Latest news with #ForbesFreshTake
Forbes
18-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Fresh Take: Inside The Family Drama At Kefir Brand Lifeway
Kefir is a yogurt drink that is a staple in Eastern Europe. I'm back from a much-needed vacation, with an important investigation publishing while I was away. Did you catch my feature on the chaos at kefir brand Lifeway? It's a must-read saga, and I'll give you a taste of why: Lifeway is a business with a unique backstory: But now their American Dream story of success has turned into a nightmare. Recent unsolicited bids from Danone, a longtime investor in Lifeway, are the culmination of years of acrimony between Smolyansky and Danone, which Lifeway accuses of a host of nefarious behavior aimed at undermining the business including blocking the Illinois-based company from expanding internationally and refusing to help it source cheaper raw ingredients. Danone denies these criticisms, and there's a lot of layers to this story. Smolyansky calls Danone 'predatory' and says she believes a Danone takeover could ruin the family business—and recipe—that she's fought so hard to preserve. Tell me what you think after reading! Working on it even got me inspired to add more fermented foods like kefir into my diet. Kefir devotees claim a long list of benefits, including from immune support and help with weight loss to improved skin, hair and gut health. And I'll report, I've been enjoying my time on the kefir train so far. On that note, I'm excited to soon unveil a refresh for this newsletter. I'll be back with the next edition, featuring the new format, on April 30. Until then, enjoy spring! — Chloe Sorvino, Staff Writer This is Forbes' Fresh Take newsletter, which every Friday brings you the latest on the big ideas changing the future of food. Want to get it in your inbox every week? Sign up here. Chloe Sorvino A plate of the best lechon I've ever had, from my vacation last week in Puerto Rico, what many consider the world's oldest colony. Here at the iconic lechoneria, El Rancho de Apa, every bite was bliss. As were the accompaniments: beans, rice, escabeche yucca and the coldest Medalla beer maybe ever recorded. Thanks for reading the 140th edition of Forbes Fresh Take! Let me know what you think. Subscribe to Forbes Fresh Take here.
Forbes
28-03-2025
- Lifestyle
- Forbes
Fresh Take: Preparing For A Spring Kitchen By Cooking With Vegetables
Spring offers a time to start thinking about what to grow in your garden and fresh foods to cook in your kitchen. Tow's your thaw-out going? I'm feeling so energized to have survived winter and am looking forward to sunny days, picnics outside with friends and all that spring has to offer. The early season brings us ramps in New York, but also so much more. Morel mushrooms, sweet peas and rhubarb, to name a few. Spring foods are what bring my mental state out of the cold and suffuse it into the current time and place. What's on your springtime kitchen agenda? It's one of my favorite times of year to cook and celebrate what we have coming, and I'll be doing that a lot this year. I didn't cook at all last spring after getting injured and being unable to walk for the entire season, so my kitchen will be making up for lost time. Who wants a jar of ramp pesto? — Chloe Sorvino, Staff Writer This is Forbes' Fresh Take newsletter, which every Friday brings you the latest on the big ideas changing the future of food. Want to get it in your inbox every week? Sign up here. Chloe Sorvino It's tax season, so I've been trying to eat cheaply, and neighborhood gem Shu Jiao Fu Zhou really delivers. The luscious peanut noodles and expertly fried dumplings are some of the best in New York's Chinatown. Its small cafe is one of the most popular places selling dishes in the style of the Fuzhou region of China, where many immigrants in the city have arrived from since the 1980s. Thanks for reading the 139th edition of Forbes Fresh Take! Let me know what you think. Subscribe to Forbes Fresh Take here.
Forbes
21-03-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Fresh Take: Behind Poppi's Eye-Popping Price Tag After PepsiCo Deal
Cans of Poppi soda are displayed inside of a store in New York City. Photo byThe food deal market is bumping after PepsiCo gobbled up yet another better-for-you brand with this week's Poppi acquisition for a total of $1.95 billion. That eye-popping price tag is a drop in the bucket for Pepsi, which has some $20 billion in earnings annually. But it's a huge deal for emerging food and drink brands and their founders. One investor described it to me as 'a new north star' for any entrepreneur or investor looking for an exit. Poppi has become quite the success. What started in 2018 as a farmers market brand selling apple cider vinegar drinks from Austin-based couple Allison and Stephen Ellsworth has transformed into the brightly colored cans of prebiotic soda that now sell nationwide, thanks especially to the brand pivot incubated within Poppi chairman Rohan Oza's CAVU Consumer Partners. Combine that marketing prowess with Poppi's lineup of familiar and exciting flavors, and you can understand why the brand became a hot target for the beverage conglomerates that dominate what we drink. BNP Paribas' Kevin Grundy, who covers Pepsi along with other consumer brands, says Americans drink around 180 gallons of beverages a year, and that's why Pepsi shelled out for Poppi. The brand resonates with a core consumer that skews younger and has found repeat sales in an up-and-coming and attractive category. 'It's filling a void in their portfolio,' says Grundy. 'Beverage consumption is a zero-sum game.' Drink or be drank, in other words. Which is why Grundy says PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Keurig Dr Pepper and other package goods conglomerates will continue to pay up, as long as the insurgent brand can deliver where it counts. And the food industry is built on great rivalries—so don't forget about Olipop. The Poppi acquisition could actually be a good thing for Olipop, which has roughly the same amount in retail sales as Poppi. Now it could be an even hotter acquisition target. More on the Poppi deal coming from me soon! Enjoy the weekend! Spring is here! — Chloe Sorvino, Staff Writer This is Forbes' Fresh Take newsletter, which every Friday brings you the latest on the big ideas changing the future of food. Want to get it in your inbox every week? Sign up here. An exceptional new restaurant joined my neighborhood and I couldn't be more thrilled. Sunn's is chef Sunny Lee's homey take on daily banchan and Korean comfort food. I've been dreaming of these rice cakes ever since my meal. Thanks for reading the 138th edition of Forbes Fresh Take! Let me know what you think. Subscribe to Forbes Fresh Take here.
