Nicolas Mindel

According to Crunchbase, global food tech funding in 2024 hit just $6B—down from over $20B in 2021. But the real story? M&A is surging. From PepsiCo’s $1.95B acquisition of poppi to David’s purchase of Epogee , strategic buyers are back at the table, hungry for innovation with clear revenue paths. Consolidation is the name of the game as valuations normalize and capital tightens. This is a shift worth watching: visionary tech is no longer enough—now it’s about viability, profitability, and execution. Startups that can deliver are becoming prime acquisition targets. What do you think—is this the golden window for M&A in food tech? Read More: https://lnkd.in/ebgTwSxb #FoodTech #MergersAndAcquisitions #CPG #VentureCapital #SustainableFood #Protein #Innovation #Hospitality #EmergingBrands #FoodInnovation Hospitality Headline Newsletter Branded Hospitality Peter Rahal Mary Ann Azevedo Nathan Cooper Sam Polk, CFA Allison Ellsworth

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Consolidation is proving to be a viable alternative for some companies in the once-hot food tech space. David 🤝 Epogee PepsiCo 🤝 poppi Flowers Foods & Subsidiaries 🤝 Simple Mills The Hershey Company 🤝 LesserEvil Brand Snack Co. FoodYoung 🤝 MeliBio Big Idea Ventures 🤝 Vevolution Venture funding for food tech has fallen sharply in recent years, but M&A activity in the space appears to be on the rise. The funding and dealmaking trends indicate that in the face of declining investor interest, consolidation is proving to be a viable alternative for some companies in the once-hot food tech space. Nathan Cooper of Barrel Ventures shares, “Many of the companies that were funded were years, if not decades away from commercial viability. They were seeing tech valuations, and required substantial amounts of cap-ex, when at the end of the day what they were selling was a CPG (consumer packaged goods) product and should have been valued as such.” Andrew D Ive of Big Idea Ventures commented, “Valuations have normalized compared to two years ago, creating an attractive window for strategic buyers to acquire de-risked, well-funded companies with validated technologies — often at reasonable prices.” This is a great article by Crunchbase highlighting the consolidation activity of the foodtech space. My tip to startups who are struggling to fundraise. Start having serious M&A conversations because you might be surprised at the partnerships you may find! https://lnkd.in/gHVJ35nm

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Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. has secured $7B in private-equity capital to support its $18B acquisition of JDE Peet's, a move that will ultimately create the world’s largest pure-play coffee company. The investment — co-led by Apollo and KKR with participation from Goldman Sachs — comes at a critical moment, as KDP looks to ease investor concerns about its planned separation into two standalone businesses. The company also announced #leadership changes, including a new search for the CEO of the upcoming coffee spinout. With CEO Tim Cofer reaffirming shareholder value creation and a refreshed approach to structure, KDP is signaling confidence and long-term vision despite volatility. The #acquisition, expected to close in early 2026, will combine powerhouse #portfolios across coffee, ready-to-drink beverages, and iconic brands like Snapple, 7UP, and Sunkist — while activist pressure from Starboard Value adds even more intensity to the story. Learn More: https://lnkd.in/eTYa5XGa #Hospitality Branded Hospitality Hospitality Headline Sudhanshu Priyadarshi Derek Hopkins Justin Whitmore Fabien Simon Mark Rowan David Solomon

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Fellow agtech fund managers - we're competing on metrics that don't matter in agriculture while LPs walk away from agtech entirely. Deal count. Celebrity advisors. Media coverage. None of it correlates with farmer adoption or sustainable returns. Sarah Nolet and I just published a piece on what actually moves the needle: building shared credibility in the asset class instead of fighting over slivers of pie. Let's work together. Agtech's next phase of maturity depends on it. Full article in the comments ⬇️

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🌱💲Affordability is a turning point. New data from ProVeg shows that a plant-based grocery basket is now about 5% cheaper than one with meat, dairy, or seafood across 7 of Germany’s 8 largest grocers — flipping last year’s price premium. That’s a major signal for mainstream adoption. Price signals + better product experiences compound over time. We expect more retailers to sharpen private label strategy, improve availability, and use pricing levers to grow share of plant-forward baskets. #altprotein #consumertrends #foodsystems #grocery Great reporting by Green Queen Media 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eTY9c9Tc

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Commodity Boards are a totally different ballgame in retail media. Pork, dairy, produce, beef… they all have unique funding structures, more complex stakeholder groups, and they need every dollar to deliver real, measurable impact. And when you take that into the club retail world with Sam’s Club or Costco, things get even more interesting. Sam’s Club MAP is firing on all cylinders right now. It has scale, strong member data, self-serve tools, and measurable results. It is ready for Boards who want speed, reach, and efficiency. Costco is still in the earlier stages of its media journey. It has incredible loyalty data and long-term potential, but the process is slower and more manual, which makes it better for brand equity plays and longer-term strategies. We have helped Boards navigate both. It comes down to matching the right retailer to your goals, timelines, and funding windows. And yes, sometimes that means sticking with the most mature RMNs like Sam’s Club MAP, Walmart Connect, Roundel, or Kroger Precision Marketing to hit the numbers. Other times it means testing an emerging player like Costco for the right strategic opportunity. If you are on a Board team trying to figure out how to make club retail media work, check out my full breakdown here. We cover how the platforms differ, when to invest, and how DIGITS makes it easier to win in these environments. https://lnkd.in/g7gDKRxc

