Certified-organic and gluten-free bread company Rudi’s Organic Bakery, Boulder, CO, was purchased by the Hain Celestial Group, Inc., Lake Success, NY. Charterhouse Equity Partners LLC sold the brand to Hain for $61.3 million. Hain has indicated it plans to expand Rudi’s distribution to the conventional channel and introduce more products.

BOLA granola, made in Great Barrington, MA, announced its products are now Non-GMO Project Verified. Launched in 2008, BOLA is hand made in small batches.

Some 370 acres of certified organic banana production in Michoacan, Mexico have been added by Organics Unlimited, San Diego, CA. This will allow the company to ship 6,860 cases of bananas per week at the peak of summer.

The CLIF Builder protein bar from Clif Bar & Company, Emeryville, CA, will be the official bar of the 2014 U.S. Reebok Spartan Race. Spartan Race was voted Outside Magazine’s Best Obstacle Race.

GURU Energy Drink, containing 100 mg of naturally occurring caffeine from ingredients such as organic guarana seed extract and organic green tea, was recently certified organic by USDA.

Published in WholeFoods Magazine, June 2014