November 7, 2025

Please see below for a listing of what the North Point Food & Beverage Team has been tracking this week. We hope that you find the content insightful and a nice way to summarize the most noteworthy Food & Beverage events of the week.

Have a nice weekend!

Glen Clarke

Head of Food & Beverage

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Urban Farmer acquires CAULIPOWER.

• Urban Farmer, a portfolio company of Paine Schwartz Partners and a fully integrated producer of specialty dough products for leading brands and major retailers across North America, announced the transformative acquisition of CAULIPOWER, the #1 better-for-you, gluten-free, and cauliflower crust frozen pizza brand in America.

Source: Mergermarket

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Taylor Farms acquires Natures Way Foods.

• Taylor Farms announced the acquisition of Natures Way Foods, one of the United Kingdom's leading fresh prepared food manufacturers. Based in Chichester, England, Natures Way Foods employs 1,300 people and specializes in the supply of fresh, convenient food supporting retail and foodservice customers.

Source: Mergermarket

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Utz Brands eyes ‘big opportunity’ in California with acquisition.

• The Pennsylvania-based company is buying direct store delivery routes across California from Insignia International for an undisclosed amount. Utz said it sees the Golden State as a “key growth geography” with $4.1 billion in retail sales of salty snacks, totaling about 10% of the category in the U.S. 

Source: Food Dive

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Juantonio’s Snacks in late stages of sale process.

• Juantonio’s Snacks, a family-owned manufacturer of branded tortilla chips, is in the late stages of a sale process, according to four sources familiar with the situation.

Source: Mergermarket

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Avrum Elmakis acquires Citizens Pet Products.

• Citizens Pet Products, the parent company of trusted pet food and treat brands Plato Pet Treats and Furry Republic, announced a major change in majority ownership. Pet industry veteran, serial entrepreneur, and investor Avrum Elmakis has officially taken the helm to drive the company's next phase of expansion and product innovation. 

Source: Mergermarket

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Cove Soda closes USD 15m Series A round led by Vanterra Ventures.

• Cove Soda, a Canada-based functional carbonated soft drink (CSD) brand, today announced that the company has closed a USD 15m Series A round led by Vanterra Ventures, a leading venture and growth equity fund known for backing high-growth consumer health companies.

Source: Mergermarket

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Peak Rock wraps up management presentations for Global Market Foods.

• Peak Rock Capital’s sale process for food platform Global Market Foods has advanced to the second round, according to three sources familiar with the situation.

Source: Mergermarket

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EVERY raises USD 55m in Series D led by McWin Capital Partners.

• The EVERY Company, a biotechnology leader pioneering precision fermentation for highly functional proteins, today announced that it has successfully closed on $55 million in Series D financing. 

Source: Mergermarket

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Cerealto makes majority investment in Fresca Foods.

• Cerealto has made a majority investment in Fresca Foods, a leading U.S. co-manufacturer of natural and organic snacks– marking a major expansion into the U.S market and strengthening both companies’ capabilities in high-growth snacking segments. 

Source: Mergermarket

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Forward Consumer Partners acquires 51% stake in Justin's.

• Forward Consumer Partners is thrilled to announce that we have joined forces with Hormel Foods, a deeply-respected Fortune 500 branded food company, to form a new partnership. This partnership enables Justin's, an iconic brand of confections and nut butters, to once again become a standalone company, owned 51% by Forward and 49% by Hormel. 

Source: Mergermarket

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Simplot completes acquisition of Clarebout group.

• The Simplot Company, a privately held global food and agriculture company headquartered in Boise, Idaho, has completed its acquisition of Clarebout Potatoes, a leading European producer of frozen potato products based in Belgium.

Source: Mergermarket

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Caulipower purchased by private equity firm.

• Private equity firm Paine Schwartz Partners acquired Caulipower and will integrate it with its Urban Farmer platform, pairing Urban Farmer’s manufacturing scale with Caulipower’s national distribution and better-for-you innovation pipeline.

Source: Food Dive

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Chewy to acquire SmartEquine from Covetrus.

• Covetrus®, a global animal-health technology and services company, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Chewy, Inc. for Chewy to acquire the SmartEquine® business.

Source: Mergermarket

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MEAT+POULTRY's top 10 stories in October.

• October headlines were dominated by food safety and recall activity across major meat players (Tyson, Hormel, Foster Farms, Hillshire).
• Protein industry also saw manufacturing investment momentum, including new JBS sausage capacity and Chomps-dedicated Missouri plant.
• Beef pricing & policy remained front-and-center, with government commentary and rancher groups reacting to rising consumer beef costs.

Source: Meat + Poultry

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Proposed legislation could expand market opportunities for livestock producers.

