Functional Foods

Vitamin “bites” brand GEM wants to make the store supplement aisle more tasty and transparent. The company, which makes functional, granola-esque bites, announced today it had raised $7.5 million in funding last month, an investment the largely direct-to-consumer brand will use to help launch into physical stores and expand its product line.

The small but mighty chia seed has increasingly moved beyond beverages, bars and the bulk bin toward savory snacks and breakfast food as consumers seek added function from everyday foods. But after a temporary boom in attention during the middle of the last decade, under brands like Health Warrior, the Chia Company, and Mamma Chia, the ingredient still hasn’t fully reached the masses.

Betting on the ubiquitous affinity for chocolate, companies are now trying to create high-quality, tasty sweets that incorporate functional benefits — steering both into the supplement and snack aisles for merchandising — and looking at a variety of functions and ingredients: everything from vitamins that taste like conventional candy to prebiotic European chocolate bars.

Functional food brand Good Day Chocolate announced last week it would be entering the CBD fray with the launch of three new CBD-enhanced chocolate bites. The launch follows the close of $3 million in investment this summer and the addition of a new Chief Growth Officer with experience in the segment.

General Mills is doubling down on the powers of digestive health. The corporation is deepening its strategic partnership with natural brand GoodBelly, launching a line of lactose-free yogurts and cereal this week under the digestive health brand. In yogurt, General Mills will take on fellow functional foods brand Activia — offering similar product benefits for a younger audience.

Is Kellogg waffling on its formerly Eggo-centric waffle strategy? The food giant is, at least, diversifying its breakfast table approach with new Off the Grid protein-infused waffles, rolling into major retailers this month.

Meat snack producer Stryve doesn’t just want to be the country’s leading biltong brand; it wants to be the manufacturer of choice for the growing category. The company last week announced the close of a $16.5 million round of funding to not only grow its own brand but to grow its manufacturing facilities as well.

Despite its long association with diet food, two legacy dairy brands think cottage cheese is ready for a comeback. To modernize the snack, they’re looking to non-traditional, savory flavors.

During this year’s Natural Products Expo West, Senior Reporter Meagan McGinnes spoke with Four Sigmatic founder Tero Isokauppila about the his love of mushrooms, why adaptogens are trending in food and how he is getting people to give his fungus-filled products a try.

Nuun has made health-through-exercise a core tenet of the brand identity for its line of hydration tablets and powders. But now the company says it is looking to take care of its consumers around the clock with Nuun Immunity, a new line launching next month.