How Central Texas became a hotbed for packaged food businesses.
By Addie Broyles - American-Statesman Staff. Friday, June 19, 2015
The Austin packaged food economy is as hot as the restaurant scene, and its reach extends far beyond the boundaries of Central Texas and into the shopping carts, refrigerators and pantries of grocery shoppers from coast to coast.
Hundreds of companies call Austin home, from established homegrown brands like Stubb’s, Primizie, Beanitos and Vital Farms to booming transplants such as Skinny Pop, one of the biggest ready-to-eat popcorn companies in the country, which recently moved its headquarters from Chicago to Austin for warmer weather and livability for its top executives.
On a national scale, small to midsize consumer packaged goods companies have taken $18 billion from the pockets of the largest food companies in the past five years, and a healthy portion of that money is flowing through Central Texas.
Other parts of the country, especially the Upper Midwest, where mega food companies such as Kraft, General Mills and Kellogg have long been based, have far more institutional knowledge to launch and manufacture products. Austin’s history is shorter. Continue reading here.