Hudsonville Ice Cream has teamed with McKee Foods-owned brand Little Debbie to launch seven new snack cakes-inspired ice cream flavours. The range features: Oatmeal Creme Pies, a vanilla creme ice cream with soft oatmeal cookie pieces and a hint of molasses; Cosmic Brownies, a brownie batter ice cream filled with mini rainbow chips and brownie pieces; and Zebra Cakes, a white cake ice cream with yellow cake pieces and a milk chocolate fudge swirl. Additionally, it includes Honey Buns, a honey bun-flavoured ice cream with glazed honey bun pieces and a cinnamon swirl; Strawberry Shortcake Rolls, a white cake ice cream with yellow cake pieces and a tart strawberry swirl; Swiss Rolls, a chocolate cake ice cream with a swirl of whipped cream; and Nutty Bars, a peanut butter ice cream swirled with chocolate waffle cone pieces and a fudge swirl. The snack cakes-inspired ice creams will be available at Walmart for a retail price of $2.50 per pint.

The Coca-Cola Company has partnered with Molson Coors to launch a full-flavour alcoholic beverage range inspired by the company's Simply juice brand. Simply Spiked Lemonade, which has a 5% abv, comes in four flavours: strawberry lemonade, watermelon lemonade, blueberry lemonade and its signature lemonade. The launch follows following their successful Topo Chico Hard Seltzer collaboration. Molson Coors chief marketing officer, Michelle St. Jacques, said: “Over the past two years, we’ve seen success by shaking up existing categories with new brands that have clear, compelling points of difference, like Coca-Cola's Topo Chico Hard Seltzer, Vizzy Hard Seltzer and ZOA Energy Drink". She continued: "Now, we have a huge opportunity to leverage the power of Simply – a brand known for real juice and big flavour – to disrupt the full-flavour alcohol segment in a way that’s never been done before”. Simply Spiked Lemonade will be released during summer 2022, wand will come in a variety 12-pack of slim cans and 24oz standalone. Molson Coors will distribute, manufacture and market Simply Spiked Lemonade as part of the agreement.

Unilever plans to cut 1,500 jobs as it restructures operations in the wake of its unsuccessful bid for GSK Consumer Healthcare. In addition, the company has simplified its current structure into five business groups: beauty & wellbeing, personal care, home care, nutrition and ice cream. The five categories will be supported by Unilever Business Operations although "each group will be fully responsible and accountable for its strategy, growth and global profit delivery," a company statement said. The proposed business model will result in a significant reduction of senior management roles – which currently account for around 15% of Unilever's employment. The company aims to create more junior management roles (5%). "Our new organisational model has been developed over the last year and is designed to continue the step-up we are seeing in the performance of our business. Moving to five category-focused business groups will enable us to be more responsive to consumer and channel trends, with crystal-clear accountability for delivery. Growth remains our top priority and these changes will underpin our pursuit of this." explained Alan Jope, CEO of Unilever. The move comes after Unilever's £50 billion failed takeover of GlaxoSmithKline‘s consumer health business last week and subsequently Trian Partners acquiring a stake in the company. According to Unilever, these changes are subject to consultation.

Mexican poultry manufacturer Industrias Bachoco has reached an agreement to acquire 100% of the stocks of meat producer RYC Alimentos. The deal includes the acquisition of two facilities in Puebla, Mexico, as well as approximately 21 stores located in four Mexican states: Puebla, Oaxaca, Veracruz and Tlaxcala. Founded in 1983, RYC produces and distributes beef, pork and chicken. The company's stockholder equity is valued at $61 million, with net sales of around $150 million per year. Meanwhile, Bachoco is described as "one of the largest poultry producers globally" and its main products include chicken, eggs and swine. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Princes has expanded its extensive portfolio into the frozen category with a new range inspired by global street food flavours. The frozen range of 100% chicken kebabs comes in three variations, drawing on flavours from around the world including India, Korea and Malaysia. Each kebab has been hand-skewered and then turned over hot charcoals to "release the delicious spicy flavours". The range consists of The Indian Tandoori Chargrilled Chicken Kebabs, coated in a rich, aromatic marinade with combinations of paprika, cumin and coriander, the Korean Style BBQ Chargrilled Chicken Kebabs which are glazed in a smoky, rich BBQ sauce with soy, chilli and paprika and the Malaysian Style Satay Chargrilled Chicken Kebabs with a creamy and rich satay sauce, made of a mixture of peanuts, coconut and tamarind. Alan Eriksen, marketing director for Princes, said: "A first of its kind for Princes in the frozen food market, we have developed a street food range which is guaranteed to stand out and become a go-to for customers seeking more exciting and unseen flavours and product formats." The products are available in Morrisons with an RRP of £3.75 per 260g pack.

UK dairy group Meadow Foods has announced the appointment of Raj Tugnait as its next CEO. Tugnait succeeds Mark Chantler, who will move to the comapny's board as a non-executive director and significant shareholder once Tugnait takes up the role in May. Tugnait has worked in the food industry since 1998. Most recently, he took up the role of CEO at Sysco Specialty Group. Current Meadow Foods CEO, Mark Chantler, said: “I feel immensely privileged to have led Meadow Foods in its transition from a family dairy business to the market-leading ingredients business we have today". He continued: "The business now incorporates six divisions across four sites, 450 employees, 350 active customers and thousands of suppliers. Meadow Foods is stronger, more diverse and more financially secure than ever before and we feel now is the time for an experienced and entrepreneurial operator to lead us through this next phase of growth.”

