Discovering New Roads: Emerging Brands Pitch Contest

Hosted in Collaboration With the Navigator Lighthouse Foundation

The moment is finally here to announce the eight emerging companies selected to participate in the first-ever Discovering New Roads: Emerging Brands Pitch Contest at this year’s CGA Strategic Conference.

Contestants will take the stage for five minutes to tell their story and deliver their best pitch in an effort to win over the audience of industry decision-makers. Winners will walk away with unique prizes and critical business connections to elevate their brand.

Thank you to all of our applicants and congratulations to our selected participants!

I Eat My Greens

I Eat My Greens makes refrigerated plant-based soups that will make you fall in love with veggies! Their soups are minimally processed as seen by their vibrant colors and flavors.

They are obsessed with creating the best tasting soup without adding any unnecessary ingredients. Chef-crafted with clean, simple, whole food ingredients to delight your taste buds. Offering unique flavors never seen in the market before. 

They make it easy for you and your family to get your daily veggie intake in just 90 seconds. Best of all, your family will never know you didn’t make it from scratch.

I Eat My Greens is a minority-owned business that supports small scale family farms and donates meals to underserved communities. 

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Rethink Ice cream

ReThink is a Kinder Ice Cream to the Tummy, Cow, Environment & Community. Our mission is to make Tummy Friendly Ice Cream for the masses, and in the process create a new ice cream category built on gut health without sacrificing taste and texture

Website

Jelly Belly Sparking Water

Joffer Beverage Company, the licensee and promoter of Jelly Belly Sparkling Water, bring fun and flavor to the sparkling water category. Come by and sample our new Chocolate flavor – a totally guiltless indulgence. 

Joffer Beverage Company is bringing a flavor for everyone for incremental growth and new customers to the category

Website

NewGem Foods

NewGem Foods’ mission is to create a convenient and flavorful way to eat healthily and reduce global food waste by improving traditional foods with our plant-based wrap technology.

Website

Pennies Tea

With a mission to promote healthy living, Pennie’s Tea was designed to create change in the lives of its customers by infusing high-quality loose-leaf teas and cold brewed ice tea beverages with robust flavors for unique tasting experiences. 

The passion and drive behind the brand come from its loyal customers and founder, a survivor of domestic violence. A percentage of proceeds from Pennie’s Tea supports the safety and education of women who have experienced domestic violence. Pennie’s Tea is more than a drink … It’s a movement, transforming the way you experience tea.

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Built Bar

Built is unique when it comes protein bars. With its exceptional nutritional profile and premium high-quality ingredients, Built is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar.  Only 130 Calories, 4g of Sugar, 17g of Protein and Gluten Free.

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Drunk Fruit

Drunk Fruit makes hard seltzers that celebrate the delightful fruits of Asia. Winner of multiple taste awards, our lineup of lychee, yuzu, and melon seltzers are brewed using a craft process and premium ingredients. Founded by Asian-American immigrants who want to bring representation of our culture to the alcohol world.

Website

Blind Tiger Spirit- Free Cocktails

Prohibition-inspired pours made for the modern drinker, Blind Tiger produces bar-quality, spirit-free cocktails ready to sip or mix. All-natural, organic, gluten-free and shelf stable, each beverage is known to classic cocktail culture, and all have a story to tell. Welcome back to the Roaring 20s!

Website

An In-Depth look at the current and future states of retail

Last week, the CGA Board and staff traversed the Bay Area, taking a deeper look at the supply chain, workforce, and companies on the vanguard of technology. The tour was part of the Association’s first Retail Tomorrow, California, event and quarterly board of directors meeting, and it brought attendees to the ground level of the macroeconomic issues facing our industry, as well as some of the possible solutions.

“Living in the past and the future at the same time” was how one panelist described the current state of the supply chain and labor pool, and nowhere was this more apparent than in the first leg of Retail Tomorrow. Attendees kicked off Wednesday morning with a tour of Plenty and the Port of Oakland. Plenty, a vertical farming operation, has developed a near-fully automated operation whereby high yields of leafy greens can be generated without soil or by-hand harvesting.

While Plenty offered one vision for the future of retail, attendees also received an on-the-ground picture of the current state of retail — specifically, the functions of the supply chain — when visiting the Port of Oakland. A mid-sized operation, the Port features no automation, and guest speakers shared that there is little productive difference in efficiency between its current workforce and an automated one.

After touring Plenty and the Port of Oakland, the Retail Tomorrow group explored PayPal Park, home of the San Jose Earthquakes soccer team. Oakland Athletics President, and former San Jose Earthquakes President, Dave Kaval led grocers and suppliers on an exploration of how professional sports teams work to engage their customers at the park. In a world powered by digital interactions, Kaval noted the franchise must work to draw fans to an in-person event while utilizing data and digital marketing savvy to keep their attention at games and after.

Following the Association’s Board of Directors meeting, the group visited Google’s new Bay View campus. There, hundreds of employees appeared to be truly flourishing, given plenty of space and modes to express themselves for the benefit of the business. Hearing from Google’s “Food for Good” founder, Emily Ma, you sensed the way Google employees combine the human touch with bleeding edge technology. In Ma’s case it took the form of dumpster diving at five a.m. to track food waste while using AI to detect and predict the growth of mold and defects in strawberries. CGA is extremely excited to begin collaborating with Google to increase equity and sustainability all while reducing food waste in the communities we serve.

If you’d like to learn more about Retail Tomorrow, California, enjoy this sneak peek from the event!

Join Your Independent Grocery Peers for a Timely Retreat on Maui

Like the seasons, life in business requires constant rebirth and reimagining. But as busy operators navigating everything from supply chain disruptions to global inflation, it is harder than ever to carve out the necessary time

With this reality in mind, CGA offers the Independent Operators Symposium at the the beginning of each new year. As its namesake suggests, the Symposium features a congenial atmosphere where grocers can learn, find inspiration, and recharge themselves personally and professionally.

The upcoming Independent Operators Symposium takes place January 7-14, 2023 at the Fairmont Kea Lani Resort on Maui.

Learn more about the event, registration, and Hawaiian travel details here.