LA’s Fastest Growing Food Brands
In our last post, we broke down their list of the 75 fastest growing, emerging CPG brands in the US (go check it out if you haven’t read it already - the data is pretty cool). The list is made by Instacart, which has a pretty unique ability to track what’s moving and what isn’'t: it sits on top of 75,000 retail locations.
Interestingly, of the 75 fastest growing, emerging CPG brands in 2022, 69 were in food & beverage.
Of the 69 food & beverage brands on the list, a whopping 22 are headquartered in California.
And guess what? 12 of them are home-grown, LA-based brands, making LA the hardest hitting city on the list.
But 2023 has been a tough year for some categories and the heat in plant-based proteins in particular seems to have fizzled out.
We take a look at last years fastest growing brands from LA and where they are today.
LA’s fastest growing brands: where are they now?
A lot has changed in the last 8 months and the 12 LA-based companies on the Emerging Brands list are no exception.
We’re talking acquisitions. IPO rumors. Bankruptcy filings.
In reverse order of their position on the 2022 Emerging Brands list:
No. 71
Daring
The plant-based chicken alternatives brand was founded in 2018. The founder, Ross Mackay, technically started developing the products in the UK but they moved over here early on in the company’s life, so we’ll still call them ‘homegrown’.
The brand is currently in 10,000+ retail locations (you can find them in Sprouts, Albertsons, Target, Whole Foods, Walmart, you-name-it).
Where are they now?
Daring has been busy, pushing hard on product development and rolling out across the US, despite the slow-down in the plant-based category. In particular, they’re going big in foodservice - now in 600+ locations (including Starbucks).
No. 59
Halo Top
Yes, true. Everyone knows Halo Top since it was America’s bestselling grocery store pint a few years ago. It’s still going strong after brining high protein, low sugar, low calorie to the dessert category.
Where are they now?
Halo Top is now Italian. It’s-a true!
They got acquired by Wells in 2019, which then got gobbled up by Ferrero right after the Emerging Brands list was published in December 2022.
No. 50
Vive Organic
The wellness-shot company was founded back in 2015 and is headquartered in Venice. Nowadays you can find their functional shots in locations across the country.
Where are they now?
Vive Organic was also acquired at the end of 2022, by organic juice company Suja Life.
No. 45
Unreal Deli
Unreal Deli started off selling their product to an LA deli before making it big through Shark Tank. Their success in foodservice helped them launch packaged products across Whole Foods and a number of other retailers.
Where are they now?
They announced a roll-out across all Sprouts locations earlier this year so, while smaller than many of the other brands on this list, they seem to be growing steadily. Now at 3,600 locations in the US.
No. 38
That’s it.
The healthy, plant-based snack company was founded in LA back in 2012 to develop products with simple, clean ingredients.
It started off selling in farmer’s markets around the city but was brought on by Whole Foods for national distribution pretty quickly.
Where are they now?
They’ve been busy rolling out across the US - now found at Target, Whole Foods, Costco, Sam’s Club, 7-Eleven, Walmart, VONS, CVS, Kroger, you name it - and internationally, recently launching in the UK.
No. 33
Spudsy
Founded in 2017 by husband and wife team, Kevin and Tracy Pribis to make healthier puff snacks out of misfit sweet potatoes, headquartered in Newport Beach.
Where are they now?
They seem to be on a roll, launching new products at CostCo and Sprouts nationwide.
No. 21
Dream Pops
It was only launched in 2018 but is already sold in over 6,000 stores thanks to being extremely visible on Tiktok (for people with a sweet-tooth) and on LinkedIn (for industry peeps that can put it in stores).
Where are they now?
Dream Pops is continuing to roll-out across the US and in Canada. You can now find them in over 7000 locations.
No. 20
Avaline Wine
A clean wine brand from founders Katherine Power and Cameron Diaz. Yes, that Cameron Diaz.
They launched Avaline in 2020 and have been growing pretty fast since - you can find them in Kroger, Target, and Total Wine.
Where are they now?
They recently rolled out their rosé across Whole Foods stores and are now in 10,000+ stores in the US.
No. 17
Alpha Foods
Founded in Glendale back in 2015 to bring plant-based products to the frozen isle. And they did! You can now find them in 11,000 locations in the US (all the usual suspects, Costco, Kroger, Whole Foods, Safeway, Sprouts) as well as Canada & Asia.
Where are they now?
Alpha Foods just got acquired by the Livekindly Collective - a plant-based food group that raised $500 million to acquire companies like this. They also own brands like Oumph! (UK), The Fry Family Food Co (US, UK, Australia, South Africa), LikeMeat (Germany), No Meat (UK), and The Dutch Weed Burger (The Netherlands).
Three LA Brands that Made the Top 10
LA’s three fastest growing food brands all made the top 10, as the fastest growing, emerging CPG products across the US.
No. 7
Truff
We love TRUFF! Born in Huntington Beach and on social media in 2017. Or actually, first born as the @sauce handle on instagram back in 2010, where they posted foodie content for years before dipping their toes into the IRL hot sauce game.
I’ll admit that I had a tingling “this is a gimmick” feeling before tried it. I was wrong. It tastes pretty great and we now keep both the TRUFF Hot & Hotter Sauces at home. One for me, one for the missus. Won’t tell you which is whose.
Where are they now?
They’ve been pushing hard to go beyond their initial hot sauces recently, building a pretty broad portfolio of product. Some visible partnerships have been making a splash - for example, you can find them across all Taco Bells in the US.
No. 3
Liquid Death
Aaaaah, the LA poster child. The brand that made water cool. So cool they sold over a $100 million worth of water only 3 years after launching.
Goes to show that great brand with clever execution still matters. It’s now supposed to be in 90,000 locations and going beyond water - into hardcore, iced tea.
Where are they now?
It looks like there are plans to IPO the business in the not-too-distant future, with Liquid Death hiring Goldman Sachs to help them go public.
No. 2
Tattooed Chef
Topping the LA-based brands and on spot no. 2 on the Emerging Brands list (but probably already overtaken by Liquid Death by now) is Tattooed Chef. They became a public company through a SPAC at the peak of the public markets back in 2021.
Where are they now?
Unfortunately, growing like this isn’t always a good idea and Tattooed Chef won’t be on the 2023 list of emerging brands - the company recently filed for chapter-11 bankruptcy.
Who’s in the next wave?
If you’re repping a fast growing food & beverage company in the LA area, we’d love to cover you. Get in touch with us here.