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PAINE SCHWARTZ ANNOUNCES NEW PLATFORM IN BETTER FOR YOU CATEGORY PUSH I keep yapping about Paine Schwartz Partners, as they continue to do interesting things in the CPG space - most recently, the NYC based PE fund announced a platform they're calling 'BetterCo Holdings' that is focused on investing in companies 'that are reshaping the food and beverage landscape through innovation, sustainability and a commitment to health and wellness.' Its first investments include: Crisp, an AI driven supply chain platform for cpg and Lucky Energy, which recently announced a $25m series B investment from the group just two weeks ago What is interesting to me is the sprinkle of tech alongside a classic beverage co. As someone running a platform that's not competitive to Crisp, but in the same ish direction, there are definitely lots of insights that Paine Schwartz can leverage across the portfolio from Crisp's data

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🍺 Beer is down, Garage is up. We’ve all seen the headlines overstating Bev Alc's demise, but on the heels of the Wall Street Journal’s article on Garage Beer’s capital infusion and $200M valuation, it feels timely to share why we leaned into the opportunity to gain a position in the brand earlier this year: 💪 OHIO Roots: Travis and Jason Kelce are from Cleveland and played college ball at Cincinnati. Andy lives in Columbus, his wife is from Toledo. In a tale as old as time, the midwest continues to export resilient winners. 🏦 Beer is here to stay: The “sober curious” movement is real and growing, but actual consumption of non-alcoholic positioned beverages remains small and fragmented. By contrast, more than 100 million Americans still drink beer every week. That kind of entrenched, habitual demand is what we consider bankable behavior — and it’s where Garage Beer has the chance to win. 🏆 Leadership: Founder Andy Sauer has built Garage Beer into a breakout light beer brand — now joined by Travis and Jason Kelce, whose reach can’t be overstated. ✏️ Simplicity wins: A premium yet approachable light beer with broad, everyman appeal (“beer-flavored beer”). 🚚 Scalable footprint: Garage Beer is leveraging national distributor and retail networks to scale efficiently. 🏌‍♂️ Exit potential: Light beer is the largest dollar segment in beverage alcohol. Even as Big Beer contracts, breakout brands that reinvigorate category growth tend to command a premium. Here's to The Angel Group leaning into opportunities that others tend to overlook. And an extra clink to Barry Herbst for a timely intro. 🍻

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We are thrilled to announce that Western Smokehouse Partners, a Monogram Capital Partners portfolio company and a leader in the better-for-you meat snacks industry, has acquired Junior’s Smokehouse, a Texas-based manufacturer with over 40 years of hand-crafted jerky and premium meat products.   By bringing Junior’s into the Western family, we are continuing our approach of investing in specialized supply chain businesses operating in high-growth categories where scale, quality, and dependability matter. Good business is about backing great people and I couldn't believe more in this Western's team (Matt Bormann, Doug Hankes, Peter Sikorski, CPA, Brad Turasky and many more) and am excited to welcome Junior's to the family. As always, extremely grateful for the stellar Monogram team I had the pleasure to work alongside: Ryan Collins, Julia Barth, Sammy Tufeld, Matthew Adams and huge congrats to all! https://lnkd.in/gS2ZUSm5

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Series A Investor (2022) - Chipotle and Cava jointly invested $25M in Hyphen, a food #robotics startup. - Hyphen's technology boost speed and accuracy while preserving human roles in fast-casual dining. - Cava plans to deploy the system in its back-of-house "second-make line" for digital orders. - Chipotle previously supported Hyphen through its Cultivate Next fund. - The collaboration reflects a broader industry shift toward automation to address labor challenges, with Cava reporting 20.3% YoY revenue growth and 37% digital sales. https://lnkd.in/e4FQEMvq

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🍕 Opinion: Yard Sale Pizza deal a tasty slice of M&A Amid a slow market for casual dining deals, Piper’s acquisition of Yard Sale Pizza feels like a real bright spot. The investment reflects a wider trend toward youth-driven, delivery-first brands with loyal followings and scalable models. Yard Sale’s steady, under-the-radar growth, cult collaborations, and operational strengths made it an attractive prospect. It’s another sign that while traditional casual dining remains challenging, there’s still strong appetite for differentiated, well-positioned businesses in the right segments. Momentum could be slowly returning to the M&A market, with further activity expected in the months ahead. ⚡ Read the full analysis by #MCA editor Finn Scott-Delany, here 👉 https://lnkd.in/efKzqcdi #YardSalePizza #Piper #hospitality #news #restaurants #acquisitions

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Slate Milk secures a $23 million Series B led by Foundership Ventures, bringing the brand’s total funding to $50 million. 🥛☕💸 The brand is known for high-protein chocolate milk and a line of canned coffees. Foundership Ventures—the fund founded by the creators of Yasso—led the round, underscoring investor interest in protein-forward dairy beverages and ready-to-drink coffee within the CPG sector. https://lnkd.in/g5dASiGS #BeverageIndustry #CPG #ProteinMilk #CannedCoffee #SeriesB #StartupFunding

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Co-manufacturing risk is the most underpriced threat in early-stage CPG right now. A founder I follow shared a story this week: months deep in R&D with a co-man, product launched, sales ramping then the partner raised pricing 300% and eventually refused to produce. Months of momentum, gone. This isn't an edge case. It's the norm. Most emerging brands rely on 1-2 co-manufacturers with zero leverage and no backup plan. As ingredient costs rise and co-mans prioritize bigger clients, the power imbalance is getting worse. The founders building contingency into their supply chain from day one dual sourcing, owning key processes or even the facility are in pole position. #CPG #FoodAndBeverage #SupplyChain #Manufacturing

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