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This Week in CPG 08/25/25
🛒 Retail Rollouts
🍫 Koia brings plant-powered gains to Costco shelves
Koia, led by Chris Hunter, has expanded its Elite line with two new high-protein offerings now available at Costco and Costco.com. The Elite Vanilla Protein Powder, priced at $32.99, delivers 32g of complete plant protein, 6g of prebiotic fiber, and only 4g of sugar—formulated for blending into shakes, recipes, or baked goods. Alongside it, the Elite Chocolate Protein Shake is now offered as a 6-pack ($15.99) in Bay Area Costco locations, delivering the same muscle-recovery nutrition but in a ready-to-drink format made with avocado oil instead of seed oils.
🥒 Hummus Goodness lands its first LA retail placement
Hummus Goodness co founded by Hannah Awada and Lara Lozser has officially launched in Los Angeles, landing four SKUs at Bristol Farms—marking the brand’s first retail presence in the LA market. Known for its bold, creamy hummus made with real ingredients like olive oil and lemon juice—and without citric acid or seed oils—this expansion aligns with the brand’s mission to offer delicious, clean-label Mediterranean snacks to more consumers across the country.
🧃 Laurel’s Coffee hits the national stage with Whole Foods rollout
Laurel’s Coffee, founded by Isabel Washington, has officially launched nationwide in Whole Foods—just one year after its initial debut. With over 1,000 stores now stocking the brand, the coffee line has quickly outperformed legacy players thanks to barista-style flavors and a commitment to representing café-quality drinks with better ingredients. Washington credited her rapid growth to a key cold email and ongoing support from Cultivate and investors, showing how fast a scrappy startup can scale with the right network.
🍕 Blackbird’s Pizza Minis go national at Whole Foods
Blackbird Foods, co-founded by Emanuel Storch and Michael Pease, has launched its new plant-based Pizza Minis at Whole Foods locations nationwide. These 5-inch personal pizzas—available in Cheese and Pepperoni—are crafted with a whole grain crust and designed for quick prep via oven, air fryer, or microwave. The release is perfectly timed for back-to-school season and underscores the brand’s momentum in frozen, better-for-you convenience meals.
💧 Leisure Hydration launches first Costco multi-pack in SoCal and Hawaii
Leisure Hydration co founded by Steve Michaelsen and Alex Michaelsen just landed its first retail multi-pack placement with a seasonal rotation at Costco stores across Southern California and Hawaii. This limited-time end-of-summer rollout showcases an early peek at the brand’s upcoming refresh through its updated packaging. The founders are activating the launch with demos and warehouse blitzes, encouraging fans to “hydrate at your leisure” before the rotation ends in late September.
🚀 New Product Launch
🥨 Quinn introduces first-ever gluten-free filled pretzel sticks
Quinn founded by Kristy Lewis has introduced a first-of-its-kind snack: gluten-free Filled Pretzel Sticks, available in Peanut Butter and Peanut Butter & Honey flavors. These crunchy, craveable snacks feature a creamy filling and clean-label ingredients—offering 3g of protein, just 2g of sugar, and absolutely nothing artificial. Now available for $5.99 at Sprouts and Whole Foods, the sticks continue Quinn’s mission to reimagine classic snacks for modern eaters, with gluten-free, dairy-free, corn-free, and soy-free credentials to match.
🎂 Elavi launches nostalgic Birthday Cake Blondies at Thrive Market
Elavi co founded by Michelle Razavi and Nikki Elliott just launched a celebratory new flavor—Birthday Cake Blondies—developed over nine months of meticulous R&D. Inspired by childhood favorites like SusieCakes and Sidecar Donuts, the high-protein treat is made with clean ingredients, free from dairy, gluten, soy, seed oils, and artificial dyes. The final product features colorful, bake-stable, dye-free rainbow sprinkles sourced from Supernatural Inc and is now available online and through Thrive Market as part of its Back-to-School campaign.
🤝 Brand Partnerships
🕯️ Carbone and MALIN+GOETZ light up kitchens with Tomato Supercandle
Carbone Fine Food, co-founded by Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi, has partnered with fragrance brand MALIN+GOETZ to launch the Tomato Supercandle—a three-wick, small-batch candle inspired by the garden-fresh essence of Carbone’s signature sauces. With an 80-hour burn time and stylish double-walled glass vessel, the candle blends the worlds of scent and flavor, filling homes with notes of simmering tomatoes and fresh herbs, bringing Italian culinary nostalgia to the living room.
🍭 OLIPOP teams with Homesick Candles for soda-inspired scent collection
OLIPOP led by CEO Ben Goodwin has partnered with Homesick Candles to turn its beloved soda flavors into home fragrances. The collection features five scents, including Orange Cream, Classic Root Beer, Cream Soda, Classic Grape, and Strawberry Vanilla—available as single candles ($34.95) or in a mini variety pack ($44.95). Each candle aims to evoke the same nostalgic joy of opening a can of OLIPOP, offering a new sensory way to experience the brand’s gut-friendly sodas.
🎉 News to Celebrate
🏆 Huxley takes home top prize at Naturally Network’s National Pitch Slam
Huxley founded by Simon Solis-Cohen has won the prestigious Naturally Network National Pitch Slam, becoming the first company from the Minnesota chapter to take home the national title. Simon credited much of the brand’s growth to a pivotal Retail 101 workshop hosted by Naturally MN just before launch, which helped him and co-founder Bethany develop a scalable retail strategy. This victory reflects the power of mentorship, community support, and strategic execution in elevating emerging brands in the CPG ecosystem.
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