CPG Week by BevNET & Nosh

In this episode: On CPG Week, the podcast team explores the uphill battle for industrial hemp food and beverage brands as individual states enact restrictions, a juice category merger and the growing snack portfolio of Our Home. Before jumping into the week's news, Nosh managing editor Monica Watrous gives senior reporters Lukas Southard and Brad Avery a pumpkin spiced quiz. Then, the group discus...

In this episode: On the episode of CPG Week, the team discusses the social chatter around Foxtrot's reopening, insights from the first Newtopia Now and the state of the non-alcoholic wine category. To kick off the episode, Nosh managing editor Monica Watrous and senior reporters Brad Avery and Lukas Southard discuss the reopening of the newly dubbed Foxtrot Café & Market and how some louder voices...

In this episode: On the episode of CPG Week, the team conducts a wide-ranging, mid-year quiz related to some of the quirkier elements of the industry this year. Joined by BevNET Editor-in-Chief Jeff Klineman, the podcast hosts — Nosh managing editor Monica Watrous and senior reporters Lukas Southard and Brad Avery — all came to the show with a trivia question to test each other's news knowledge. T...

In this episode: On this week's podcast, the team digs into the latest investigative story on how one Small Business Administration (SBA) pandemic loan program has left many companies with few options to grow their businesses in a post-COVID environment. Nosh managing editor Monica Watrous and senior reporter Brad Avery sit down with their colleague reporter Adrianne DeLuca to talk about her detai...

In this episode: On this episode of CPG Week, Nosh managing editor Monica Watrous and senior reporters Lukas Southard and Brad Avery talk about two different retailers' returns from bankruptcy. The CPG Week podcasters discuss how there is a differing consensus about the expected returns of Foxtrot and Boisson. While some suppliers seem ready to return to Foxtrot shelves, there appears to be more h...

In this episode: On this episode of CPG Week, the podcast team talks about "zombie brands," a rumored mega-merger of snacks and sweets, a recap of earnings, and another lawsuit for PRIME. Nosh managing editor Monica Watrous and senior reporter Lukas Southard are joined by BevNET managing editor Martín Caballero in a packed episode where they talk about the idea of zombie brands and how it relates...

In this episode: On this episode of CPG Week, the podcast team teases their Nosh Notables honorable mentions, details the latest investment for a fast-growing food brand and discusses the different marketing approaches food brands are taking in the Ozempic Era. Nosh managing editor Monica Watrous and senior reporters Brad Avery and Lukas Southard talk about Oats Overnight Series B round and how th...

In this episode: On this episode of CPG Week, the podcast team talks expensive energy drink-themed accessories, IFT First and the latest legal quandary for Logan Paul's drink brand, PRIME. Senior reporter Lukas Southard was in Chicago last week for IFT First where he got an inside look at how trends are incubated by suppliers and tells his co-hosts about the innovative new products on display. Lat...

In this episode: The CPG Week podcast team assembles an arguably strange but balanced breakfast of orange juice, regenerative rice and cottage cheese with the top topics of the week. BevNET and Nosh reporter Adrianne DeLuca shares her findings on the recent cottage cheese craze, senior reporter Brad Avery rehashes his conversation with the CEO of Tropicana Brands Group, and Nosh managing editor Mo...

In   this episode: Back from a long holiday weekend, the CPG Week podcast team got back to work with a quick quiz testing senior reporters Lukas Southard and Brad Avery on interesting new product launches. The team goes on to discuss the stories they wrote for the new series, Nosh Trendlines Report. The five-part series brought insight into recent developments within the CPG food industry focusing...

In this episode: The CPG Week team is taking a break from the studio for the Fourth of July holiday. Be sure to tune in next week for the latest food and beverage industry news, and in the meantime head over to BevNET and Nosh to read about a new hydration beverage brand, TikTok's entry into alcohol ads, and a special-edition series on the trends shaping the industry. About the CPG Week CPG Week i...

In this episode: In a jam-packed episode, the CPG Week podcast covers a lot of ground from cannabis to kava with a healthy recap of the Specialty Food Association's Summer Fancy Food Show from earlier in the week. To start, senior reporter Brad Avery explains the big news out of the cannabis industry as Curaleaf announced it was entering hemp-derived THC with edibles and beverages available in a n...

