- CPG Weekly News
This Week in CPG 04/20/2026
🛒 Retail Rollouts
🍋 Ithaca Hummus rolls out olive oil
Ithaca Hummus, founded by Chris Kirby, is rolling out its new Olive Oil Sea Salt flavor to Target, Whole Foods, Walmart, Publix, Sprouts, HEB, Shoprite, Hungryroot, BJ’s, and select Costco regions, turning strong demand for olive oil-forward dips into a broad premium retail push. The launch builds on momentum from the brand’s limited-edition Graza collaboration, which helped validate consumer interest in olive oil-forward hummus. Olive Oil Sea Salt is made with extra virgin olive oil for a richer texture and brighter finish, and it will hit shelves in Ithaca’s core 10-ounce tub along with larger club-store formats for BJ’s and Costco, with more olive oil-based flavors planned for the fall.
🥤 PuraSoda makes U.S. shelf debut
PuraSoda, founded by Greig Jansen, made its U.S. retail debut with a nationwide Sprouts exclusive, bringing its clean-label, low-sugar sodas to American shelves in Cucumber & Lime, Cranberry, and Ginger Ale flavors. The Cape Town-born brand is entering the U.S. market with a simple-ingredient soda positioned between traditional soft drinks and sparkling water, using real fruit extracts and a touch of organic cane sugar. The exclusive Sprouts launch marks a major retail milestone and gives American shoppers their first broad access to the brand in single-can format.
🍝 Lazy Food Co. expands at Fresh Market
Lazy Food Co., founded by Nakul Kapoor, landed in 175 The Fresh Market stores across 22 states, a milestone that shows how quietly building brand momentum can pay off when the right retailer comes calling. Kapoor framed the rollout as proof that not every retail win comes from aggressive pitching, noting that The Fresh Market reached out when the timing made sense. The placement gives the brand a meaningful footprint across a premium grocery chain and reinforces its steady, relationship-led growth strategy.
🍭 BEHAVE Candy goes national at Target
BEHAVE Candy, co founded by Mayssa Chehata and Emily Gu, launched nationwide in nearly 2,000 Target doors, capping off a comeback story fueled by viral TikToks, retailer interest, and a big exclusive relaunch of Super Sour Skulls. The rollout marks a major turnaround moment for the brand after a period of financial strain that nearly forced it to shut down. A string of high-performing TikTok videos helped revive sales, attract retailer attention, and ultimately lead to a national Target partnership that includes multiple SKUs and an exclusive return of a fan-favorite product.
🚀 New Product Launch
🥤 Mitra9 adds two new functional formats
Mitra9, founded by Dallas Vasquez, expanded its lineup with Bubbly Pop, a limited-time functional soda, and Crimson Spark, a strawberry watermelon functional shot, broadening the brand’s reach across both social sipping and everyday energy occasions. Bubbly Pop leans into nostalgic soda-fountain flavor with a more approachable, social use case, while Crimson Spark is designed as a smoother, fast-acting option for energy, focus, and mood support. Together, the launches show Mitra9 widening its portfolio with products aimed at both flavor-first discovery and repeat functional use.
🍫 Coco Chateau launches fiber-forward brownies
Coco Chateau, founded by Amber Glover, is launching DTC on May 15 with Chocolate Chip and Mint functional brownies that pack 10g of fiber and 10g of protein while still leaning fully into indulgent dessert energy. Bootstrapped from Glover’s own kitchen experiments, the brand was built to address fiber gaps without sacrificing taste or texture. Made with an organic black bean base and sweetened with monk fruit, the brownies are positioned as a genuinely indulgent functional snack rather than a dressed-up nutrition bar.
💸 Acquisitions and Investments
🌵 Parch Spirits Co. joins Daintree
Parch Spirits Co., founded by Rodolfo “Rudy” Aldana and Ila Byrne, joined the Daintree Capital portfolio, adding fresh backing to a fast-growing non-alcoholic cocktail brand already sold in more than 2,400 retail doors. Born from Aldana’s shift away from alcohol after a cancer diagnosis, the brand has carved out a distinct position with agave-based, adaptogen-infused non-alcoholic cocktails inspired by the Sonoran Desert. The Daintree addition gives Parch another growth signal as it continues building on strong retail distribution, award recognition, and multimillion-dollar sales.
🥤 Lucille raises fresh growth capital
Lucille, founded by Jess Haghani, rounded out a multimillion-dollar raise with new capital partners, giving the senior nutrition brand more fuel as it builds on early subscriber traction and foodservice expansion. The company is aiming to modernize nutrition for older adults with products designed to be more appealing than legacy meal replacement options. Haghani said the brand is already seeing repeat behavior from early customers and has secured its first foodservice distributor for senior living communities, helping validate both consumer and channel demand.
🍸 Cheeky Cocktails wins pitch competition investment
Cheeky Cocktails, founded by April Wachtel, won first place in the Brandjectory x Dream Makers CPG Founders Group pitch competition, earning a $10,000 investment from beverage veteran Jeff Church. The win stands out in a highly competitive beverage field and gives the brand both capital and added visibility with industry insiders. For Wachtel, the recognition marks a meaningful milestone as Cheeky continues growing its presence in the cocktail mixer and beverage space.
🍪 Byte’m Brownie Bites gains investor credibility
Byte’m Brownie Bites, co-founded by Jacob Tubis and Jack Davis, won the top prize at the Skandalaris Venture Competition, marking a meaningful credibility boost as the brand continues scaling nationally. After previously taking home the People’s Choice award, the founders returned with stronger momentum and won the competition’s top honor. The recognition comes as the brand has grown from a small store base to more than 1,000 locations, giving it another proof point as it builds investor and industry credibility.
🎉 News to Celebrate
🍗 Kidfresh wins new product honors
Kidfresh, founded by Matt Cohen, scored a 2026 Progressive Grocer Editor’s Picks Best New Product win for its White Meat Chicken Sticks & Potato Tots, a better-for-you frozen combo built for busy families. Progressive Grocer recognized the product for reflecting where family meals are headed: convenient, kid-friendly, and nutritionally improved. The single-serve meal combines antibiotic-free white meat chicken with cauliflower-forward tots and delivers vegetables, whole grains, and cleaner-label credentials in one easy frozen format.
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