January's Lunch Box

I hope your 2024 is off to a great start. In this month’s Lunch Box, we have real estate news, some notable fundings and acquisitions, plus some content I thought might be of interest.

Let’s go!

REAL ESTATE HIGHLIGHTS

Charlotte, North Carolina’s BevPack leased 27,608 square feet at 15507-15517 Broadway Center St, Gardena, CA. (source: Me!)

Mars, Inc. has unveiled plans to invest $237 million to build a 339,000 square foot facility in Salt Lake City for its Nature’s Bakery brand. The company said it expects to add more than 190 jobs to its workforce as part of the project. Nature’s Bakery was founded in 2011 and headquartered in Reno, Nevada. In 2020, Nature’s Bakery was acquired by Mars, Inc. (source: FoodBusinessNews)

Cal-Maine Foods announced it has reached an agreement to acquire a processing plant previously operated by Tyson Foods in Dexter, Missouri. The egg giant said it will convert the plant into an egg grading facility. The plant has the potential for other capabilities, such as hard-cooked egg production, Cal-Maine said. The plants were closed in 2023 by Tyson and served as a broiler chicken processor, hatchery, and feed mill. According to Cal-Maine, it anticipates entering agreements with some farmers that were previously contracted with Tyson to serve its cage-free, free-range, or pasture-raised egg production needs. (Source: Food Dive)

NOTABLE FUNDINGS & ACQUISITIONS 

Specialty coffee brand Reborn Coffee has secured a $1 million investment from Farooq Arjomand, chairman of the company. The investment enables the company to further its growth opportunities in Southeast Asia in addition to the company’s already planned expansion into other markets, including Dubai, the company said. The company recently opened a flagship store in Malaysia. (source: Yahoo Finance)

Animal-free dairy protein maker Perfect Day, formerly known as Muufri, has raised $90 million in a pre-series E financing round. The funding round was led by internal investors. Perfect Day produces dairy proteins through fermentation in microflora instead of cows. In the wake of the funding announcement, co-founders Ryan Pandya and Perumal Gandhi will step down from their operational management roles to focus on future opportunities, the company said. Pandya and Gandhi founded Perfect Day in 2014 and launched its first dairy-free ice cream product in 2019, according to the company. (source: FoodBusinessNews)

Sprecher Brewing Co. is entering the energy drink category with the purchase of Juvee from the global gaming and lifestyle brand 100 Thieves. Short for rejuvenation, Juvee was launched in 2022 by 100 Thieves CEO Matthew “Nadeshot” Haag and co-founder Sam Keene. It’s formulated to boost energy, elevate mood, increase focus, and improve overall well-being. In the last year, Los Angeles-based Juvee has grown revenues by 400%, driven mostly by the dedicated community it has built online, according to Glendale, Wisconsin-based Sprecher. (source: CSP Daily News)

WHAT I’M CONSUMING (AND ENJOYING!)

⁉️ FoodBusinessNews compiled eleven of 2023’s oddest flavor combinations and most unusual product applications. Did you know there was a Pepsi/Peeps collab (see above)? More pictures at the link. Fun stuff!

🍕 The classic entrepreneurial path: scratch your itch. New York City residents Kobi and Abev Regev love pizza but don’t love the effects traditional cheese has on their diet. So they got to work figuring out how to make a plant-based cheese that tasted like their beloved NYC pizza, and Please Cheese was born. Kobi even went so far as quitting his sales job to work behind the counter of an NYC pizzeria to figure out what his market was looking for.

🥑 New Zealand startup Ovāvo has produced a freeze-dried avocado powder. The powder is made from avocados, which are either too small or have blemishes and imperfections, making them unfit for retail sale. After the production process, the powder is in an 18-month shelf-stable format and can be used by the food, cosmetic, and nutraceutical industries. A recent analysis from Fact.MR found that the role of freeze-dried powder in preserving vital nutrients in food and beverages and extending their shelf life led to increased product sales. The market was estimated to stand at $27.7 billion in 2023, and was forecast to rise at a 7.2% compound annual growth rate through 2033.

Cultivated meat pushback. Arizona joins Florida, Texas, and others in exploring or imposing additional requirements that would prohibit the sale in their respective states.

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Until next time!

Erik Stiebel
Founder and Vice President
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