Sponsors
Title Sponsor
Investment Banking Partner
Whipstitch Capital is the largest, independent investment bank in the U.S. solely focused on the better-for-you consumer sector. We are full-service bankers providing unmatched experience, industry knowledge, relationships and ability to execute optimal transaction outcomes. Since 2004, the Whipstitch team has closed over 100 transactions and provides private placement and buy-side / sell-side mergers & acquisitions advisory services for leading consumer products companies in the healthy, organic, natural and/or functional food, beverage, supplements, personal care and related retail companies. The Whipstitch team has completed transactions with innovative consumer companies over the past 10+ years, including KeVita, Core Nutrition, Purple Carrot, Country Archer, Blake’s All Natural Foods, GoodBelly, Yasso, Spindrift, Lesser Evil Snacks, Essentia Water, Saffron Road, Fermented Sciences (Flying Embers), The Switch, Otter Creek Brewing, Peeled Snacks and more. Sign up for our free weekly newsletter highlighting M&A and private placement transactions announced during the previous week at www.whipstitchcapital.com/newsletter
Annual Sponsors
Ingredients Supplier/Distributor Partner
Analyze. Invest. Develop. Partner. For over 25 years AIDP, (Advanced Ingredient’s for Dietary Products) has been distributing specialty and functional ingredients to the nutrition, food, and beverage markets. At AIDP, we specialize in clinically researched brands that provide benefits for immune health, cognitive wellness, digestive health, joint support, healthy aging, cosmeceuticals and more. Our novel brands are carefully evaluated based on intellectual property, clinical support, sustainable sourcing methods, safety, and rigorous quality control. At AIDP, we work with market leading brands as well as emerging companies. We are there to help you at every step and meet every challenge you have with innovative solutions to grow your business. Our global footprint and distinguished suppliers enable us to react fast and be responsive to your specialty and commodity ingredient needs. Time and again, we helped early-stage brands become market leaders.
Recruiting Partner
Creative Alignments turned the recruiting industry on its
head—about time, right? We make hiring easier, quicker, more transparent, and
actually enjoyable. Our hourly Time-Based Recruiting® model has saved natural
products/CPG companies nearly $20 million (and a whole bunch of headaches) over
the past 15 years. Because we are not incentivized by commissions (we charge by
the hour for our time), we are fully aligned with our client’s specific needs,
goals and culture. We’ve partnered with hundreds of growing brands — taking
many from startup to exit, like RXBAR, HaloTop and Ritual Zero Proof. Creative
Alignments is B Corp certified, using recruiting as a force for good.
Legal & Regulatory Partner
At Davis Wright Tremaine (DWT), a 600+ attorney national law firm, our commitment to the natural products industry runs deep. DWT’s team of 40+ Food + Beverage lawyers spends all day, every day helping food and beverage clients seize opportunities and solve the unique challenges of their industry. Our Food Venture Financing team works with emerging “seed” (0-$2mm annual revenue) and “scaling” ($2mm-$20mm) food and beverage brands and the investors who fund them. Our clients are based in all of the major food innovation hubs in the United States, from the Bay Area to Brooklyn. We created DWT’s Food Venture Legal Lab specifically for them, to provide a one-stop shop for all of their food industry legal needs. DWT took a leadership role in forming Naturally Bay Area, the first regional affiliate of Natural Boulder. We’re helping the next affiliates of the Naturally Network launch in Chicago, Austin, New York, Los Angeles, San Diego, Boston, and the Pacific Northwest. Whether you’re an emerging food and beverage or natural products company looking to stand out, or an investor in the sector, we can help you craft a recipe for success.
Legal Partner
Foster Garvey is a full-service law firm offering the health, wellness and nutrition industry the deep knowledge and experience to succeed in an increasingly competitive market. Our attorneys represent a broad range of clients, from early-stage ventures to established businesses, including packaged food and beverage companies, subscription box services, candy manufacturers, processors, distributors, restaurants, breweries, wineries, distilleries, and retail stores, as well as individual investors, venture capital, and private equity funds investing in the industry. From providing strategic guidance on the structure and execution of an array of corporate and commercial transactions to identifying and offering practical solutions to navigate the myriad of intellectual property and regulatory issues, Foster Garvey’s counsel enables its clients to focus on growth opportunities and maximize business potential while mitigating risks.
Insurance Partner
Heffernan Insurance Brokers, established in 1988, is a leading independent brokerage firm in the US. With a nationwide and London UK presence, we offer a wide range of insurance and financial services to businesses and individuals. Our consultative and collaborative approach ensures effective risk management and cost control through innovative insurance products and services tailored for CPG. With our expertise and exceptional customer service, Heffernan is dedicated to protecting our clients’ businesses. For more information, visit our website at www.heffins.com.
