Newly public Laird Superfood hosted its first quarterly earnings call yesterday afternoon, using occasion to outline its innovation priorities while frankly acknowledging operational shortcomings that whacked margins. One seeming rookie mistake detailed by prexy/ceo Paul Hodge: launching popular new Laird Superfood Liquid Creamer with far too short a shelf life, a vulnerability that Laird's minority investor Danone is helping it resolve with packaging workaround. Recruitment announced yesterday of Scott McGuire as coo should make navigating these types of conundrum smoother. He starts Mon, bringing experience from career at Nestle, PepsiCo and Bonduelle Fresh Americas.

Kate Farms, which plays at medical end of nutrition shake spectrum, has concluded $51 mil Series B capital round led by Goldman Sachs with participation from venture arm of healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente. Goldman, which invested via its GS Growth arm, will place GS vp Allison Berardo on Kate Farms board. The raise concluded just weeks after Santa Barbara, Calif-based co launched its first over-the-counter nutrition shakes (BBI, Sep 30). Now run by ceo Brett Matthews, who came in as investor in 2015, Kate Farms claims to have its allergen-free products available in 95% of US hospitals with items like tube-feeding formula for those with chronic illnesses, shakes for those with milder or temporary conditions and such newer items as a kids-targeted line, one targeting cancer sufferers undergoing chemotherapy and the OTC shakes. As reported, the new shakes contain 16 g of pea protein, coconut oil, range of essential vitamins and minerals and Organic Spectra's Phytonutrient Blend, with extracts from broccoli, coffee berry, green tea, turmeric, kale and other plant sources, with agave syrup used as low-glycemic sweetener. Co was founded by Richard and Michelle Laver after their young daughter Kate struggled to tolerate conventional tube-feeding formulas. Kate Farms had previously raised close to $50 mil in institutional capital via several rounds.

Why's Chick-fil-A so popular with teens these days? It seems to be not so much the chicken as the coffee bevs, per Piper Sandler in its latest Taking Stock with Teens restaurant ranking, in which Chick-fil-A ousted Starbucks as leader several surveys ago and has been widening gap ever since. "In some ways, they took a page out of Starbucks' playbook," senior research analyst Nicole Miller Regan told MediaPost. "Teens were looking for a place to dine in, and Chick-fil-A pushed all kinds of beverages: caffeine, non-caffeine, dairy, non-dairy and frozen. And those are the major drivers in the coffee category right now." As result, with 22% mindshare ranking among affluent teens, Chick-fil-A is treading ground no other brand has reached in history of survey, which tracks 5,300 teens in 41 states.

Vitamin-enriched juice brand called Nature's Fury NutriDrink was started in 2013 by trio of founders who sold brand out of trunk of their cars into Cub grocery stores in Minnesota. Over the years, supported by their investment boutique firm On-Point Strategic Group, Fury Beverages has quietly stuck to its guns, gradually building out brand and positioning it as more robust alternative to Bai, with higher juice content and more meaningful nutrition level. With arrival in late 2018 of Tampico vet Mike Algor as sales dir (BBI, Dec 5 2018), co has undertaken some changes in strategic direction, tho by no means accelerating into landgrab strategy. We just reached out for update from Algor, patched in from NJ base, and investor/cfo John Zulk, speaking from Spencer, Iowa.

Food & Drug Administration seems to be keeping close eye on those making product claims related to coronavirus, latest batch of warning letters issued by agency indicates. Tho few of targeted cos seem to be primarily bev players, many employ ingredients like CBD, fulvic acid and adaptogens that are often used in bevs and are cited for new class of violations FDA identifies as "unapproved products related to the coronavirus disease 2019." As examples of firms that received the missives, there were CBD Online Store in Laguna Hills, Calif; NRP Organics Ltd of Canada (humic and fulvic bev concentrates); Earthley Wellness/Modern Alternative Mama of Columbus, Ohio (tinctures and herbal remedies), and Cathay Natural of Kansas City, Missouri (herbal items). In letters, agency frequently objects to language on websites that describes offerings that "are intended to mitigate, prevent, treat, diagnose or cure COVID," often by playing on their immunity benefits.

Count Canadian cannabis player Aphria among few cos in segments that are offering upside surprises lately. Leamington, Ontario-based co that's run by Hain Celestial founder and former ceo Irwin Simon reported 96% jump in net revenue to C$144.4 mil ($102.3 mil in US $$) in Q3 even as it reversed prior year's operating loss of $9.6 mil with gain of $8.7 mil. Still, it suspended its prior fiscal guidance on year out of uncertainty surrounding current pandemic. But "Aphria's financial performance put other Canadian producers to shame," as Barron's noted. "Unlike its peers, Aphria's pot sales in the quarter suffered no inventory write downs or product returns." However, having garnered 77% market share in edibles in core Ontario market, co has been in no headlong rush to bring out 2d-generation items like edibles and bevs, execs informed investors on call yesterday afternoon, tho their arrival is imminent. Unlike many peers, co is flush in cash following successful $100 mil share sale in Jan and may be moving into acquisition mode in what's become a buyer's market.

Molson Coors and Hexo have expanded their Truss Beverages partnership from Canada into joint venture deal to "explore opportunities for non-alcohol hemp-derived CBD beverages in Colorado," the 2 cos announced today. New co, Truss CBD USA, will keep all production and distribution of its bevs "within Colorado state lines," where doors are more open to segment. Truss CBD USA will be majority-owned by MC and will operate as standalone biz, with its own board and mgmt team. "CBD beverages are a growing segment within the non-alcohol beverage category and this JV provides us an opportunity to build capabilities in Colorado," said Molson Coors president of emerging growth Pete Marino. "We chose Colorado because of its established regulatory framework for CBD and we plan to approach any opportunities in full alignment with our commitment to commercial responsibility, transparency and compliance." Truss Bevs plans on releasing its first CBD brand in Canada later this year, per announcement. Tho timeline has slipped, partners have been teasing entries since last fall (BBI, Oct 18).