Food Venture Financing News – Weekly Issue No. 270

In This Issue:

• Food Venture Financing Trends
• CPG Corporate Venture and Private Equity Funds
• Links to Relevant Content and Events

Food Venture Financing Trends

• Hain Celestial has announced that it is selling its North American snacks business, including Garden Veggie Snacks, Terra chips and Garden of Eatin', to Snackruptors, a Canadian snacks manufacturer, for $115 million.
• The Marzetti Co. is acquiring Bachan's, a Japanese barbecue sauce brand, for approximately $400 million.
• Western Smokehouse Partners, a meat snack company backed by Monogram Capital Partners, has announced its plans to acquire Junior's Smokehouse.

CPG Corporate Venture and Private Equity Fund

This week's featured corporate venture and private equity fund is JamJar Investments.

• JamJar Investments is a London-based early-stage venture capital firm focused on backing consumer brands, including food and beverage companies. Founded by the creators of innocent drinks, JamJar brings an operator-driven perspective to investing.
• JamJar Investments focuses on investments in:
• food and beverage companies
• mission-driven and founder-led consumer businesses
• digitally native brands scaling into broader retail distribution
• Its portfolio includes the following companies:
• SURI: a sustainable consumer brand focused on electric toothbrushes with premium design and functionality
• Tony''s Chocolonely: a purpose-driven chocolate company focused on ethical sourcing and supply-chain transparency

Links to Relevant Content and Events

ARTICLES

• Agtech Barnwell Bio Secures $6 Million in Seed Round to Scale Poultry Barn Bio-Surveillance
• FoodNerd Raises $7.5 Million to Reimagine the Toddler Snack Aisle
• Mö Foods Raises €2.4 Million to Scale Oat-Based Cheese Technology
• Western Smokehouse Buys Junior's Smokehouse

UPCOMING EVENTS

Naturally Colorado
Women in CPG: Food for Good

Tuesday, February 10 | 5:30–7:30 p.m. MT
Location: The Women's Bean Project, 1300 W Alameda Ave., Denver, CO

Food has the power to nourish, connect, and transform lives. Few Colorado organizations embody this more fully than the Women's Bean Project, the host for this year's February event. For more than three decades, the Women's Bean Project has served as a pioneering social enterprise, providing employment, wraparound support, and life-stabilizing skills for women facing barriers to work. Through meaningful jobs in food production, the organization helps women build confidence, independence, and pathways to long-term economic mobility.

Register

Naturally Seattle
A Chocolate Factory Tour at Spinnaker

Tuesday, February 10 | 6–7:30 p.m. PT
Location: Spinnaker, 3509 Stone Way N, Seattle, WA

Just in time for Valentine's Day—join Naturally Seattle for an intimate factory tour and tasting experience with one of the Pacific Northwest's premier craft chocolate makers.

Limited to 20 guests, this event offers a guided behind-the-scenes look at Spinnaker's bean-to-bar process, a curated chocolate tasting, and a founder story with co-founder and CEO Kelly Van Arsdale.

Discover how passion, transparency, and sustainability come together in every bar and leave inspired by the story and flavors of Spinnaker.

Register

Naturally NorCal
Naturally NorCal AI Forum (NEW): AI Readiness for CPG Leaders

Wednesday, February 11 | 10–11 a.m. PT
Location: Online Webinar

The AI Forum is the newest addition to Naturally NorCal's Forums program: intimate, topic-focused groups designed to foster peer-to-peer learning, collaboration, and practical takeaways.

Open to all roles and functions, this AI Forum brings together professionals across marketing, sales, operations, finance, and leadership to explore how artificial intelligence is being used in real-world CPG businesses today.

Register

Naturally Network
Retail Success: Expo West Prep Series 2026

February 11 to March 4
Location: Online Webinar

Overwhelmed thinking about Expo West? Naturally Network is back with its 4-part education series designed to help brands show up confidently at Expo West, engage retailers effectively, and maximize post-show momentum.

Presented by NIQ, this program supports brands in the final weeks leading up to Expo West by combining:

• Virtual education + real world expectations
• Retailer and investor perspective specific to Expo West
• Last minute data and feedback to strengthen conversations
• A culminating in-person Retail Success Breakfast during Expo West

Register

Naturally Austin
Coffee and Convos

Thursday, February 12 | 8:30 a.m.–10:30 a.m. CT
Location: Rosy's Grocer, 1500 Spyglass Dr, Austin, TX

Come for the coffee, stay for the conversation. Coffee & Convos is a casual, no-pressure morning meetup for anyone in the local natural products and CPG space. Whether you're looking to connect with fellow founders, swap ideas, or simply start your day surrounded by like-minded people.

No agenda. No pitch deck. Just good coffee and great company.

Register

Naturally Chicago
Hiring for Growth: Building Your Team

Thursday, February 12 | 3–4 p.m. CT
Location: Online Webinar

For growing CPG brands, few decisions feel as high stakes as the first hires. This session will help founders move from guessing to making confident and strategic choices about building their teams.

This session will explore: 

• When to make the leap from solo founder or tiny team to your first key hires.
• Which roles to prioritize first (spoiler alert – much of this will be driven by your strengths, your channel strategy and current headaches).
• How to decide when to hire a full-time employee vs. contractor, broker or fractional help so you protect cash while still growing.
• Why an Organizational Chart is critical.
• Practical tips for recruiting and interviewing.

Speakers:

• Teresa Ging, Founder & CEO, Sugar Bliss
• Erica Bethe Levin, Founder & CEO, Globowl
• Frank Milianti, Partner, Creative Alignments Recruiting

Moderator:

• Greg Keller, Naturally Chicago (former partner at Frontera Foods)

Register