• 🆕 This Week’s Notable New Products
• 💸 The Jackfruit Company’s $5M Extension
• 🍫 California Cultured Nets New Investment
• 🧑‍⚖️ Daily Harvest's $7.6 Million Settlement 
• 🛒 Retail Roundup: Amazon Tests WFM Warehouse
• ☕ David, Decaf & Daiquiris. They’re All Trending.

Inflation might be on the decline, but despite all the economists’ posturing and recent interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, grocery shoppers are still feeling the pinch at the till. That trend will likely impact how much grocery retail grows in the near term.

The U.S. grocery market is expected to grow 1.1% in 2024, pulling back from 3.9% in 2023, according to a recent Coresight Research report “Market Navigator: US Grocery Retailing — Igniting Unit Growth in a Low-Inflation Environment.” The data insights firm projects that retail volumes will decline 0.1% this year “as consumers remain judicious with their spending amid heightened economic concern.”

How will this shake down for brands and retailers? Coresight predicts that retailers will “ramp up promotional activities to rebuild volume sales and stimulate top-line growth.” Those activities are being informed by lack of consumer appetite for high prices and aim to cushion some of the blow of a modern day grocery bill.

Price sensitivity will determine who benefits from the current environment. Discount stores and mass retailers will continue to capitalize on inflation-weary shoppers. Major mass chains have increased their share of the pot from 18.4% to 19.4% between 2017 and 2023. Retail giant Walmart remained top of the heap with 21.6% of total grocery sales in 2023.

Many major grocery chains are increasing their private label ranges to grab share; these efforts also create a more competitive environment for independent brands to operate. The focus on private brands has already begun to expand from straightforward value products into premium offerings. See Walmart’s recently launched bettergoods range as a primary example that embraces plant-based items and global flavors. 

That tougher-to-compete landscape could lead to more consolidation on the independent brand horizon. That could mean more smaller brand roll-ups (i.e. Our Home and Ahimsa) to compete on price, scale and in-store visibility or traditional acquisitions by large strategics (we see you, PepsiCo and Mars).

Where should brands be focusing investment? Even though the reliance on ecommerce has contracted from its pandemic-driven highs, online grocery sales are expected to grow. The ecommerce penetration rate in food and beverage will “increase to 6.9% by 2028, versus 2.1% in 2019,” Coresight predicted in its report. This will be driven by retailers' continued investment in delivery and online shopping platforms, efficiency in fulfillment and a general increase in consumer comfort in navigating the ecommerce channel.

Go Deeper: Inside Chain Sourcing Events for Emerging Brands

It's Friday, folks, and that means it's time to round up all of this week’s new product creations and brand collaborations. Here’s a sample of what’s in store:

🥒 Pringles pounces on the dill pickle craze with the latest addition to its lineup of potato crisps.

💪 Chobani packs more protein into its Greek yogurt cups.

🐟 Frozen meal maker Scott & Jon's expands its seafood bowl lineup with the addition of Lemon Butter Dill Salmon and Baja Fish Taco Bowl.

Check out the full roundup of new products on Nosh for more details.

The Jackfruit Company, which sells products under both that name and the Jack & Annie’s brand, has raised $5 million in a Series B extension, adding to the $23 million it previously raised in the funding round, co-founder and CEO Annie Ryu announced this week.

💰 The extension follows on The Jackfruit Company’s Series B financing round in 2021; The round was led by InvestEco, Creadev and Grosvenor Food & AgTech, and the brand’s lifetime funding is now around $33 million.

🥩 The Colorado-based company produces a variety of jackfruit-based meat alternatives, frozen meals as well as packaged, flavored jackfruit mixes.

Check out all of the details in the full story on Nosh.

Cell-cultured cocoa producer California Cultured has locked in a new investment to fuel partnership expansions from Sparkalis, the corporate venture arm of bakery and chocolate giant Puratos, as reported by AgFunderNews. 

🍬 The startup recently signed a deal to provide Japanese food company Meiji with its cocoa powder to be used in confectionary and wellness products.

🌱 California Cultured produces the cells of cacao plants within bioreactors and is currently working to construct a new 12,000 sq. ft. production facility in Sacramento by the end of the year. 

☑️ The process is similar to that of cell-cultured protein and the plant cells are fed sugar and nutrients within the bioreactors before being harvested. Due to the novel process however, California Cultured is still awaiting FDA approval on its submission to receive self-affirmed Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) status. 

A New York federal judge has approved a $7.6 million settlement with Daily Harvest suppliers to resolve claims that the meal kit company’s French Lentil + Leek Crumbles caused gastrointestinal illness, Law360 reported. 

🤢 The lawsuit, filed by a New York resident who alleged she became “violently ill” after consuming the product, was consolidated with other, similar claims against defendants Daily Harvest, Second Bite Foods, Smirk’s LTD and Molinos Asociados SAC. The proposed class already had reached a $23 million settlement with Daily Harvest and Second Bite, which manufactured the meals.

💰 Under the deal, Smirk’s, which sold the tara flour linked to the illnesses, and Molinos, which supplied the tara flour to Smirk’s, will put the $7.6 million into the settlement fund for payment to all U.S. residents who bought or ate the meals and suffered injuries or monetary damages.

🤖 Amazon announced yesterday that it will begin testing mini, automated warehouses that will be bolted on to Whole Foods stores and would allow customers to order non-Whole Foods stocked items (think: items like Pepsi, Kellogg’s cereal and, apparently, tennis rackets); the goal is to help customers eliminate extra trips, according to CNBC.

🦊 Foxtrot has reintroduced its mobile ordering platform as its reopens select locations in Chicago. The app allows customers to order ahead for pickup and place delivery orders which will be fulfilled within one hour.

🧊 Daily Deals Food Outlet owner Natural Choice Foods announced it has broke ground on a new freezer facility that will add 30,000 sq ft. of cold storage to its operations.

🧑‍⚖️ Colorado AG Jason Slothouber questioned Albertsons’ CEO Vivek Sankaran about a 2020 presentation to the FTC where the grocery chain claimed it did not have any product overlap with specialty retailers Kings Food Market and Balducci's Food Lover's Market stores, from which it was vying to acquire more than 24 stores. Federal regulators argued the chain “flip flops” on how it views competition and will say anything to get the merger approved. 

With Taste Radio’s London meetups on the horizon, the hosts have their say on trendy brands, new products and the coming crush of seasonal LTOs. They share their respective takes on David, the high-profile protein bar brand launched by RXBAR co-founder Peter Rahal and whether decaf coffee is about to take off. They also get giddy about green cocktails and a record-breaking advent calendar.

Listen to the episode now.