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[ad_1] The snack aisle is seen during a tour of a new Amazon Go store in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, U.S., on Monday, Feb. 24, 2020. Chona Kasinger | Bloomberg | Getty Images For more than a century, frosted cornflakes have been the backbone of Kellogg's business. That changes Monday, when the company will spin off its stable cereal business in favor of its faster-growing snack unit and rename itself Kellanova . The spinoff comes weeks after another wager that consumers will graze between meals, when J.M. Smucker bought Twinkie maker Hostess Brands for $5.6 billion in a bid to expand its snack lineup. But food companies' major bets on snacking come as investors fear the looming danger of Big Pharma's blockbuster obesity and diabetes drugs Wegovy and Ozempic. Many investors have high hopes for the pharmaceuticals' future, but their success could mean slower sales for the companies that produce Oreos, Doritos and Hershey's Kisses. Bi...

[ad_1] Mark Wahlberg showcases his Flecha Azul Tequila at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, June 15, 2023. Denise Truscello | Getty Images As more drinkers seek out luxury spirits , a growing number of celebrities are using their star power, and cash, to elevate premium liquor brands. Volume sales of spirits brands at the top end of the distilled spirits market increased 4% last year from the year before, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. Consumers' willingness to spend more on premium bottles has led to booming sales of liquors such as tequila, which rose 21% in 2022 from the prior year. related investing news As shoppers shell out for pricier bottles, the high-end spirits business has become an enticing venture for those with the right capital and celebrity, said Chris Swonger, president and CEO of DISCUS. "Celebrity-owned spirit brands have been around for a while," Swonger said. "But certainly, the increased consumer interest i...

[ad_1] Food-delivery company Wonder Group has gotten a cash infusion from Nestle , as the startup looks to sell high-tech kitchen equipment and prepared ingredients to businesses such as hotels, hospitals and sports arenas. The deal includes a $100 million investment from Nestle, along with a strategic partnership, according to sources familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because financial terms of the deal are not public. Nestle and Wonder confirmed the deal but declined to reveal transaction details. The funding could get Wonder a step closer to its ambitions of making it easier, faster and cheaper for busy families to have high-quality meals at home. The startup, which was valued at about $3.5 billion when it closed a $350 million funding round in June, was founded in 2018 by serial entrepreneur and former Walmart e-commerce chief Marc Lore. Wonder recently struck a deal to acquire meal-kit company Blue Apron for $103 million. It has also developed kitchen equ...

[ad_1] The rise of new anti-obesity medications could result in less alcohol consumption, impacting Club name Constellation Brands (STZ). The risk already seems to be playing out in food stocks with exposure to snacks and junk food. However, if necessary, the Mexican beer powerhouse behind Corona, Modelo and Pacifico could take action to mitigate any demand pressures. The weight-loss benefits of diabetes drugs such Novo Nordisk 's (NOVO) Ozempic and Club holding Eli Lilly 's (LLY) Mounjaro may turn out to be a headwind to not only alcohol makers — but also soda, snack food and fast-food companies. Novo Nordisk has already gotten U.S. regulatory approval for the active ingredient in Ozempic, semaglutide, to be prescribed to combat obesity. For weight loss, it's marketed under the name Wegovy. The active ingredient in Mounjaro, tirzepatide, is expected to get anti-obesity approval as soon as later this year. STZ YTD mountain STZ year-to-date performance. We don't thi...

[ad_1] CNN  —  Authorities in Hong Kong have raided a shop suspected of selling dog and cat meat as food – more than 70 years after the trade was outlawed. Officers seized “suspected samples of dog or cat flesh” at a shop in the Yau Ma Tei district during a “joint blitz operation” by the city’s Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department on Thursday evening. The AFCD said it had carried out the raid after receiving reports that the meats were on sale in Yau Ma Tei – a densely populated commercial and residential district in the Kowloon area – and that it had arranged testing of the seized samples. It said it was also investigating whether the shop was trading fresh meat without a license. “Prosecution will be instituted should it be proven,” the AFCD said in a statement. Eating dog and cat meat...

[ad_1] Cans of PepsiCo's Pepsi Zero Sugar soda are displayed for an arranged photograph taken in Tiskilwa, Illinois, on Wednesday, April 17, 2019. Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images The U.S. Food and Drug Administration disagrees with a World Health Organization finding that the widely used soda sweetener aspartame possibly causes cancer in humans, saying the studies used to reach that conclusion had "significant shortcomings." "Aspartame is one of the most studied food additives in the human food supply. FDA scientists do not have safety concerns when aspartame is used under the approved conditions," an agency spokesperson said late Thursday shortly after the WHO released its findings. The International Agency for Research on Cancer, a WHO body, found a possible link between aspartame and a type of liver cancer called hepatocellular carcinoma after reviewing three large human studies in the U.S. and Europe. Aspartame is used as a substitute for sugar...