This Week in CPG 11/17/25

11/17/2025
CPG Weekly News

This Week in CPG 11/17/25

🛒 Retail Rollouts

🍓 Nationwide Sprouts debut for functional kefir

Fermenteria, founded by Jade Chang Sheppard, rolled out its live-culture water kefir nationwide at Sprouts, marking a major milestone for the probiotic beverage brand. Brewed in its own in-house brewery and kefir taproom in San Antonio, Fermenteria is bringing its Strawberry Lime and Pineapple Coconut water kefir to the Grab ’n Go cooler in all Sprouts locations across the U.S. Each can delivers 20+ probiotic strains and 10–12 billion CFUs with no sugar, sweeteners, or artificial additives, positioning the line as a cleaner alternative to kombucha and flavored seltzers. Sheppard calls the launch a pivotal step in “bringing real, living probiotics back into the beverage aisle” and a big win for her small but mighty team.

🧅 Fresh onion shortcut hits the Northeast

ONOIN, founded by Marc Brown, landed placement in select ShopRite locations across New Jersey, with expansions coming soon to Uncle Giuseppe’s, DeCicco & Sons, and Greenfield’s ShopRite. The brand, which cheekily tells shoppers to “put down the knife and grab a spoon,” is leaning into its convenient, spoonable onion format as a tear-free swap for chopping onions during holiday cooking. Initial distribution includes Glass Gardens, Inserra Supermarkets, and Village Group ShopRites, with more regional retailers queued up in the coming weeks. Brown is using the momentum to educate shoppers on the playful “on-o-in” name while positioning ONOIN as a must-have shortcut for seasonal favorites.

🥣 Innovative granola grabs Raley’s spotlight

Struesli, founded by Adrienne Lufkin, launched its organic granola blends in Raley’s Get Curious Innovation Set after winning over the retailer during a Fancy Food Expo pitch. Lufkin secured just five minutes with Raley’s Product Innovation Manager John Lane—an opportunity powered by StartupCPG—and turned it into a full placement for Struesli’s three award-winning, certified organic blends. Now featured in the “Mornings Made Better” section, the chef-crafted granolas are positioned as functional upgrades to breakfast and all-day snacking. Lane even called out the Cacao + Coffee blend as his personal favorite, giving the brand an extra boost of in-store credibility.

🚀 New Product Launch

🍞 Holiday stuffing gets a BFY glow-up

Kooshy, co-founded by Matt Wachsman and Jonathan Wachsman, debuted its clean-label Sourdough Stuffing for the holidays, bringing a BFY upgrade to a beloved pantry staple. The new product leans into Kooshy’s signature sourdough, Non-GMO ingredients, and a seed-oil-free recipe to modernize a category that’s long been dominated by more processed options. Available for the holiday season at a wide range of retailers, the stuffing is designed for convenience with both oven-bake and 5-minute stovetop prep options. The founders hint that this isn’t just a seasonal play, sharing their vision of stuffing as an all-year comfort food—especially paired with weeknight rotisserie chicken.

🍪 Most-requested brownie flavor finally lands

Elavi, co-founded by Michelle Razavi and Nikki Elliott, introduced its most-requested Peanut Butter Chocolate protein brownie, breaking launch-day sales records ahead of an upcoming major retail debut. Formulated with creamy natural peanut butter, Fair Trade chocolate sprinkles from Supernatural, and a touch of sea salt, the new brownie packs 10g of protein and 10g of fiber with no added sugars. The flavor has already gone live on Elavi’s website, with an Amazon launch slated for next week and a big unnamed retailer dropping it next month. Razavi credits Elliott for personally overseeing production to ensure the brownie meets their high bar, calling it arguably the brand’s best work yet.

🥚 Plant-based breakfast, reimagined in a bun

Crafty Counter, founded by Hema Reddy, launched its new high-protein, gluten-free Egg & Cheese Protein Buns powered by hemp protein and WunderEgg innovation. After more than two years of R&D and experimentation with hemp hearts, the team cracked a plant-based scramble that offers roughly 40% more protein per gram than a chicken egg while maintaining a strong amino acid profile. The new buns feature a house-made cheese sauce based on single-ingredient nutritional yeast and deliver 11g of protein and 4g of fiber in a soft, chewy, heat-and-eat format. Reddy positions the product as a no-mess, ready-in-under-4-minutes option that actually fills you up, with a moist, convincing “egg” center that aims to win over even conventional breakfast fans.

💸 Acquisitions and Investments

💧 Calm-in-a-can gets blockbuster funding

TRIP, founded by Olivia Ferdi, raised a massive $40 million round led by celebrity investors and Coefficient Capital as the brand continues its explosive U.S. growth. Backers include Joe Jonas, Alessandra Ambrosio, Paul Wesley, and Ashley Graham, fueling TRIP’s push toward $100 million in annual revenue this year and a projected $200 million in 2026. The brand’s calming drinks and supplements already sit in 10,000 doors across the U.S.—including Target, Sprouts, Whole Foods, H-E-B, Wegmans, CVS, Erewhon, and Soho House—and 50,000 globally. With nearly half a billion social media impressions in the past year, TRIP is capitalizing on rising stress levels, reduced alcohol consumption (especially among Gen Z), and demand for better-for-you beverages to build a new “calm” category in drinks.

⚡ Energy drink rocket-fuels its next phase

Lucky Energy, founded by Richard Laver, closed a $25 million Series B to fuel nationwide expansion, deepen partnerships, and strengthen its leadership team with new board members. Led by Paine Schwartz Partners and joined by existing investors plus new backers like North Fifth Services, Sequel, and Joyance Partners, the oversubscribed round underscores Lucky’s status as one of the fastest-growing U.S. energy beverage brands. The capital will support expanded retail distribution, elevated marketing, and strategic hiring to meet surging consumer demand. Two Paine Schwartz operating directors—James Brennan of ENlightened Brand Ventures and Bob DeBorde of Suja Life and Promix Nutrition—are joining the board alongside longtime member Dan Ginsberg, former CEO of Red Bull North America, forming a powerhouse leadership bench.

🍓 Superfood jam brand steps into its next chapter

Smash Foods, co-founded by Steven Ford and Anna Peck, completed its Series A raise to scale its superfood jams and snacks with support from new investment partners. The round brings in Eclair Partners, Label Capital, and The Family Fund & Founder Community, giving the brand additional capital and strategic firepower to grow. Ford highlights that the most meaningful part of this milestone is the people around the brand—the investors backing the vision and the rapidly scaling internal team. With this new funding, Smash aims to bring its “superfood jams and jam-packed snacks” to more families nationwide while doubling down on the culture and mission that got it here.

🎉 News to Celebrate

🍫 Women-led protein chocolate takes the spotlight

DEFI Snacks, founded by Tatyana Jones, won the Enthuse Foundation’s Grand Prize for its clean-protein chocolate bites, earning cash and in-kind awards alongside runner-up Bake Me Healthy. Selected from more than 300 applicants in the Enthuse Foundation’s 7th Annual Pitch Competition, DEFI impressed judges with its 25g+ protein, gluten-free, grain-free chocolate bites made with sprouted organic buckwheat plus casein and whey crisps. The brand donates 1% of profits to female entrepreneurs and is targeting the $27B protein chocolate market by proving “healthy” doesn’t have to be boring. Runner-up Bake Me Healthy, an allergy-friendly and sustainable baking brand using upcycled ingredients, joined DEFI on stage at a finale that also spotlighted finalists like Krave Cocktail Seltzer, BEJOU, and Pink Salt Kitchens—underscoring Enthuse’s broader mission to tackle the fact that women still receive just 2% of VC funding.