Tovala, the first-ever meal service paired with a countertop smart oven that scans, steams, bakes, and broils its chef-crafted meals, announces the close of a $30M Series C funding round led by Left Lane Capital, with participation from previous investors Finistere Ventures, Comcast Ventures, OurCrowd, Origin Ventures, Pritzker Group Venture Capital, and Joe Mansueto.

Cooking and preparing meals from home has increased 67% since COVID-19 began. After months of home-cooked meals, families are turning to prepared foods and easy prep meals as a way to save time and spice up their nightly dinner menus. In addition, 60% of home cooks report they rely on Instant Pots or similar appliances for their cooking routine for the simplicity, versatility, and convenience of making, flavorful meals with less cleanup.

Freshly, the leading fresh-prepared meal delivery service in the U.S., announced the launch of FreshlyFit, the company's first dedicated product line designed for consumers looking to command their health and fuel active lifestyles. Like Freshly, FreshlyFit's ready-to-eat meals are gluten-free and built on a foundation of clean, whole-food ingredients, but focus on a lower-carb, protein-powered nutritional profile to help fuel workouts, optimize recovery, maintain muscle mass, and support weight management. FreshlyFit meals have an average of 14 grams of net carbs, over 30 grams of protein, and 550 calories or less. More than a third of the meals contain zero added sugars.

Franklin Farms has entered a partnership with Purple Carrot, the 100% plant-based meal kit company. As a consumer brand and leading supplier of meatless offerings, Franklin Farms brings more than twenty years of expertise in plant-based protein foods and innovation to Purple Carrot’s meal kit offerings.

Fresh Midwest, the new online fresh food and meal delivery providing locally-grown produce and chef-driven meal solutions, announces its launch to begin in the northern Chicago-area market up through Kenosha, Wisconsin. The company plans to expand throughout the Chicagoland market in early 2021.

Nestlé announced it has acquired Freshly, one of the leading fresh-prepared meal delivery services in the U.S. The deal values Freshly at $950 million, with potential earnouts up to $550 million contingent to the successful growth of the business. This transaction was signed and closed on October 30, 2020. Founded in 2015, Freshly delivers a menu of fresh, chef-cooked meals to customers across the country, breaking down the barriers to healthy eating by delivering nutrition and convenience at scale.

HelloFresh brings back its popular no-subscription-required Thanksgiving Feast. The box is available for preorder beginning October 28th with delivery beginning on November 17. The box is available in two versions and features all the fresh ingredients, easy to follow recipes, and in-depth meal prep guide you’d need to orchestrate the ultimate holiday feast.

Paulo Wei, a 25-year-old entrepreneur, restauranteur and Columbia University student, has launched Our Kitchen, a new farm-to-table national meal delivery service, to bring healthy and authentic Chinese dishes to consumers across the country. All ingredients are sourced from Our Kitchen’s 43-acre farm situated along the Neversink River, and dishes are prepared onsite by chefs before being flash frozen.

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods provides a ranking of the Top 5 refrigerated foods processors in each of five categories.