• DIRECT Act would create limited interstate DTC sales flexibility for state-inspected meat (e.g., 300 lbs beef / 100 lbs pork retail quantities) without altering food-safety equivalence or export rules.
• Aims to support small producers, processors, and butchers by enabling online/state-to-state consumer sales while prohibiting export and excluding custom-exempt facilities.
• Backed by NCBA and state cattle groups as a way to expand market access and streamline opportunities for small farms and local meat businesses.

Source: Meat + Poultry

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Switching to natural dyes? What food companies should consider.

• Regulatory pressure and state-level bans are accelerating food companies’ shift from artificial to natural dyes, requiring deep reformulation work and supply-chain coordination rather than simple one-to-one ingredient swaps.
• Natural colors behave differently and often need higher doses, driving R&D, toxicity diligence, and supplier collaboration — but also creating opportunities to modernize operations and improve product “health halo.”
• Emerging research suggests select natural pigments (e.g., anthocyanins) may deliver functional health benefits, positioning clean-label color innovation as both a compliance necessity and potential product-differentiation lever.

Source: Food Dive

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Bumpy beverage trends punctuated Q3 for can makers.

• Beverage can makers faced mixed Q3 performance — strong demand in Europe contrasted with softness in the Americas driven by inflation-impacted consumers, weather disruptions in Brazil, and weaker Latino spending.
• Major beverage players are adjusting price-pack architecture and investing in non-alcoholic categories (energy, NA beer, minis) as consumption patterns shift toward portion control and premium non-alc offerings.
• Despite near-term volume volatility, can format remains resilient — tied to affordability, sustainability perception, and versatility across soft drinks, energy, and evolving RTD innovation.

Source: Food Dive

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More than a paycheck: The 2025 Salary & Job Satisfaction Survey.

• Industry salary & satisfaction data (354 respondents) shows higher overall job satisfaction at small/intermediate processors vs. large companies, driven by greater advancement visibility, recognition, and flexibility.
• Large processors offer more comprehensive benefits (healthcare, tuition reimbursement, training), but face higher hiring freezes and position eliminations, while smaller firms report more stability and longevity in roles.
• Exec-level roles report highest satisfaction and compensation, with median total cash comp of ~$580K at large companies vs. ~$273K at smaller firms; plant managers remain a critical but lower-satisfaction role, especially in large companies.

Source: Meat + Poultry

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Cattle group requests reforms to the USMCA.

• R-CALF urges major USMCA overhaul ahead of 2026 review, arguing current framework erodes U.S. cattle competitiveness and accelerates loss of independent ranchers (31% decline in beef farms since 1994).
• Proposal pushes shift from rules-based to managed trade system, including tariff-rate quotas, weight-based tariffs, and a 25% tariff on cattle imports from Canada/Mexico to rebuild domestic herd and food security.
• Cattle group also seeks stricter country-of-origin labeling (born, raised, slaughtered) and aligns with other producer groups like NTF calling for quota structures in revised agreement.

Source: Meat + Poultry

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Inside Perfect Snacks’ ambitious goal to become Mondelēz’s next $1B brand.

• Perfect Snacks is rapidly scaling under Mondelēz, with sales up ~20% to ~$156M as consumers favor fresh, high-protein, clean-label snacks, driving the brand toward its stated $1B ambition.
• Growth strategy centers on expanding distribution, innovating formats (minis, chocolate-covered), and boosting awareness through influencers, sampling, and marquee events like the Chicago Marathon — with awareness up ~40% and strong repeat rates (~63%).
• Refrigerated placement remains an education hurdle, but category momentum (Mush, Once Upon a Farm) and continued innovation into consumer-priority attributes position Perfect Snacks to capitalize on refrigerated snacking whitespace.

Source: Food Dive

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Why Coca-Cola keeps pushing the limits of generative AI despite backlash.

• Coca-Cola is leaning aggressively into generative AI for major brand moments, including holiday campaigns, citing record-high ad performance metrics and strong consumer response despite public criticism.
• AI enables the brand to modernize iconic assets (e.g., Santa, holiday trucks) while balancing tradition and innovation across channels — pairing AI-generated creative with traditional storytelling and global market tailoring.
• The company sees AI as critical to staying culturally relevant and scaling creativity, treating it as a core tool to unlock insight, personalization, and new brand assets in an increasingly competitive marketing environment.

Source: Food Dive

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Jack Stack Barbecue looks to start USDA facility for processing, packaging items.

• JBQ Meats (Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue parent) pursuing ~$18M conversion of former Walmart site into USDA-inspected facility focused on cooked meats (processing, marinating, smoking/BBQ, packaging, warehousing).
• Plan excludes slaughter; includes raw trimming, value-added BBQ production and potential retail elements (sauces, rubs, hot food); targeted opening by 2027.
• Initial staffing of ~35 employees with capacity to scale to ~70, supporting expansion of branded BBQ retail distribution footprint.