SEO, SEM & Shopify Partner
At Know Agency, we specialize in providing supplement and health companies with SEO, PPC, and digital marketing expertise that gets you connected and resonating with your customers. Rely on us to give you proven SEO and search strategies based on Google data. We crunch the numbers, analyze the search terms, and audit your digital brand, giving you honest professional feedback on what you need to do to meet your goals. Our deep knowledge of the supplement and health niche gives you a competitive advantage so you can stand out and get noticed by Google and your prospects.
Flavor Partner
Consumers today want it all and they expect their food and beverages to do more for them. Brands have to balance the demands of great taste, regulatory hurdles and consumer acceptance. The experts at McCormick Flavor Solutions can help. McCormick Flavor Solutions creates and produces complete taste solutions including flavors; taste modification; extracts; seasonings; spices & herbs; and culinary flavor, broth and stock bases for food, beverage, and nutrition companies around the world. Leveraging McCormick’s global footprint and expertise in building consumer-beloved brands, while maintaining its award-winning culture and quality, McCormick Flavor Solutions is a unique proposition in the flavor industry. We support our customers’ growth through both cutting-edge technology and personalized customer service. Design, develop and scale up using our Innovation Studios in Geneva, IL and Irvine, CA. From ideation to launch, we help create a seamless, winning path for our customers, both large and small.
Retail and ECommerce Accelerator Partner
Netrush is a digital retail agency helping consumer brands take control of their Amazon business and unlock long-term growth. Founded in 2006, we began as a wholesale partner and evolved into a full-service agency as Amazon shifted from a retailer to a retail services platform. With deep operational expertise, proprietary tools, and a proven playbook, we support brands as they transition to the 3P model—offering greater control, transparency, and profitability. Our capabilities span strategic retail consulting, supply chain optimization, digital advertising, and content management. We also host Brand Day, a high-impact event at Amazon’s Seattle headquarters that brings brand leaders together with Amazon decision-makers to gain early insights, influence platform changes, and collaborate on the future of digital retail.
Clinical Research Partner
People Science is a technology-enabled clinical research company dedicated to making clinical research more affordable and accessible. Founded and led by medical doctors and research scientists, People Science offers an end-to-end solution for human research in the wellness markets.
At the core of People Science is the Chloe platform, a mobile and web-based system designed for both consumers and businesses for effortless collection of scientific evidence. Chloe offers businesses a backend system that streamlines clinical trial operations, from screening and consents through data export and analysis. Study participants engage with Chloe through an engaging mobile app that includes wearable integration, data displays, and personalized reminders. All of this is wrapped in a secure and HIPAA-compliant data collection system.
Innovation & Commercialization Partner
PLT Health Solutions is a discoverer, developer, and marketer of high-quality, scientifically-supported ingredient solutions for the natural products, food & beverage, and cosmeceuticals markets. PLT’s ability to drive product development and clinical strategy based on the specific needs of leading consumer brands is a key reason why both major manufacturers and early-stage ingredient innovators choose to work so closely with us. With 70 years of experience, we have the expertise and infrastructure to help you successfully commercialize your ingredient or technology and access many of the leading consumer products companies across the world.
Branding Partner
Pure Branding is a high-impact brand strategy, research, and growth consultancy exclusively serving dietary supplement and functional food brands. Since 1999, we’ve helped companies deepen loyalty, increase market share, and grow enterprise value through proprietary research and actionable insights. Our clients include Gaia Herbs, MegaFood (acquired by Pharmavite), Nature’s Sunshine, Standard Process, Nordic Naturals, Xymogen, NeoCell (acquired by Clorox), and Persona Nutrition (acquired by Nestlé Health Science following our brand strategy work and early investment). In the past year, our rebrand of Biocidin Botanicals led to their acquisition by Kainos Capital, while our strategy supported WM Partners’ acquisition of Metabolic Maintenance.
Technology Commercialization Partner
Specialty Nutrition Consulting, Inc. is a nutrition brand-building firm focused on commercializing innovative, IP-protected nutritional and health-promoting technologies. SNG acts as co-development partner with large consumer products and nutrition companies to rapidly commercialize nutrition innovations, represents academic institutions and individual inventors to find new commercial applications for their inventions, and develops its own brands for commercial launch in the commercial market. The professionals of Specialty Nutrition Group, Inc. have been responsible for launching new nutraceuticals products with current annual retail sales for over $2.8 billion.
