In This Issue:
- Food Venture Financing Trends
- CPG Corporate Venture and Private Equity Funds
- Links to Relevant Content and Events
Food Venture Financing Trends
- Rebel Foods, an India-based cloud kitchen startup, announced that it raised $25 million from Qatar Investment Authority.
- UbiQD, an agtech startup, raised $20 million in its Series B financing.
- Good Monk, an India-based DTC nutrition startup, announced that it secured $2 million in pre-Series A funding.
CPG Corporate Venture and Private Equity Fund
This week's featured corporate venture and private equity fund is Minerva Foods.
- Minerva Foods is one of the leaders in the production and sale of fresh beef and its byproducts, live cattle exports and beef processing in South America South America. Besides Brazil, Minerva Foods has productive units in Argentina, Paraguay, Colombia and Uruguay.
- Some of the highly recognized Minerva Foods brands include:
- Estância 92, a Brazilian brand
- Minerva Angus, a Brazilian brand
- Frigomerc, a Paraguayan brand
- Cabaña Las Lilas, an Argentine brand
- Pul, an Uruguayan brand
- Minerva Foods in Brazil rolled out a venture-capital fund called MF92 in August 2020.
- MF92 made its first investment of $4 million in San-Francisco based Clara Foods, a maker of plant-based protein ingredients for food and beverage products.
Links to Relevant Content and Events
ARTICLES
- Eion and Perdue Strike Enhanced Rock Weathering Carbon Inset Deal
- UbiQD Lands $20 Million to Scale its Light-Optimizing Quantum Dot Tech
- Victory Hemp Foods Adds Processing Capacity
- Commercial Bakeries Acquires Cookie Maker Hollandia
- Chobani to Spend $1.2 Billion on New York Dairy Processing Plant
- Hershey Opens New Chocolate Plant as Part of $1 Billion Supply Chain Upgrade
UPCOMING EVENTS
Naturally New England
Chips, Dips, & Sips
Monday, May 5 | 2:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. ET
Location: Severance Foods / Pan De Oro, 3478 Main Street, Hartford, CT
Join Naturally New England for an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of Severance Foods, the powerhouse behind some of the nation's top tortilla chip brands. Limited to just 12 attendees, this intimate experience offers a rare look at the co-packing process, from production to packaging. After the tour, the group will head to downtown Hartford for a Cinco de Mayo toast—because what's a chip without a good dip (or sip)?
Naturally New England
Food Service 101, Unlocking a New Sales Channel
Tuesday, May 6 | 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. ET
Curious about bringing your CPG brand into Foodservice? This one-hour workshop will guide you through the key elements of a winning go-to-market strategy. They'll cover the best channels to explore, how to work with distributors and the critical differences between Retail and Foodservice.
You'll also learn actionable strategies for selling into Restaurants, Colleges, Cafés, and other food service segments. Plus, we'll dive into pricing, packaging, and distribution—helping you navigate the complexities of this space and unlock a new revenue stream for your brand.
Speaker:
- Matt Cotton, Founder & CEO of Rooted Food Sales
Naturally New York
Naturally Rising: The Conscious Business Pitch Competition
Tuesday, May 6 | 5:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. ET
Location: AON - One Liberty Plaza, New York, NY
Naturally Rising is the premier national CPG pitch event—an evolution of the successful Pitch Slam that Naturally Network celebrated for over a decade. Judged by a panel of industry experts and advised by invaluable mentors, this thrilling competition celebrates innovation, purpose-driven business, the future of better-for-you brands, and leaders in the conscious business industry.
Naturally Colorado
Retail Readiness: From Innovation to Shelf
Wednesday, May 7 | 4:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. MT
Location: CSU Spur, 4777 National Western Dr., Denver, CO
There is a lot to consider in developing, producing, and launching your product into retail. This event will help you understand many of the details you need to consider to make that happen. Sponsored by our title partner at Moss Adams, in addition to CH Robinson, and Food Innovation Center at CSU Spur. Retail Readiness brings together key experts in the field of Product Development, Manufacturing, and Logistics to help provide insight into how to make sure your product is developed, made, and shipped to be retail ready.
There will be an amazing line up of experts: Jenna Hartter from the Hartter Group, Mike Gabel from the CSU Food Innovation Center and Adam Happ from logistics firm, CH. Robinson. They will present key retail readiness insights and then participate in a panel discussion and Q&A moderated by Todd Powers of Operations CPG.
Naturally NorCal
1st Annual Naturally Rising NorCal
Thursday, May 8 | 3:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. PT
Location: Cowell Theater, 2 Marina Boulevard, San Francisco, CA
Let's celebrate Northern California's up-and-coming Natural Products Industry brands with a community celebration and pitch competition. A select group of entrepreneurs will pitch to the industry's premier investors, retailers, advisors, and industry peers for a chance to win prizes worth $50K+, including $5,000 cash, and the opportunity to pitch on the national stage!