• 🥑 Chosen Foods Moves Headquarters, Officemate Ripe for Collaboration
• 🍲Food Sector Captures First Maryland Innovation Lab Cohort
• 🍝Slim Shady Now Selling Spaghetti Sauce

In the Northeast, we’re in the throes of an Indian summer. But this newsletter is about to get a little chilly as we take a dive into frozen foods. Why the cold, icy outlook?

The American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI) and The Food Industry Association’s (FMI) released their biannual report “Power of Frozen in Retail” this week which surveyed over 1,700 frozen food shoppers about buying habits, product mix and, most importantly, how high inflation and the pandemic have affected the category. Let’s dive into some of the numbers:

• Dollar sales in the frozen set rose to $74.1 billion this year – a 7.9% gain compared to a year ago; yet, unit sales were down 4.9% year-over-year, showing that inflation-induced price hikes are reducing basket sizes for cost-conscious consumers.
• Inflation’s impact on frozen pricing (+13.5% versus YA) has been in-line with that of the total store (+12.1% versus YA). 
• But it has been slower to recede: Frozen food price per unit is up +3.9% compared to a year ago, coming down from +8.6% in Q2 and +16.3% in Q1.
• Where consumers are spending their dollars in the cold case is changing as well partially due to the cost-saving opportunities in other channels and the pandemic’s impact on shopping behavior. 
• Channel distribution of frozen dollar sales in mass/supercenter (+27.2% YTD vs. 24.7% in 2020) and online/ecommerce (+3% YTD vs. 1.7% in 2020) are rising. The club channel has been flat while traditional grocery (37.6% YTD vs. 40.8%) has declined.

The AFFI lays out a number of strategies for both food brands and retailers to gain more ground with potential frozen consumers. Educating consumers on the nutritional benefits and cost-saving opportunities could go a long way to bring more natural shoppers to the category, said AFFI VP of Communications Mary Emma Young.

In response to some shoppers feeling that the category contains lower quality and less nutritious options, Young said: “Frozen is a temperature state, nothing more.”

Read the full story on NOSH.

Adding to our Ice Age, this week on the NOSH Podcast, Circana’s Sally Lyons Wyatt joins the show to discuss top trends in CPG frozen food. Wyatt speaks with reporter Lukas Southard about what is driving growth in the category, how retailers can increase sales in the cold cases and what strategies may entice new frozen food consumers. 

Before the interview, the NOSH team gears up for Halloween the only way they know how: with a sweet discussion of childhood candy preferences. The team also breaks down the big payday for Smashmallow and how West African food brand Yolélé is rethinking its fonio supply chain.

Click here to listen to this week’s episode.

Like what you hear? Please rate our show and leave a review on your podcast platform of choice.

Keto-friendly protein bar maker CanDo is readying itself to onboard a new CEO following the departure of Matt Clifford last month. According to CanDo founder and current acting CEO Adam Bremen, an announcement will be made within the next 60 days. 

• In 2021, one year after hitting the market, the bar brand brought on former Barnana COO and co-founder Matt Clifford as CEO and transitioned from the name Keto Krisp to its current moniker.
• In a LinkedIn post, the former CEO called his time at the bar producer “some of the most rewarding work of my career.” 
• During his search for a new chief executive, Bremen said he sought out “somebody who has been there and done that with exceptional experience” and who could take the business from $15 million in revenue to $100 million in revenue and beyond. 

Check out the full story on NOSH.

At NOSH Live on November 30 + December 1 in Marina del Rey, natural food brands are invited to meet one-to-one with leading retail buyers. Representatives from Thrive Market, Kroger, The Fresh Market, and now Whole Foods, will be available for private meetings during the two-day event. Register to receive the sign-up form. Insiders save $100 per registration.

Call it the office that avocados built. Two San Diego-based, Butterfly Equity-backed brands are buddying up, with condiment company Chosen Foods relocating its headquarters to share office space with fellow guac-star Qdoba.

According to pictures shared on LinkedIn by Chosen’s former CEO and current executive chairman, Gabriel Perez Krieb, the office features a fair number of green walls (though we’d say leaning towards the lime side of the agricultural spectrum). 

Now we must wait and see if Qdoba and Chosen peer pressure their other neighbor, The Honest Kitchen, into making avocado-based dog food.

Baltimore-based food companies Simpli and Pompeian Olive Oil along with food service and facilities manager Sodexo have been named as inaugural partners of Maryland’s new Innovation Lab. 

Created in partnership with Maryland Department of Commerce, the World Trade Center Institute (WTCI) and corporate innovation specialists L Marks, the selected companies will work with WTCI and L Marks to identify scale up technologies and opportunities to continue growing their respective companies on a global scale.

But the initiative’s primary function is to develop sustainable solutions for global food system challenges – with a focus on improving supply chains, “from sourcing and agriculture all the way to packaging and distribution,” Simpli said in a LinkedIn post. In order to do this, the three Maryland food companies will connect with international businesses as they look to enter the U.S. market and help connect them with local Maryland businesses.

“We are so excited to work alongside the World Trade Center Institute and L Marks to help international startups develop strong, sustainable solutions, work towards reducing food waste, and create more resilient supply chains. The future is stronger when we band together,” the post said.    

Go Deeper: Learn How Simpli Used A “Diversification Model” To Build The Brand

We truly hope Eminem’s palms aren’t still sweaty, knees aren’t weak, and arms aren’t too heavy. Now that he’s slinging cases of pasta sauce – that could get messy. 

The rapper introduced Mom’s Spaghetti this week, a new single-SKU CPG brand of pasta sauce that takes its name from a lyric in the artist’s 2002 hit song, Lose Yourself. The Detroit-born rapper and songwriter also operates a restaurant under the same name in his hometown. Mom’s Spaghetti pasta sauce is made with a classic combination of tomatoes, onions, sugar, garlic, carrots and will be available online on Oct. 30 for $13 per 25 oz. jar. So get your sweaters ready.