Freezer Burns, Bankruptcy and Food's Biggest Changemakers

0:04Monica Watrous:Welcome to the CPG Week podcast by BevNet and Nosh. I'm Monica Watrous, here with my co-host, Lukas Southard. If you're enjoying the show, please subscribe on your listening platform of choice. Here is the latest in food and beverage industry news. Republic National Distributing Company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after nearly selling off all of its territories. The company filed Sunday in the U.S. bankruptcy court for the Southern District of Texas in an effort to, quote, explore potential sale transactions in court and implement an orderly wind down of our remaining operations, according to the update shared on the website.

0:43Monica Watrous:Within the filing is a list of the 30 largest unsecured claims against the company, totaling more than$300 million. The largest unsecured claim is more than$93.92 million owed to Jose Cuervo's parent company, Proximo Spirits, for trade debt and, quote, litigation, followed by an undetermined contract claim owned to Reyes Holdings and$62.4 million owed to Empower Annuity Insurance of America in, quote, deferred compensation. However, the company's total debt is even higher, as Wells Fargo Bank is listed under Empower with an undetermined, unsecured claim, but more than$224.95 million in total claim if partially secured.

1:32Monica Watrous:Total liabilities are between$1 billion and$10 billion, according to the filing, and the company reported between$500 million and$1 billion in assets. The company said in a statement, this decision was not made lightly. Over time, our industry has evolved, consumer preferences have shifted, and the wholesale environment has grown increasingly challenging. This is a developing story that we will continue to follow at BevNet.com. The better for you popsicle wars are upon us as Good Pop and Johnny Pop prepare to square off in court. The legal battle began in June 2024 when Good Pop claimed that Johnny Pop's use of fruit imagery, product names, and quote, simple ingredients messaging misled shoppers about the brand's fruit and sugar content.

2:20Johnny Pop's came back by telling Good Pop to look in the mirror. The competing popsicle maker contends that if Good Pop's allegations are true, then its own marketing claims should thus be scrutinized under the same standards. In separate motions for summary judgment filed last week in Texas, each company claims the other has failed to show enough evidence to support their respective false advertising claims, despite two years of discovery. Both brands accuse the other of failing to produce proof of consumer deception, material harm, or damages required to sustain the competing Lanham Act claims.

2:57Among the central disputes in the case is the meaning of the terms such as quote, refined sugars, and whether products made with juice concentrate can be accurately described as containing juices. Goodpop argues that those terms are not subject to a single accepted definition and therefore cannot meet the legal standard for literal falsity. The company also points to U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations recognizing juice made from concentrate as juice and arguing that Johnny Pop's interpretation conflicts with federal labeling rules. Both brands are claiming that Discovery produced no evidence that consumers were misled or were materially affected in making purchasing decisions.

3:42We will continue to track this popsicle brand battle on Nosh. Why do you have that look on your face?

3:49Monica Watrous:I'm trying to think of a pun about freezer burn, but it's just not coming. Alexander Family Farm, one of the country's largest regenerative dairy brands, has dropped both its regenerative organic certified and certified humane certifications while facing continued scrutiny over its animal welfare practices. While it still has a more limited level of regenerative certification, the farm has been dogged by accusations and a lawsuit that threatened to blunt the reputation of the growing operation. Alexander Family Farm told our colleague, Adrienne DeLuca, that it voluntarily dropped the regenerative organic certified status, along with Certified Humane to reduce redundancies in its third-party verifications.

4:34Monica Watrous:Nevertheless, the change follows an investigation into the treatment of its cows by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Organic Program Compliance and Enforcement Division. It's also facing a class-action lawsuit for allegedly misleading consumers with its use of the Certified Humane badge. Activists claim to have found evidence indicating it was not in compliance with the program's standards before it was forfeited. Alexander maintains its land-to-market certification, a separate program that also assesses regenerative practices, and American Humane Certified, a third-party certification with less rigorous standards than certified humane.

