to introduce our new NOSH community Call Podcast, ideal for all you busy CPG mavens.

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. Now you can listen to their insights on the go, any time of the day (or night).

Find out more - and learn how to subscribe - over on NOSH.com.

On this week's NOSH Podcast, NOSH editor Carol Ortenberg and reporters Lukas Southard and Adrianne DeLuca discuss their favorite sweets (it is almost Halloween...) before digging into Smashmallow's $21M court case.

Later, Lukas chats with Circana’s Sally Lyons Wyatt about why consumers are more interested in the freezer aisle than ever - and it's not just to do with inflation.

Spin this week's podcast here.

"Folks might come into the aisle to look for their bag of frozen peas [...] and might see some of the better-for-you options that they weren’t even aware existed"

This week's freezer dive comes courtesy of Lukas 'Hungry-Man' Southard, who looks at a recent report from The American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI) and The Food Industry Association’s (FMI).

The report introduces the notion of light (occasional shoppers), medium (weekly) and core (almost daily) frozen consumers - with 38% being in the core range.

AFFI VP of Comms Mary Emma Young also discusses how the segment can grow, taking aim at ecommerce, dollar and drug stores, and improved messaging.

Open the freezer door over on NOSH.com.

What are your thoughts, Sunday readers? There's huge buzz on frozen right now but what is the true unrealized potential, or will consumers tap out? Click here to send in your comments.

Notable new products: Fly By Jing’s Chengdu Crunch, NotCo x Yellowbird spicy chicken patties.

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

Distro: Not Just Co hits Target, Humble Seed moves Southeast.

Load up the truck: we're hittin' the road.

Can do attitude: CanDo expands distro, preps for new CEO.

Keto-friendly protein bar maker CanDo is rolling new flavors into WholeFoods and Sprouts, while prepping to announce a new CEO in the next 60 days says Canning Editor Shauna Golden.

Operations Associate Manager - Brooklyn Delhi

USA

WNC / Charlotte Sales Representative - Hi-Wire Brewing

Asheville, NC

Lead Brewer - The Bronx Brewery

Bronx, NY

Nutritional snacking biz Simply Good Foods is backing on its core values of snacks and wellness by increasing its marketing spend in Quest and embarking on a 'revitalization plan' for Atkins, writes Low-Carb Editor Lukas Southard.

The company has a five point plan for Atkins that includes regaining lost distribution, realigning consumer perceptions and improving product formulas.

For Quest, the brand has seen a 25% YOY sales increase. Simply Good plans to support this growth with increased media investment.

Get the full bite over at NOSH.com.

🥡 Key Takeaway: Prez and CEO Geoff 'Former J.M Smucker Exec' Tanner believes the nutritional snacks category could double in the next 5-7 years. Like others the company is not planning any price increases, instead hoping to energize customers with a product refresh. Expect to see modernized Atkins branding later this year.

Someone at vegan cheese brand Daiya needs an ice cold bath pronto, having conflated a slice of pizza with a BDSM dungeon.

Celebrating the brand's vegan pizza popup shop in NY, things went pretty off message in a press release that transformed plant-based curiosity into a hidden fetish. Not even George Costanza could help us with this one. H/T Carol 'nope, just nope' Ortenberg.

AND FINALLY: Campbell's has solved all our problems with its limited edition chunky Thanksgiving soup. The all-in-one hunger buster combines smoked turkey, roasted and sweet potatoes, green beans, cranberries and wild rice, all in one convenient bowl!

So when your aunt offers to bring her famous sweet potato casserole to the table this year, tell her it's all in hand - and in the microwave. Your parents will cry tears of pride.

If you'll excuse me, I'm off to a pizza party in NY like none other. Mine's a side of naughty garlic knots. Until next week, your host,

Mark Murphy

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