FDA/CDC Concerns; New Target Opportunities?; $500 Advent Calendars
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Brands Faced with Recalls; Labeling Issues
The FDA has been busy the past week(ish). But before I get into what’s going on, I want to say that I feel so badly for many of these companies, particularly the emerging brands. I urge everyone to try to support them as they work through these issues.
Now, I’ve covered some of this news in-depth, but here’s the abbreviated version. First off, we ended last week with a recall of over 200 RTD coffee products from more than 100 brands over concerns about potential botulism toxin.
The beverages were produced by Snapchill, a co-man that claims to have a proprietary process of rapidly cooling hot coffee, preserving more of each roast’s unique flavors.
Let’s be VERY clear, there has been no botulism toxin found to date. It seems Snapchill never filed the proper paperwork with the FDA, so the FDA couldn’t verify that their canning process wouldn’t result in botulism growth. Essentially, as the saying goes, “absence of evidence does not mean evidence of absence.”
I’m a little confused as the FDA notice states that “the problem was identified” when they notified Snapchill of the missing paperwork, not simply that the paperwork was missing. However, Snapchill’s website seems to indicate this is simply a filling issue.
Snapchill has picked up many partners over the last year, thanks to a new relationship with the coffee incubator/broker Local Collective and their new shareholder, logistics and distribution partner Englewood Marketing Group (EMG).
Next, we had some listeria concerns over at ice cream manufacturer Totally Cool.
Products impacted by the recall include ones under the Jeni’s, Marco, Friendly’s, Hershey’s, and Dolcezza brands, among others.
There doesn’t seem to be a constant among the pulled products which included pints, cones, and sandwiches that are both dairy and non-dairy based. On my LinkedIn post a few people stated that if the plant was vegan this wouldn’t have happened, but listeria is not a carnivore. It hits anywhere.
Again, the details are scant. What we know is that FDA sampling discovered the presence of Listeria monocytogenes somewhere. Jeni’s specifically has noted that no listeria has been found in their products to date, nor has the bacteria been found on the equipment used to produce their sandwiches.
The date codes of the products pulled typically range from May 2024 through May 2025. Given how far in advance ice cream can be manufactured, it’s likely that Totally Cool recalled all products produced after their last FDA inspection, which appears to be in May 2023.
One expert told me years ago, “If you aren’t finding any listeria in your factory, you aren’t looking hard enough.” The problem is when its found somewhere that could impact products or in products, versus in say, a floor drain.
Continuing on, we’ve got some edible issues:
The FDA, CDC and America’s Poison Centers are currently investigating a series of illnesses associated with eating Diamond Shruumz chocolate bars, cones, and gummies. The products were sold online and at various retail locations nationwide, including smoke/vape shops and retailers that sell hemp-derived products such as CBD or delta-8 THC.
The company advertises its “trippy” products as containing nootropic and functional mushrooms, offering consumers a “premium microdose.”
However, these snacks are causing serious side effects, including seizures, loss of consciousness, abnormal heart rates, and hyper/hypotension. To date, 39 illnesses across 20 states have been reported, resulting in 23 hospitalizations.
While the FDA has been in touch with Diamond Shruumz’s manufacturer about a voluntary recall, it appears the company has declined to do so at this time.
FDA testing of the products found the presence of Kava kavalactones as well as O-acetylpsilocin (aka psilacetin), a substance with a similar chemical makeup to psilocybin, DMT, and LSD.
Finally, the FDA also sent a warning letter to Bimbo Bakeries, telling the bakery corporation to change its labeling practices.
First up, it seems Bimbo is labeling products as containing allergens such as sesame seeds and tree nuts when they don’t. While this might mitigate their risk if, for example, a sesame seed slips in there, the FDA pointed out that this makes product labels false and misleading. (I’m just waiting for someone to sue because they bought bread thinking it contained sesame seeds!)
Next, another Bimbo product lists “Kamut” as an ingredient. The issue, according to the FDA, is that Kamut is a brand name and not an ingredient in itself. The correct name is Khorasan wheat, which Bimbo has misspelled elsewhere on the packaging as “Khorsan.”
Finally, Bimbo did not include certain ingredients in their nutrition panels because they “consider[ed] them to be present at insignificant levels and not to have a functional or technical effect on the product.” However, the FDA had already told the company this was a no-go, as these ingredients are, in fact, processing aids.
My favorite line from this warning letter, which is pretty snarky as warning letters go: “Labeling is not a substitute for adherence to good manufacturing practices or implementation of preventive controls.”
For some industry analysis and advice on working with co-mans, check out the comments on my LinkedIn post.
Shopify to Help Brands Get On Target:
Target is hooking up with (or perhaps, better said, hooking into ) Shopify as merchants on the Shopify platform can now apply to be sold as part of Target’s Target Plus program. Target executives emphasize that the marketplace will be highly curated, so while they clearly want to compete with the likes of Amazon, they don’t want their website to become a free-for-all.
