Five early-stage consumer packaged goods brands have been selected for Track 7 of BeyondCPG's Manhattan-based accelerator, the New York program's seventh consecutive cohort since its founding by the team behind BeyondBrands.

The Five Brands

The cohort spans food, beverage, and supplements: Batch Balanced, Cabu Latte, Engineered Nutrition, Goldholly, and Underdog. The selection reflects continued investor and operator appetite for mission-driven, natural-products brands at the earliest stages of commercialization — a segment that has drawn growing attention from strategic acquirers and retail buyers alike as legacy CPG portfolios seek growth through acquisition of emerging labels.

The 12-week, in-person program began in September in Manhattan and runs through a Showcase Pitch Event in January 2027, where founders will present to investors, retail buyers, and industry operators. Curriculum topics include branding, investment strategy, channel strategy, supply chain, legal structure, and pitch preparation — areas where early-stage founders frequently lack institutional support.

Operator-Led Model

"As a seven-time CPG founder, my passion runs deep in supporting our mission of helping founders scale smarter with real-world playbooks, investor-ready strategies, and operator-led mentorship," said Eric Schnell, co-founder and executive director of BeyondCPG. Schnell co-founded BeyondBrands alongside Marci Zaroff; the firm has backed and scaled multiple natural food, beverage, and nutraceutical brands to retail shelf placement and exit.

Track 7's sponsor roster underscores the program's cross-functional reach into the CPG ecosystem. Partners include NielsenIQ on data and analytics, law firms Polsinelli and Giannuzzi Lewendon on legal, ePac Flexible Packaging and Bison Bag on packaging supply chain, Wayflyer on growth financing, Withum on accounting, and ForceBrands on talent — a lineup that gives cohort brands access to service providers typically engaged only by more capitalized, later-stage operators. Naturally New York and IGNYT Growth round out the sponsor group on retail and growth strategy.

What It Means for Early-Stage CPG

Accelerators focused on the natural and conscious CPG segment have multiplied over the past decade, but programs backed directly by operating founders with exit experience remain relatively scarce. BeyondCPG's model — operator-led mentorship, in-person cohort format, and a live pitch finale with aligned capital — positions it closer to a hybrid incubator-investor vehicle than a traditional cohort program. For the five Track 7 brands, the January showcase represents a first structured exposure to retail and investment decision-makers at a stage when distribution relationships and seed capital are most scarce.

The natural and better-for-you CPG space continues to attract disproportionate velocity at retail, according to industry data tracked by F&B Industry News covering emerging brand growth trends. Retail buyers at specialty and conventional grocers have increasingly used programs like BeyondCPG as a pipeline for new item discovery, reducing the cost of early-stage brand evaluation. For context on how accelerator-backed brands have fared in distribution, see related coverage of CPG supply chain and retail channel strategy.

Applications for future BeyondCPG tracks are accepted on a rolling basis at BeyondCPG.org.

Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.