Denise Woodard, founder and CEO of Sparkables, which collaborated with the Girl Scouts. Photo: Courtesy company

Welcome back to Shelf Life! This week, would you drink protein water from Beyond Meat? Plus, Kind Bar founder Daniel Lubetzky opens up about his latest venture…a podcast! Apple unveiled a new foldable iPhone today, chili crisp has gone global, and the product geniuses at Girl Scouts introduced a cookie for dogs.

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This January, the Girl Scouts will debut two new flavors online—and only one is for humans. The nonprofit, which has been selling cookies for more than a century, teamed up with Bark to create Patch Pals, its inaugural blueberry muffin-flavoured dog treat for very, very good boys.   

The Girl Scouts also tapped Partake, a 2x Inc. 5000 honoree, to develop its first-ever allergy-friendly cookie, Sparkables. It’s made without eggs, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, soy, sesame, shellfish, or fish, which together account for more than 90 percent of food allergies. Founder and CEO Denise Woodard has been working on the collaboration since 2020: “The goal is to have Partake in every pantry, and a partnership with Girl Scouts is a big step forward in that direction.” –Ali Donaldson

PS. Who is going to see Cookie Queens?

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“When you’re naming a company, rule number one: don’t name your brand Moshe Pupik & Ali Mishmunken’s World Famous All Natural Gourmet Foods.”

Daniel Lubetzky, whose first major venture, PeaceWorks, sold packaged spreads under just that name. Lubetzky, who went on to build Kind bar into a healthy-snacking behemoth that sold to Mars for a reported $5 billion, just launched a podcast called “Build or Break,” where he talks to founders and celebrities about the failures that shaped them.

Mmmmmm…new chili crisp

On Tuesday, Carbone Fine Food, the packaged food company from the team behind NYC restaurant group Carbone, unveiled an Italian take on chili crisp, the classic Chinese condiment of crushed peppers in an oil base. “Chili crisp is a format consumers already love, but we saw an opportunity to give it a distinctly Italian point of view rooted in the Carbone restaurant experience,” says Eric Skae, the CEO of Carbone Fine Food. 

Carbone isn’t the only company giving the sauce an international spin. At the Fancy Food Show this summer, David Lidsky and I sampled offerings including Mucha Macha (Mexican), Bombay Chili Crunch (Indian), and Jin Wu Yan (Taiwanese). –Jennifer Conrad

Earlier this summer, a judge allowed a class-action lawsuit against Chobani to proceed. The suit centers on whether Chobani's "zero-sugar" claims were misleading, since the yogurt contains allulose—a "rare sugar" derived from corn fructose that the body metabolises differently from regular sugar.

The decision “opened the floodgates” for additional allulose-related cases, advertising and e-commerce attorney Robert Freund told Inc. Within weeks, similar class action lawsuits were filed against brands including David Protein, Liquid Death, and Grüns. –Victoria Salves

Flavor Forecast: New spritz on the block

Hugo Spritz summer is finally over. But a new, pink prosecco era is just beginning: Campari Group is finally bringing Sarti Rosa stateside with wide distribution. The 19th century Italian aperitif, which has become a viral hit in Europe, is flavored with blood orange, mango and passion fruit. 

Hat’s off then to the trend spotters behind Saint Spritz: co-founders JoJo Fletcher (yes, the former Bachelorette), her sister-in-law Mallory Vaughan Patton, and brother Ben Patton launched their own RTD take on the Sarti Spritz, called the Sardinia, back in March.

Six months later, the Sardinia has become the brand’s second-best-selling flavor in Target, and an NA version is likely on the way. Campari’s Sarti launch is “much more of an opportunity than a threat,” says Vaughan. –Ali Donaldson

Bits and Bites 

🥂 Raise a glass of sparkling magnesium! Kendall Jenner signed on with the British calming drinks brand Trip as an investor and the face of its latest marketing campaign. You’re doing amazing, sweetie. 

🥒 Beyond Meat’s turnaround plan involves plant-based dill-flavored jerky and protein water.

🍇 Or if you prefer something harder, Mike Cessario, the founder of Liquid Death, is partnering with Sazerac to launch Mr. Fancy, a line of canned sparkling wine.

📈 Finnish fitness-tracking ring company Oura just filed to go public on the Nasdaq. 

💄 After winding down its partnership with Ulta, Target will unveil its Beauty Studio featuring brands like Bask Suncare, Dyson, filtered showerhead brand Jolie, and Skin Gym.

🤸 Another milestone for Cutwater. Last month, we dove into how the canned cocktail brand became one of the fastest-growing spirits in the country, hitting nearly $1 billion in annual sales thanks to its “chaotic” cans and sky-high ABV. Morning Consult just released its annual list of Fastest Growing Brands earlier today and crowned Cutwater as breakout winner among Gen Z, beating out Hot Pockets, 7 Brew, Aldi, and Dutch Bros.

🥣 Whimsical mac-and-cheese brand Goodles is expected to be acquired by pasta giant Barilla for an undisclosed sum. Co-founder and CEO Jen Zeszut and her employees will stay with the company. 

🍨 Snoop Dogg’s ice cream company Dr. Bombay is hiring an ice cream taster. The salary? $30,000 for three months.

📂 Apple’s new folding iPhone will retail for $2,000. Samsung, which introduced a folding phone in 2019, wasted no time getting in a snipe on X: “Let us know when you’re done reheating our leftovers.”

Shelfie Life: Is Sprouts the new Whole Foods?

Photo: Jennifer Conrad

Inc.’s CPG first adopter, David Lidsky, checked out the new Sprouts near his home in Westchester County. There’s been lots of hype that Sprouts is the new and improved Whole Foods, but David says, “The store reminded me of an old natural foods store but with a bit of a modern gloss. A few finds, but I'm still waiting to see it live up to its new reputation as the launch pad for CPG startups."

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