Mondelez quietly shuts down the brands it developed
The company that makes snacks has announced that it will no longer offer Dirt Kitchen and CaPao, and the venture capital division is changing its focus to investing in startups that are already established.
Dive Brief:
Mondelez International has quietly wound down Dirt Kitchen and CaPao, two brands launched by the snack giant’s SnackFutures unit, a spokesperson revealed through an email sent to Food Dive. Mondelez began phasing out the brands by the end of 2022.
SnackFutures developed the brands of five its own. However, Dirt Kitchen and CaPao were the only two that were made available to retail stores or for commercial sale across the U.S. Dirt Kitchen made dried fruit and vegetable snacks, and CaPao made upcycled cacao fruits with quinoa puffed and oats into snack-sized snacks that can be carried around. Another brand, NoCOe, which is a green aperitif cracker, was sold only in France.
The decision to stop the production of snacks like these comes after SnackFutures has changed its focus to investing in companies that are emerging which Mondelez could possibly purchase.
Dive Insight:
Mondelez’s SnackFutures was established towards the close of 2017, to assist the company improve its already strong position in the snack industry through investing in new brands and new technologies. The main focus of the venture was the launch of its own brands that might one day launch on the market.
Desiree Battaglia, a Mondelez spokesperson, explained that the “invent” part of SnackFutures was aimed at understanding what it’s like start a business and bringing the brand closer to consumers. “The brands themselves [that we created], while interesting, just didn’t, in the end, have as much value as investing in those that were more established, hence the shift to” corporate venture capital, Battaglia said.
In the last month, Richie Gray, a Mondelez vice president, who was appointed head of SnackFutures on April 1, stated that SnackFutures is planning to boost the investment in start-ups that make snacks in the event that the CPG giant expects them to play a greater percentage of Oreo and Ritz manufacturers’ future growth. Although it has been around for more than five years, however, the Mondelez company has only made seven investments.
The past has seen SnackFutures is known to have invested in companies like Torr FoodTech, which created a method of using Ultrasonic power and pressure in order to replace sugar and other binders used in snacks such as those produced by Dirt Kitchen.
It has also made investments in Celleste Bio, a maker of cocoa that is grown in laboratories as well as premium chocolate and snack maker Hu in addition to Eastern Standard Provisions which sells direct-to-consumer hand-twisted soft pretzels that are made with all-natural ingredients. Mondelez acquired Hu at the end of 2021. the sole company SnackFutures acquisition that its parent company has bought.
The lessons learned from the pilot projects influenced what’s now known as the SnackFutures’CoLab, which is a Mondelez startup engagement program designed for snacks that are in the early stages of development, According to the company. This week is an important “graduation” of the third group of brands who completed the three-month course.