In this episode: Fresh off of BevNET Live in New York City, the CPG Week team shared the best parts of the summer conference. The group goes on to talk bottled water after two category powerhouses, BlueTriton and Primo Water, announce plans to merge and create the largest producer in the country. In the second half of the show, Nosh managing editor Monica Watrous explains the Omsom's acquisition b...

In this episode: This week, the podcast team of Monica Watrous, Brad Avery and Lukas Southard is joined by BevNET and Nosh reporter Adrianne DeLuca to unpack UNFI's recently implemented new supplier policy and some less-than-favorable industry reactions. Show Highlights: 0:50 - Adrianne explains UNFI's Simplified Supplier Approach (SSA), and she and Lukas share early industry reactions to the poli...

In this episode: This week, the podcast team gets ready for BevNET Live in New York City by sharing what they are looking forward to at the summer conference. Then the CPG Week hosts jump into all the legal drama in the industry from the past week. Senior reporter Brad Avery shares the latest from the family power struggle over kefir brand Lifeway Foods. The group talks about gut health claims aft...

In this episode: How does artificial intelligence fit into the CPG industry? Senior reporter Brad Avery walks the podcast team through A.I.'s impact on everything in food and beverage from product ideation and formulation to streamlining operations. Nosh managing editor Monica Watrous shares data on the granola segment and the CPG Week group discusses how recent product launches speak to enlivenin...

In this episode: This week, the podcast team digs into the growing trend among major retailers to invest in new modern white label programs. The CPG Week crew discusses why retail chains from CVS to Walmart to Grocery Outlet are launching expanded private label programs and what these next-generation brands might mean for consumers and independent CPG businesses. Later, the group dives back into t...

In this episode: What did the CPG Week team think of Netflix's "Unfrosted" movie? The group dives into Jerry Seinfeld's Pop-Tarts biopic and why it is a (partially) accurate portrayal of the R&D process of creating a CPG food product. Nosh managing editor Monica Watrous shares some of the latest snack trends as related to the Sweets & Snacks Expo happening this week. Senior reporter Lukas Southard...

In this episode: In a first for the CPG Week podcast, the team records all in-person. The group kicks off the roundtable discussing senior reporter Lukas Southard's reporting on ketone beverages. The Nosh and BevNET team go on to talk about mergers, acquisitions and restructuring by first exploring the news of Bolthouse Farms splitting its agriculture segment from its CPG business. Nosh managing e...

In this episode: In this episode, the CPG Week team is joined by BevNET and Nosh Editor-in-Chief Jeff Klineman, who shares some insights from his trip with senior reporter Brad Avery to the Beverage Forum conference in Los Angeles this week. The two discuss celebrity beverage brands, why industry stakeholders are high on next-generation drinks and how big companies are diversifying. The group move...

In this episode: The CPG Week team dives into the sudden closure of Foxtrot and Dom's Kitchen & Market stores. The group digs into this developing story , discussing possible factors of why Outfox Hospitality failed and ceased operations so quickly. The Nosh and BevNET editorial team unpacks what they know so far, what this means for the brands that sprung out of Foxtrot and Dom's into wider distr...

In this episode: In this episode, the CPG Week team starts with an update from Momofuku's chili crunch trademark dispute. The conversation focuses on what has transpired, the implications for Chang's appeal to consumers and how this is representative of what it takes for a CPG brand to hold a trademark. The group moves on to talk about why canned water is positioned as a beer alternative for live...

In this episode: The BevNET and Nosh team discusses three food news stories that have carried industry headlines in the past week. Senior reporter Lukas Southard explains why David Chang-founded Momofuku is getting blowback from other Asian-American brands over a trademark dispute involving chili crunch products. Next, senior reporter Brad Avery discusses an exposé that highlights the questionable...

In this episode: The Nosh and BevNET team bring on spirits editor Ferron Salniker to dive into why the adult non-alcoholic beverage category might be facing struggles as news broke that Boisson, one of the largest independent retailers of NA beverages, is closing its brick-and-mortar stores. The team talks about what this says about the category as a whole and what might come next as non-alc brand...

In this episode: With April Fool's Day fast approaching, Nosh managing editor Monica Watrous tests senior reporters Brad Avery and Lukas Southard to see if they can tell the difference between real CPG items and prank products that have shown up in marketing campaigns over the years. After the Prank Product Pop Quiz, the team discusses how allulose is being talked about as "nature's GLP-1" and the...