5:12Monica Watrous:Insiders can read more about the certification changes and the whistleblower investigation into Alexander Family Farm at Nosh.com. It's been a big week for Coconut Water, as category leader Vita Coco announced the acquisition of Copra Coconuts, a Thailand-based producer of super premium organic coconut water. The transaction included an upfront purchase price of$175 million, with an additional earnout of between$45 million and$100 million tied to Copra's 2028 financial performance. Copra produces coconut water and coconut meat from its manufacturing facility located in a region of Thailand that grows Thai Nam Home coconuts, a dwarf variety that is known for its sweet, highly fragranced liquid.

6:01The acquisition announcement was followed by Vitacoco's second quarter earnings, where the brand reported a 28 % increase in net sales with operating income up 151 % compared to the same period last year. The company expanded its gross margin 15 points in Q2 to 51.8%. As a result, Vitacoco raised its full year sales guidance by$70 million to between $790 million and$105 million. Despite all the positive news, Vitacoco leadership did hedge expectations a bit. CEO Martin Roper warned investors that rising costs of packaging material, i.e. tariffs, domestic logistics, and finished goods could lower margins for the rest of 2026.

6:53Roper said that the company is exploring pricing actions in early 2027 if the headwinds persist. Additionally, production has taken a little bit of a hit after an earthquake in the Philippines damaged a factory. Thus, Vitacoco is working with multiple partners to grow production capacity for 2028.

7:14Monica Watrous:Is coconut water experiencing like a resurgence right now? I don't know if I would call it a resurgence, but coconut water has been consistently up. Now, when you look at the broader beverage ecosystem compared to sodas and sports drinks and bottled water and RTD coffee, it is the smallest of those major categories, but it has been consistently growing when we track sales data from Nielsen IQ. Anyone hearing from Tom Brady on how Goodnut is doing? I haven't checked in on Goodnut recently, but he's picking fights with the boys at Prime. So, you know, I think Tom Brady's probably feeling pretty good about himself.

8:01Monica Watrous:Well, some people do call him the goat. Some people. Some. Not me. Not me. mark your calendar nosh live is back december 3rd and 4th in los angeles join packaged food founders buyers investors and operators for two days of product discovery and conversations focused on what's next early registration pricing is available now head to nosh live.com to register we just released our inaugural nosh impact 50 list which is an editorial feature highlighting the executives entrepreneurs investors retailers policymakers and ecosystem builders who are transforming the packaged food industry. What did you think of the list?

8:40Monica Watrous:Were there any surprises or standouts? I mean, seeing as I helped with putting this list together, I wouldn't say I was completely surprised, but I thought we did a really good job of putting together some really fun categories. Obviously, Disruptors is one of the most interesting, filled with entrepreneurs and founders and CEOs of brands that we've all become very familiar with and that are doing some really interesting different things in packaged food. Retailers, Transformers all had some really good picks. One thing that did stand out to me was the Food Fighters category I thought was a nice addition to our list.

9:21It had kind of a cross section of food writers like, now I'm going to butcher her name, but Helena Badenmiller-Evich who writes a blog that's called Food Fix that I read weekly. And it also had some political figures on both sides of the aisle. So you had Dr. Oz, RFK Jr., as well as Zohan Mamdani, all of which are doing very different things to try to fix our food system, as well as the late Ibrahim Bashir, who we lost earlier this year.

9:58Monica Watrous:Yeah, it's been really exciting being able to finally unveil this. Our team has been working on it for months, and I agree that we compiled quite a diverse list of folks across the entire spectrum of the food industry. If any of our listeners have reviewed the list and have any thoughts, we would love to hear from you. You can always email us at cpgweekatnosh.com. Here are some other notable bits of news from the week. Months after Brown Foreman's board rejected Sazerac's$15 billion buyout proposal, Sazerac has made a renewed bid. Plant-based protein maker No Meat Factory has shuttered its 200 ,000-square-foot U.S.

10:41Monica Watrous:production plant after two years, laying off 123 employees. And finally, Smash Foods has secured$18 million in a Series A funding round led by Elle Catterton. For these stories and more, become an insider at BevNet and Nosh.