ALT Kroger Marketplace store photo with headline: Kroger is putting $5 billion into lower prices and 1,000 new store-brand products.
ALT Also this week in CPG: Abbott, Dan-O's, Lindt.
ALT What it means for founders, with Aeko reading CPG News.
ALT Cover: The protein bar that bought its supplier. Aeko the orange plush mascot.
ALT Same day: Epogee told other EPG customers no new orders. The lawsuit says Epogee had purchased, secured and stockpiled two years of EPG supply.
ALT The fallout (alleged): about $449K in R&D losses claimed by three small brands that sued. In Feb 2026 a judge dismissed the case.
ALT Your single-source audit: list every ingredient with only one supplier, qualify a second source, know who your supplier's biggest customer is.
ALT Scoop of whey powder. Headline: Whey is up ~250%. And new supply is years away. Aeko the orange plush mascot.
ALT $13+ per pound for US WPC80, June 2026, about +250% year over year. Source: AP via WTOP.
ALT New whey capacity, eventually: 2027 Glanbia isolate, 2029 Agropur.
ALT What to do this quarter: qualify a backup whey supplier, bench-test alternates, ask your co-man what their line can already run.