Here are a few things I’m pondering:
Shopify is already a partner and shareholder in Faire, stocker of "shoppy shops” everywhere. Food brands, in particular, are a big category for Faire, so given this existing relationship, will Faire clients have a leg up on getting into Target's program?
I could see this integration being a good fit for premium food products, especially somewhat perishable items, that haven’t fully made the jump into traditional CPG. For example, I’m thinking of brands like Milk Bar and Levain Bakery, which haven’t translated well to store shelves. Shipping directly to Target consumers would give them the mass consumer they wanted to reach, without worrying about needing long freshness dates.
Pet products also seem like a winning category. There are plenty of D2C brands in the pet space with aesthetics that align with Target’s, but they face limited shelf space in stores. This partnership could be a great opportunity for them.
What do you think? Is this a game-changer for small brands? Share your thoughts!
News Bites:
Perfect Snacks rolled out a new series of ads to educate shoppers that their bars are sold in the refrigerated section of the store, not with other protein snacks. The video is pretty cute ("Fridge is my favorite F-word, what’s yours? I just want you to follow your heart, if your heart says left"). But then I realized what this means: even with the power of Mondelez, shoppers still don’t know where Perfect Bars are sold. There was lots of talk when the bar company sold about the rise of refrigerated snacking, but has that come true?
When one grocer’s door closes, another opens. The Fresh Market recently posted several new job openings for a soon-to-open location in Chicago at the site of a former Dom’s Kitchen & Market store.
Mirepa Investment Advisors (MIA) invested in supplement, skincare, and ingredient provider True Moringa. The firm manages PE and VC funds in Ghana, where True Moringa sources its flagship ingredient, moringa. “Sadly, the majority of our investments have come from outside of Ghana,” said Kwami Williams, co-founder of True Moringa. “It means a lot to me and is important for the ecosystem to see MIA re-write that story: seasoned Ghanaian investing team investing in Ghanaians to do well and do good.”
Mike’s Hot Honey is truly on a collaboration roll. Yesterday, Dunkin’ announced three new additions to store menus in partnership with the condiment brand: a Hot Honey Bacon Sandwich, a Hot Honey Bacon Wake-Up Wrap, and Hot Honey Snackin’ Bacon. If we bring Grillo's and Mike’s together somehow, I think we’ll hit peak collab power. Can grocery shelves even handle that pairing?
D2C Supplement company Care/of has closed its doors its doors. In addition to personalized supplement packs, the company sold an array of functional powders such as protein, probiotics, maca, chia, flax, and collagen.
Food vendors at the California State Fair better be prepared for customers with a serious case of the munchies. According to a press release, the annual event will include onsite sales and consumption, marking the first time cannabis will be legally sold at a state fair.
Hiring & Promotions: Jon Hayes has been promoted to Director of Social Media & Community Management at seasoning brand Dan O’s (which has 4.5 million TikTok followers); DayDayCook (the now owner of Nona Lim, Yai’s Thai and Omsom) brought on Malik Sadiq, PhD as its new COO and Jeff Ervin as the company’s Co-CFO; Indranil Guha has joined investment group VMG as a general partner in their technology fund; Jim Ehlen was promoted to Director of Sales at snack company Calbee North America.
New Products:
It’s truly Christmas in July. Vosges is selling a handcrafted, made-to-order advent calendar…now. Roughly 19 inches tall and 2 feet wide, the calendar lights up and plays music, and contains 24 chocolate treats and a limited edition candle. At a whopping $500, calendar orders must be placed by July 24, but if you miss out, Vosges is dropping another calendar in September for pre-order.
I got excited by this Instagram post by Yoquiero Brands, which initially looked like a new egg-stuffed avocado take on a scotch egg, but at further glance seems more like an avocado/egg salad. Still into it.
Truff is moving into a new condiment category — or at least a few shelves over — launching a truffle-infused buffalo sauce.
Little Sesame x Vista Hermosa. Honestly, I think enough said.
The Barbie trend is far from over, with Bumpin Blends debuting new Barbie Strawberry Dream Smoothie Cubes in Sprouts stores nationwide. According to Bumpin Blends’ founder Lisa Mastela, the partnership came about after she bumped, no pun intended, into Mattel’s VP, Head of Global Licensing and Consumer Products Partnerships at an airport.
Minute Maid Spiked, which previously was only offered in a 1.5L multi-serve bottle, is launching mini cans of its flavored wine cocktails.
Hot Pot Queen is releasing a new Spicy Sesame Dan Dan Noodle Kit, one of the first SKUS to debut in the company’s new single-serve noodle packs.
Brooklyn Cured’s new Bresaola and Gouda pack stood out to me because of its use of a beef-based cured meat. Most of these meat and cheese grab-and-go items typically lean towards a sliced salami, so this could bring a new customer to the set.