The original owners of Ample Hills have scooped up the beloved ice cream brand. Husband and wife duo Brian Smith and Jackie Cuscuna purchased the company they founded in 2010 and will reopen the company’s flagship New York store today, with plans to open three more stores over the summer. 

After building a scoop shop empire across four states, opening a factory and launching a CPG line, Ample Hills went bankrupt in 2020. The company was purchased by manufacturing company Schmitt Industries for $1 million, a move that had the industry wondering what a manufacturer of “testing, measurement and process control systems” wanted with an ice cream brand. The answer was apparently unclear to even Schmitt and in a moment of deja vu, Schmitt ran into financial troubles and was forced to sell off Ample Hills. 

The duo did have a bit of a sweet revenge in the end, according to the New York Times, spending just $150,000 for several stores and the company’s intellectual property -- including, hopefully, the recipe for Ooey Gooey Butter Cake. 

But can the couple make a comeback? In their original bankruptcy filings the company cited the seasonality of the ice cream business as a reason for its failure -- apparently people don’t want to buy ice cream in subzero temperatures. While brick and mortar stores accounted for 90% of sales, wholesale only brought in 7% of sales.  

So could CPG provide a way to counterbalance the winter blues? Perhaps. The company posted on Instagram though it plans to “[take] it slowly,” it hopes to reopen its online storefront soon. 

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There’s about to be a new faux-farmer running the show at Meatless Farm. VFC (or vegan fried chick*n) announced it will buy up the UK-based vegan meat company, “rescuing” the brand from its previously announced, impending bankruptcy.

• In May Meatless was said to be running out of cash and looking for a buyer, and last week, reports indicated the company laid off the majority of its staff. The deal, announced today, is being valued at about $15.2 million.
• According to VFC CEO Matthew Glover, Meatless will retain its branding following the merger.
• The news comes as the plant-based industry is struggling to continue driving sales growth and may signal the beginning of what some experts have been predicting for the past year: the oversaturated space will begin to consolidate.

Go Deeper: Meatless Farm Makes ‘All Teams Redundant

Over a year after alt-meat company Impossible coined the term “the infringing burger” in a lawsuit against Motif Foodworks, the plant-based food tech company has notched a win against its accuser. On Friday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) said it would begin an “inter partes review” to assess the validity of one of Impossible’s “most important patents.”

• Impossible sued Motif, alleging it copied Impossibles use of heme to make fake burgers bleed like meat. Motif fought back saying Impossible can’t claim the rights to heme ingredients – which BTW – occur naturally in most living organisms. However, since the case first began, the USPTO has denied multiple requests from Boston-based Motif to have Impossible’s patents reviewed. 
• Though the process is expected to take about a year, Motif said it feels encouraged as administrative patent Judge Donna M. Praiss stated that Motif “has demonstrated a reasonable likelihood of prevailing with respect to at least one claim.”

Go Deeper: What Impact Impossible’s “Infringing Burger” Lawsuit Could Have On Alt-Protein

BetterBrand announced a new $6 million Series A investment this morning, at a pre-money valuation of $170 million.

• The new capital infusion will fuel growth of the company’s high-protein, low-carb Better Bagel product growth which made its large-scale retail launch in Whole Foods Market in Q3 2022.
• Along with the two new flavors – The Pretzel and The Sesame – unveiled recently, there are plans to bring 16 new SKUs to store shelves in the coming months. Yang previously told NOSH the company hopes to expand into other baked goods as well.

Shelf-stable alt-meat brand RollinGreens has announced significant retail expansion with new distribution in Sprouts, Walmart, Raley’s and Safeway & Albertsons.

• In total, the brand’s ME’EAT core four varieties – Ground Taco, Chic’ken Fajita, Chorizo and Classic Salt & Pepper – are now available in around 4,300 stores.
• CEO Lindsey Cunningham told NOSH the brand hopes to go “deep” with existing retailers, adding more doors, as it looks to revitalize the shelf-stable meat alternatives category.

Read the full story on NOSH

KeHE Distributors has completed its acquisition of DPI Specialty Foods, a West Coast food and beverage distributor, according to an announcement yesterday. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

• The deal, first announced last month, will broaden Illinois-based KeHE’s customer base while bolstering its existing warehouse infrastructure.
• The combined capabilities now include over 31,000 customers, more than 80,000 SKUs, 6,100 suppliers, and 7 million square feet of warehouse space across all temperatures zones in 19 distribution centers. DPI will continue to operate separately while the companies work to develop an integration plan.