Weekly Digest #15

10.11.2025

Welcome to The Fork’s Lens

Every week, we serve up a quick, flavourful dose of what’s cooking at the intersection of food, drink, and entrepreneurship.

Expect:

🍴 Sharp founder insights

📊 Bite-sized industry trends

🛠 Tools & tips to level up

🔥 Events & openings worth your time

For those of you building food brands, launching products, or just hungry for what’s next – this one’s for you.

Systems, Social & Smart

📨 Weekly #15: Systems, Social & Smart

🍴 What’s Up?

This week, we’re zooming in on the nuts and bolts of the food world – quite literally. From Tetra Pak’s new Factory OS, which is turning manufacturing floors into data-driven ecosystems, to the relentless cost spiral still gripping hospitality, to the growing insistence that foodtech startups must prove substance over buzz.

Fewer stories, more signal. Let’s dig in.

🔥 UK Roundup

• Hospitality under strain
  After six straight months of price increases, the UK hospitality sector remains under siege. The Foodservice Price Index rose again in September – up 0.7% month-on-month, now sitting at a record 151.1. The culprits: dairy, ambient goods, and sugar categories.
  CGA Strategy

• Smart factories take shape
  Tetra Pak’s Factory OS – a full-stack digital platform that connects equipment, processes, and systems across production lines – is AI-ready, cloud-native, and co-developed with Accenture and Siemens to help producers reduce waste and improve efficiency.
  Food & Drink Technology

• Deal momentum holds
  The UK F&B M&A market logged 49 transactions in Q3 2025, only 6% down quarter-on-quarter. Premium beverage and pet-food brands led activity, while cross-border deals represented nearly 40%.
  Grant Thornton

• Douglicious gets a sweet deal
  Frozen-novelty brand Douglicious secured investment from Future Back Ventures, a Bain & Co-backed vehicle supporting ex-Bain founders. The brand also closed a $5 million round earlier this year led by RPV and The Angel Group.
  PR Newswire

• Chocolate consolidation
  Love Cocoa, founded over 10 years ago by Cadbury scion James Cadbury, has been acquired by Scotland’s Made Uncommon, which also owns Otherly, UP-UP, Seed & Bean, and Coco Chocolatier. Cadbury plans to step back from the business to focus on family life.
  Company announcement

🌍 Global News Worth Noting

• PepsiCo refreshes its identity
  The company unveiled its first new corporate brand design in nearly 25 years – a bolder, unified look meant to showcase the breadth of its global food & beverage portfolio.
  Company release

• Social commerce surges
  TikTok Shop’s food category grew 120% YoY and now represents 14% of total platform sales; from freeze-dried candy to artisanal sauces. Discovery-led consumption is officially mainstream.
  Retail Brew

• Sweetgreen cash in on robotics
  Sweetgreen sold its robotics division (Spyce) to Wonder for $186 million, underscoring a shift away from in-house tech ownership toward platform licensing – a case study in how restaurant automation is maturing and monetising.
  FT Markets

• Djokovic pops into snacks
  Tennis star Novak Djokovic led a $5 million seed round in Cob, a better-for-you snack brand making popcorn from sorghum; a nutrient-dense, sustainable ancient grain. He’s also joining as co-founder alongside entrepreneur Jessica Davidoff.
  Food & Wine

• Graza meets the vine
  Olive-oil darling Graza is teaming up with Oregon winemaker Limited Addition for a micro-batch Pinot Meunier to launch a playful cross-category collab.
  Company release

• Protein power play
  Danone, owner of Activia and Oikos, says it’s “kept by production capacity” as high-protein yogurts continue to fly off shelves. Sales have surged among consumers using weight-loss drugs, pushing Danone to expand output and launch high-protein shakes.
  Company release

💭 The Fork & The Flame

“Don’t just digitise dinner,  redefine the kitchen.”

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About Forks & Founders
We believe bold food brands deserve bold support. That’s why we’ve built a collective of seasoned foodies, retail rebels, creative storytellers, and numbers nerds – people who’ve been in the kitchen, the boardroom, and the shop floor. We jump in where you need us most, helping you turn big ideas into bites people can’t stop talking about. Because building a food brand isn’t just business – it’s passion, flavour, and a little bit of chaos. We’re here to make sure it’s the good kind.