Post Consumer Brands, a business unit of Post Holdings, has introduced three new cereal offerings to its Pebbles lineup in the US. Pebbles Shake Ups!, which combines several Post cereals together, comes in two varieties: Cocoa Explosion, a mix of Cocoa Pebbles, chocolate honeycomb cereal and marshmallow bits; and Sweet & Salty, a mashup of birthday cake Pebbles, Waffle Crisp cereal and salted pretzel bits. Meanwhile, Post has also unveiled Marshmallow Cocoa Pebbles, a gluten-free "crispy" rice cereal with marshmallows. "Cereal has gone beyond the breakfast table and people are looking for even more ways to satisfy their Pebbles cravings," said Elle Weisenberger, brand manager at Post. "...we're excited to introduce even more ways for consumers to enjoy the cereals they love in a crunchable, snackable pack." Pebbles Shake Ups! and Marshmallow Cocoa Pebbles are available at selected grocery stores.

Israeli food-tech start-up ChickP Protein has completed a Series A investment round, raising a total of $8 million. The round was led by a group of executive investors from Singapore's Genisys Capital, and backed by plant-based nutrition company Growthwell Foods with its leading investor Temasek Holdings. The company has also named Liat Lachish Levy as CEO. Levy is experienced in global corporations and specialises in both retail and foodservice sectors. "Over the past few months, ChickP has been planting the seeds for accelerated growth in the US, Europe and Asia," said Levy. "This investment will bring greater scale-up and commercialisation capabilities with our partners for our chickpea isolate ingredient, in multiple territories. Moreover, the expansion of ChickP’s team and opening of our new offices, including an R&D centre and applications lab, will support local commercial activities." This round follows earlier investments totalling $10 million. In 2020, ChickP announced that it had launched a native starch developed from chickpea for food and beverage applications.

Cashless payment platform Nayax has entered into "a binding term sheet" to acquire On Track Innovations (OTI) for $4.5 million. OTI, which operates in 55 countries, develops smart payment solutions for unattended machines such as automatic vending, self-service kiosks and payment terminals. The acquisition will support Nayax's continued expansion and will be completed in two phases. Nayax will first lend OTI around $5.5 million to repay its outstanding debts, which will be compensated in two years, bearing a 10% annual interest rate. In the second phase, which is expected to begin within 21 days of signing the loan agreement, OTI will be fully merged into Nayax. Nayax's CEO, Yair Nechmad, said: "This acquisition is an important step in our plan to gain share in our targeted markets and accelerate our growth opportunities in territories such as Japan". He continued: "OTI has an experienced workforce, a high-quality and loyal customer base as well as significant operations in the automatic refuelling system market. This transaction supports Nayax's strategic business plan, as we constantly explore potential acquisitions with complementary technologies that will support our continued growth."

Diageo has entered into an agreement to sell its Meta Abo brewery in Sebeta, Ethiopia to BGI, a subsidiary of Castel Group. BGI is a large-scale brewery and beverage production subsidiary of Group Castel, which operates in over 53 countries. BGI is the largest brewery in Ethiopia, with plants located all over the country. Diageo first acquired the Meta Abo brewery a decade ago. In 2015, the company invested $119 million into a bottling line expansion for the facility. The brewer has stated that it will "continue to service the Ethiopian market with its international spirits portfolio through its dedicated imported spirits channel". The sale is subject to approval by the Ethiopian Competition Commission and certain conditions. The deal is expected to be completed by early 2022.

Anheuser-Busch InBev has launched a brand-new mango flavour addition under its Nütrl Vodka Seltzer brand in the US. The new release is made with real mango juice. The alcoholic beverage is lightly sweet "with a burst of fleshy mango flavour, hints of ripe pineapple with a clean, refreshing finish". The 100 calorie vodka seltzer has an ABV of 4.5%, is gluten-free and includes no added sugar. Mango will join the Nütrl variety pack alongside Pineapple, Watermelon and Raspberry. In addition to the variety eight-pack, it is also available in individual Pineapple and Watermelon four-packs. All Nütrl flavours will be available nationwide across the US from 24 January.

US vertical farming company Fifth Season is building its second robotic vertical farm in Columbus, Ohio, in order to fulfil the demand for fresh greens and ready-to-eat salads. The company hopes to create a fresh food ecosystem using its proprietary end-to-end autonomous farming platform. This expansion will enable the team to develop a more sustainable fresh food chain. "Thanks to our modular design, no software work is needed to integrate bots into the new facility, they just start working together in their new configuration," said Fifth Season CTO, Brac Webb. "At the Braddock farm, we have just over 100 instances of our bots in use, and at the future Columbus farm we plan to have around 250 instances." The Columbus farm will also integrate renewable solar energy and use an onsite microgrid. In addition, the firm has announced three key leadership hires. Brian Griffiths will join as CFO; Varun Khanna as VP of food products; and Glenn Wells as SVP of sales. "We've proven the viability of our model, and we're pushing forward into high-growth mode with leaders who will use our scalable platform to innovate and increase distribution now, not five years from now," Fifth Season's CEO, Austin Webb, commented.