Upton's Naturals

Vegan meat company Upton’s Naturals is rebranding its Chicago cafe into a “launchpad” for emerging CPG companies to showcase new plant-based food products.

This week’s roundup of notable new products saw brands creating new products with fall-inspired flavors, turning popular pureed baby food into a new snack for toddlers and launching superfood cereals packed with Vitamin D3.

There’s a new, vegan taco stuffer in town, and it’s made from fava beans. Introducing Upton’s Naturals Fava Taco Style Crumbles. This plant-based product is great for filling crunchy taco shells or wrapping into a burrito, layering over chips for loaded nachos, or cooking up a healthy breakfast scramble.

Last week plant-based brand Upton’s Naturals and the Plant Based Food Association (PBFA) continued their fight to halt a new Oklahoma labeling law for meat alternatives which went into effect in November.

In this week’s Checkout, GFI studies plant-based retail trends, Kraft Heinz sells its natural cheese business and aims to focus its portfolio, and Beyond Meat rolls out meatballs while Impossible Foods grows further into retail.

The plant-based meat category was already growing before the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, many plant-based brands have seen huge sales upticks since pantry loading began in March. Now, they need to figure out what comes next.

A federal court yesterday blocked the state of Arkansas from enforcing a meat label censorship law against meat-alternative brand The Tofurky Company. Additionally, the Plant-based Foods Association (PBFA) created a set of labeling guidelines for the industry.

Plant-based labeling lawsuit dropped, Kroger rebrands, Tofurky Christmas sweaters and more in this week’s Checkout.

Just in time for the Fourth of July, Upton’s Naturals and The Plant Based Food Association (PBFA) are asserting their own independence against the state of Mississippi with a lawsuit to push back against new labeling laws. “It’s just ridiculous,” Upton’s founder Daniel Staackmann said about the new Mississippi law. “Perhaps the city of Hamburg should sue the meat industry in the United States for using [that term]?”

Upton’s Naturals, which pioneered flavored Seitan, is getting back to its roots with the launch of wheat-protein-based Jerky Bites at Natural Products Expo West, booth #5427.