5@5: Dutch grocery ditches plastic | Ex-Kashi exec plans new food investment fund

Dutch supermarket aisle sells 700 items—and none of them contain plastic

Can we learn a thing or two from the no-plastic aisle in an Amsterdam supermarket called Ekoplaza? In the plastic-free aisle, shoppers will find meat, yogurt, snacks and more. The store traded in plastic wrapping for compostable biofilm made from plants, or for cardboard or glass containers, and says it will be a testing spot for compostable packaging materials. Read more at The Star…

Former Kellogg exec has plans to grow food businesses

Jeff Grogg, who used to head up product innovation for Kashi, is now founder of contract manufacturer Snackwerks of Michigan and consulting company JPG Resources, which advises early stage food companies. He’s also a partner with RCV Frontline Fund, which he hopes will become a $20 million to $30 million fund to invest in young food companies. And at Expo West last week, he co-hosted an event for venture capital investors to kick off the fundraising. Read more at Crain’s Detroit Business… 

Colin Kaepernick just dropped $25,000 to support urban farming in North Minneapolis

The San Francisco 49er’s quarterback has said he will donate the first $1 million he made last season to organizations that work in communities affected by racial injustice and police brutality. This month, he’s donating to Appetite for Change, which is working to encourage healthy living in food deserts in North Minneapolis. Read more at Watch the Yard…

The retail storm spreads to a grocery landlord

At least one real estate firm is feeling whiplash from the shifts happening in retail. Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust, owner of more than 60 retail centers in the U.S., suspended a dividend payment to shareholders to pare down its debt. “We are not in crisis mode,” CEO David Kelly told shareholders in an earnings call last week. Read more at The Wall Street Journal…

The Hass avocado mother tree

The famed avocado variety came from a stubborn tree of unknown origins that belonged to a California mailman named Rudolph Hass. When the tree finally bore fruit, it was creamier and more flavorful than the variety of avocados that was prevalent at the time. He patented the tree, but that didn’t stop growers from buying one tree and re-grafting their whole grove with the bud wood from it, which is how we got to a point where 80 percent of U.S.-grown avocados are the Hass variety. Read more at Atlas Obscura…