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This Week in CPG 02/23/2026
🛒 Retail Rollouts
🍫 Big Midwest + West Coast door expansion with Dierbergs and Costco
Day Out founded by Becky Dheri is expanding its dessert-inspired vegan protein balls into 75 new doors 28 Dierbergs Markets across Missouri and Illinois and 47 Costco locations in the San Francisco Bay Area rolling out during the month of January. The vegan snacks are free from seed oils, GMOs, gluten, and dairy, and founder and CEO Becky Dheri says the “highly respected” placements give Day Out a quality-led Midwest foothold with Dierbergs while letting the brand reach a new West Coast market through Costco’s larger, family-friendly format. The expansion builds on Day Out’s 2025 rollout in hundreds of Northeast stores at Costco and ShopRite.
🧁 New doors + a Birthday Cake Blondie flavor add
Elavi founded by Michelle Razavi is expanding its protein brownies into 170+ locations and adding a new flavor, Birthday Cake Blondie, across the Southeast. Elavi says its protein brownies are positioned as a “permissible indulgence” option that’s high in both protein and fiber while avoiding gluten, dairy, refined sugars, seed oils, and sugar alcohols. The brand shared that it’s now distributed across three regions the Southeast, Northwest, and Los Angeles with additional expansion plans mentioned for the Southwest as the second flavor ramps. Elavi also noted recognition from Bon Appétit as an editor’s pick for best healthy snacks as it continues to build momentum in the category.
🧋 Giant rollout boosts Mid-Atlantic reach
BUBLUV founded by Diana Ark Chen just landed in up to 133 Giant Food stores across Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia in the bottled tea aisle. BUBLUV announced its bubble tea is now available at participating Giant Food locations, expanding access across the Mid-Atlantic and into the D.C. area. Shoppers can find Black Milk Tea and Matcha Soy Latte with Jelly Pearls alongside natural bottled teas, according to the brand’s update. The team framed the rollout as a step forward in making its low-sugar, low-cal boba tea easier to grab on a routine grocery run.
🍁 Profitability + 700+ doors nationwide
Better Together Foods founded by Jiashu Du is now in 700+ retail doors nationwide and hit profitability in 2025, according to LvlUp Ventures. In a spotlight from LvlUp Ventures, Better Together Foods was credited with building distribution across natural and specialty grocery while maintaining “strong fundamentals” and reaching profitability in 2025. The brand’s lineup includes Maple Pop! and QuinoWow!, described as air-popped, vegan, gluten-free snacks made with pure organic maple syrup and positioned with 40% less sugar and fat than conventional caramel popcorn. LvlUp also pointed to vertically integrated manufacturing in Los Angeles as a key advantage for margins, consistency, and operational agility as the company scales.
🥤 Stop & Shop expands to the full lineup
Uncle Waithleys Beverage Company founded by Karl Franz Williams is expanding to all three flavors on Stop & Shop’s NY Local racks across ~100 stores after strong repeat performance. Uncle Waithleys Beverage Company shared that Stop & Shop is adding Caribbean Sorrel and Smoked Pineapple alongside the Original flavor across approximately 100 stores in the NY Local program. Founder Karl Franz Williams said the relationship began at the Summer Fancy Food Show in June 2023, led to an initial placement by October 2023, and expanded after 2.5 years of consistent repeat purchase and velocity. Williams framed the move as a stepwise model earn placement, prove repeat, expand distribution, and scale volume while noting the expansion strengthens grocery channel momentum and production scale.
🍪 Nationwide Costco placement
simplyFUEL founded by Mitzi Dulan announced its protein balls are now available nationwide at Costco. simplyFUEL shared the nationwide Costco placement as a major milestone in a journey that started in 2015 when founder Mitzi Dulan made protein balls for the Kansas City Royals while working as the team’s sports dietitian. Dulan described years of persistence nearly getting into Costco in 2017 and 2020 before landing a first purchase order to deliver in January 2023, and now expanding nationally about three years later. She also highlighted the behind-the-scenes grind of scaling production and the personal stakes involved, plus gratitude for Costco’s partnership and shopper response.
🚀 New Product Launch
🍓 Limited-edition flavor drop
Chunk Nibbles co-founded by Brad and Katie Cocklin launched a limited-edition Chocolate Covered Strawberry snack featuring freeze-dried strawberries, pretzels, and corn squares drizzled in milk chocolate. Chunk Nibbles introduced Chocolate Covered Strawberry as its first limited-edition flavor, built with real freeze-dried strawberries for bright berry sweetness plus crunchy pretzels and corn squares for a sweet-and-salty bite. The brand says everything is finished with a milk chocolate coating to capture the nostalgia of a classic chocolate-covered strawberry with extra crunch. It’s positioned as a limited-time drop for fans who like dessert-leaning snack mixes
💸 Acquisitions and Investments
🍹 Kickstarter launch for functional mixers
Cheeky Cocktails founded by April Wachtel is launching Cheeky Prebiotics on Kickstarter on March 2 with low-sugar sparkling prebiotic cocktail mixers to fund initial production and expanded retail distribution in 2026. Cheeky Cocktails says the new Cheeky Prebiotics line brings functional benefits into the premium mixer category with a low-sugar, sparkling format aimed at active, ingredient-conscious drinkers. Each 12 oz can is described as delivering 4g of prebiotic fiber and 10g of sugar, debuting in Lime Tonic, Grapefruit Paloma, and Orange Spritz. The Kickstarter campaign launching March 2 is intended to fund initial production and help support expanded retail distribution in 2026 as the brand builds out a functional mixer platform.
🎉 News to Celebrate
🏅 Men’s Health UK award win.
Loopini founded by Damiano Messineo shared that its Classic Margherita was named Men’s Health UK “BEST FOOD FOR MEN 2026.” Loopini’s founder Damiano Messineo shared the Men’s Health UK recognition as a “BEST FOOD FOR MEN 2026” win for the brand’s Classic Margherita. He tied the nod to his ongoing “Loopini Challenge,” eating a Loopini a day for 100 days while training for an Ironman, and said he feels better than ever so far. Messineo added that he plans to follow up with bloodwork after establishing a baseline, but for now is celebrating the expert-approved shout.
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