Source: Meat + Poultry

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Specialty food maker Marzetti is ‘locked and loaded for AI’.

• Marzetti is scaling generative AI across finance, HR and knowledge workers after completing a major ERP modernization, positioning the business with clean data and strong governance to accelerate adoption.
• The company invested heavily in AI literacy and internal guardrails — rolling out prompt-training, acceptable-use policies, and an AI council — to build enterprise readiness before deployment.
• A “no-excuses” ERP transformation created organizational alignment and a foundation for rapid innovation, enabling Marzetti to now pursue AI use cases with board support and operational momentum.

Source: Food Dive

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Magnum Ice Cream says Ben & Jerry’s chair ‘no longer meets criteria’ to serve.

• As Unilever prepares to spin off its $9B+ ice cream unit into “Magnum,” tensions have escalated with Ben & Jerry’s, with Magnum asserting the brand’s independent board chair “no longer meets criteria” to serve following an internal probe.
• Ben & Jerry’s founders argue the move is a power play that violates the unique merger agreement guaranteeing independence for the brand’s social-mission governance, warning it risks destroying long-term brand value.
• The dispute highlights the cultural and governance friction between socially driven legacy brands and parent-company mandates as Unilever accelerates restructuring and strategic focus post-spin.

Source: Food Dive

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Coca-Cola brings back Mr Pibb with more caffeine.

• Coca-Cola is relaunching Mr. Pibb with 30% more caffeine, tapping into nostalgia while modernizing the formula and packaging to appeal to younger consumers and compete in the spicy cherry soda segment.
• The rollout begins in select U.S. markets (FL, Chicago, Las Vegas, MI, CA) with a national expansion planned, including a zero-sugar SKU to broaden appeal and align with evolving consumption patterns.
• Higher caffeine and experiential marketing (e.g., college campuses, music festivals) position Mr. Pibb for a “bold, rebellious” brand persona as Coca-Cola leverages retro revivals to drive growth in a crowded soda category.

Source: Food Dive

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Patrón’s billionaire founder wants to restore gin’s cool factor.

• Billionaire John Paul DeJoria (Patrón, Paul Mitchell) is aggressively scaling Waterloo Gin, aiming for 20+ states by early 2026 and national distribution by year-end.
• Premium and super-premium gin categories are growing despite overall alcohol declines, driven by younger consumers drinking less but trading up for quality and flavor innovation.
• Waterloo differentiates with botanical-forward flavors (e.g., Prickly Pear & Rose) and non-juniper-led profiles, targeting millennials/Gen Z and leaning into packaging refresh, flavor innovation, and bar-driven interest in modern gin cocktails.

Source: Food Dive

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JBS to pay $1.1M to settle New York lawsuit over climate claims.

• JBS USA will pay $1.1M to support climate-smart agriculture in New York to settle allegations that its net-zero emissions claims misled consumers, and must now frame its 2040 target as an “ambition” rather than a firm commitment.
• The agreement requires JBS to annually review and clarify climate-related consumer messaging for three years, following findings that it lacked a viable plan or feasibility analysis for its net-zero goal and withdrew from SBTi validation.
• The case underscores growing regulatory scrutiny on ESG claims and the need for substantiated climate plans as food and ag companies face increasing legal and consumer pressure around sustainability transparency.

Source: Food Dive

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Hormel Foods to cut 250 jobs as part of corporate restructuring.

• Hormel will eliminate ~250 corporate and sales roles and close open positions as part of a restructuring to reallocate resources toward technology, innovation, food safety, and quality.
• The move comes amid softening demand, inflationary pressures, and operational disruptions, with the company incurring $20–$25M in restructuring charges and recently making leadership changes including CFO departure and interim CEO return.
• Hormel joins peers like Nestlé, General Mills, and Molson Coors in cutting jobs in 2025 as major CPGs adjust cost structures to slower growth and shifting consumer behavior.

Source: Food Dive

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PepsiCo to shutter 2 Frito-Lay facilities in Florida, lay off 500 workers.

• PepsiCo is closing two Frito-Lay facilities in Orlando and eliminating 500 jobs as snack volumes soften and the company aligns capacity with slowing consumer demand.
• Broader industry pullback — major CPGs like General Mills and Conagra are also reducing plants and headcount as inflation-pressured consumers shift toward healthier, less-processed snacks.
• Frito-Lay is responding with ingredient-forward reformulations (olive/avocado oil, no artificial additives) and value pack sizes, signaling a pivot toward cleaner labels and affordability.

Source: Food Dive

JUST FOR FUN

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Leftovers: Kraft bakes up Apple Pie Mac and Cheese | Tillamook blends mayo and butter into ‘Butternaise’ – Food Dive

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