New DRY Botanical Bitters & Soda line helps DRY Soda Co. return to zero-proof lifestyle mission With the upcoming launch of a line of DRY Botanical Bitters & Soda, the Dry Soda Co. returns to its roots as a zero-proof lifestyle pioneer at a time when the sober-curious and reduced-sugar movements are gaining momentum and consumers increasingly are seeking sophisticated options featuring botanicals.
The launch also serves as a course-correction for the company after a brief detour into the better-for-you soda space with the short-lived 2018 launch of the now discontinued DRY Zero Sugar line of organic colas, which company CEO Sharelle Klaus says threatened to take the company down the wrong path.
With this week’s appointment of industry veteran Paul Nardone as the new CEO of HIPPEAS, the organic chickpea snack brand is building an all-star executive team with a strong track record of high-profile exits to help it leverage pandemic-inspired shifts in shopping to get closer to consumers and meet their demand for plant-based, better-for-you snacks.
Chickapea closes CAD$9.3m Series C funding round fueling additional US expansion Canadian chickpea pasta brand Chickapea has closed a CAD$9.3m Series C funding round co-led by District Ventures Capital, InvestEco Capital, and Export Development Canada (EDC) to support new product innovation and the brand s distribution growth across Canada and the US.
Chickapea first teamed up with District Ventures in 2017 as part of its accelerator program, and later received a seed capital investment from the firm.
In 2019, Chickapea received an investment from Toronto-based venture capital firm, InvestEco, with participation from EDC, setting the stage for its latest Series C funding round in which all three investors participated.
While a downturn in sales for snack bars in the past year suggest consumer demand has softened, snacking behavior has hit a fever pitch and innovation in this set is hotter than ever as brands evolve to meet shifting consumer demands.
Buyers on online discovery platform RangeMe - which is used by retailers from Whole Foods to Walmart to identify new products and suppliers - are increasingly using it as a tool to identify brands that align with corporate social responsibility goals, says SVP Brandon Leong, who said searches for products from businesses that are certified as minority-owned or women-owned have surged in recent months.
RangeMe - which has attracted 10,000+ retail buyers and approaching 200,000 suppliers since it launched in the US in late 2015 - offers buyers a more efficient way
to manage inbound approaches and compare what vendors have to offer.