Nosh Live 2023 Recap

Nosh Live came to its new home in Marina Del Rey, California on November 30 with a blockbuster list of presenters discussing the most pressing issues in consumer packaged food. Industry leaders, entrepreneurs and investors brought their experience to the stage giving attendees valuable insight into how to succeed in the rapidly evolving natural food industry.

In the first panel discussion of the day, investor Wayne Wu of VMG Partners, Whole Foods VP of dry grocery Dan Epley, and two brand executives with That’s It – chief sales officer Katie Eshuys and The Good Crisp Company co-founder and CEO Matt Parry – came to the stage talking about the post-pandemic era of CPG.

While there continues to be strong innovation in the industry, Epley told the crowd, brands that stick to their core, rather than branching out into numerous categories, tend to have stronger foundations that can lead to longevity in retail.

“There’s lots of times where brands get excited about that shiny thing, and that distracts them from the core and if they miss the core then the whole thing falls down,” he said.

Looking ahead, the panelists also discussed the impact of high pricing on the industry, including lower volume sales. With an expectation that the worst of inflation is likely now passed, Wu said that retailers are beginning to push for lower prices but brands should focus on moving units instead of increasing dollar sales.

“I think we’re gonna see the strength of brands come to light by next summer,” Wu said. “If you’re seeing brands still truly growing on a same-store velocity basis. And so we’re really focused on looking at unit growth.”

Later in the day, Kevin Lee, co-founder of plant-based ramen startup Immi, discussed how the company bootstrapped until closing a $3.8 million seed round in 2021 and a $10 million Series A round earlier this year. Lee leveraged his background in venture capital and sitting on the other side of the table to help the brand raise new capital.

“I wouldn’t say that I am particularly proud of having to raise money,” he said. “Who wants to give up equity? It’s not really a great thing.”

But Lee did concede that it is oftentimes a natural path to increasing a brand’s growth and trajectory as a disruptor in an established category.

Discussions around raising capital and the power of disruption continued into the second day of Nosh Live. Two of the founders and general partners of the Family Fund came to the event to talk about the newly formed $25 million fund’s investment strategy in early stage brands.

Launched in March by former SnackNation CEO Sean Kelly, ForceBrands founder Josh Wand and Vital Proteins founder Kurt Seidensticker, the Family Fund writes “smaller checks” to founder-led brands in the late seed to early series A stage investment rounds. Kelly and Wand emphasized that the true value is in operating as a sounding board and support system for CPG leaders.

“How do we help founder performance? A lot of founder performance is on the personal side. It’s the mental, it’s emotional, it’s the spiritual, it’s helping them if they’re having massive personal challenges,” Kelly said.

Part of its role is coaching founders through the fundraising process which Wand called a “scary” and “lonely journey” rife with rejection. The Family Fund not only attempts to ease that burden on new entrepreneurs to the food industry but help set realistic goals that will build to success.

In another panel discussion, a trio of successful entrepreneurs and founders presented their respective experiences navigating the aforementioned “lonely” journey of leading a brand. Nature’s Bakery CMO Vilma Livas, Partake Foods founder and CEO Denise Woodard, and Arnulfo Ventura, former CEO Alter Eco Foods and Beanfields, talked about the lessons they learned from working within large CPG companies and how that shaped their leadership strategies at smaller brands.

Being flexible and easily adapting to change was a common theme among the leaders.

“Keep questioning…It’s never static,” said Livas, who managed brands at Nestlé for over nine years. “It’s something that you have to continue to iterate as the needs of your business and the complexity of your business change.”

Describing it as working from within or “a game of double dutch,” Ventura said that “before you want to come in and add a new move you have to first jump in and get with what’s going on and get with the program.”

Woodward came to her leadership style through her time working at Coca-Cola and the lessons she learned from her entrepreneurial father who started his own trucking business. She added that knowledge is power and having an in-depth understanding of a brand’s business economics will help build a strong foundation for future growth.

In 2023, Nosh honored KIND founder and co-founder of SOMOS Foods Daniel Lubetzky as the Person of the Year and Rao’s Homemade as the Brand of the Year with its annual Best Of awards. Last year’s Rising Star brands were Ithaca Hummus, Once Upon A Farm and frozen treat brand DeeBee’s Organics.

In a crowded field six finalists competed for the title of Nosh Pitch Slam winner 2023. The winner was Lentiful — high protein, high fiber lentil-based meal cups available in seven flavors. The other five competing brands were luxury baked goods maker Lexington Bakes, Maazah Afghan-style sauces and dips, Fair & Square gut-friendly crackers, Zwita ancestral Tunisian foods and Confusion Snacks, an Indian-American fusion snack brand.