Pinnacle Foods Inc. is buying Boulder Brands. The two companies recently reached an agreement, which expands Pinnacle’s position in the natural and organic retail channel. Additionally, Pinnacle expects that this acquisition will bring forth new growth in refrigerated foods for the company.

“We expect a seamless transition and look forward to accelerating our growth across an impressive collection of health and wellness brands as part of Pinnacle Foods,” said Dean Hollis, Chairman of Boulder Brands.

Whole Foods Market, according to ComputerWorld, is partnering with technology company, Infor, to build a new cloud-based retail management solution to speed up operations, improve efficiency, as well as provide a new experience for customers.

The new management system will be for Whole Foods’ global network of stores. Other retailers will be able to take advantage of this management solution once it is delivered.

Jason Buechel, executive vice president and chief information officer of Whole Foods Market, told ComputerWorld: “The new retail platform we will co-create with Infor will be unlike anything currently on the market, better leveraging major technology advances to deliver much more value at lower cost.”

ComputerWorld reports that Whole Foods needed to find smarter methods of working as a result of new organic grocery store chains, increased acceptance of online shopping as a method to buy groceries, as well as near-saturation in existing markets.

The agriculture sector is growing rapidly, and California-based Sunkist is responding by expanding its production of organic citrus fruits.

IRI Worldwide Data reports that retail sales of organic citrus have increased by 14 per cent—that’s three times faster than conventional citrus.

“Consumers are broadening their food choices, and we’re seeing that in the growth of organics,” said Joan Wickham, manager of advertising and public relations for Sunkist.

Whole Foods Market Inc. is paying $500,000 to settle accusations made by New York authorities that it routinely overcharged customers for pre-packaged foods.

The New York City Department of Consumer Affairs launched an investigation to determine if Whole Foods’ New York City locations were mislabeling pre-packaged products. According to a statement made by Whole Foods, the investigation did not uncover any evidence of “systematic or intentional misconduct.”

The settlement also requires Whole Foods to enact and enforce policies and actions such as audits as well as personnel training that prevent customers from being overcharged.

Stores such as Costco and Wal-Mart are expanding their organic product offerings, which, according to Reuters, are hurting the retailers that pioneered the ‘organic’ trend.

Piper Jaffray, an investment bank, estimates that the number of organic items sold in traditional grocery stores has increased between 35 to 50 per cent in the last year. TechSci research estimates that the U.S. organic food market will reach $45,000 billion in 2015.

Reuters reports that 10 per cent of Kroger Company’s $108 billion annual revenue comes from organic products. These sales make the supermarket chain the second-largest seller of organic foods behind Whole Foods. Meanwhile, sales of organic products at Whole Foods are down 34 per cent to date, while Sprouts Farmer’s Market is down 25 per cent.

Sean Naughton, an analyst at Piper Jaffray, told Reuters that specialty grocers will need to slash prices or focus on higher-margin prepared foods. Chris Carter, a co-port folio manager of the $921 million Buffalo Discovery fund, predicts that Costco, Wal-Mart, Whole Foods, and possibly Amazon will be the largest sellers of organic foods five years from now.

The natural food channel, according to a report from Progressive Grocer, is growing at twice the pace of the conventional channel.

Gone are the days where consumers could only buy organic products at specialty stores. Now, mass merchandisers and traditional supermarkets are selling different varieties of organic foods in large quantities.

Three out of four conventional grocery stores, according to a study from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, now sell organic products—with more than 80 percent of U.S. families currently buying organic products. Consequently, organic product sales have increased exponentially.

The Organic Trade Association reports that U.S. businesses sold $40 billion in organic foods and nonfoods in 2014.

ImmunExtra, an all-natural daily supplement that enhances immune cell activity, has signed an exclusive distribution deal with Canada’s Purity Life Health Products.

“The Canadian Market has been a target of ours for some time now. It was a difficult process, but we are proud that ImmunExtra passed all regulatory requirements with flying colors, and [we] look forward to working with Canada’s CHFA 2015 Supplier of Excellence Award winner,” says Joe Tufaro, VP Operations at Allera Health Products.

Purity Life Health Products LP of Canada will release ImmunExtra, the first product of Allera Health Products, Inc., to the Canadian market in mid November 2016. Purity Life distributes natural health products such as natural health food products and dietary supplements to over 7,000 stores throughout Canada.

Allera Health Products, Inc. develops natural products that enhance the immune system.

GreenSpace Brands Inc. has agreed to purchase Central Roast Inc., a company that specializes in leading all-natural, functional snacks.

Central Roast has built a strong relationship with many key Canadian grocery retailers. The acquisition, according to a press release, is expected to “strengthen GreenSpace’s relationships with distribution channel partners, offering opportunities for increased penetration of respective product lines into previously untapped channels.”

“I am thrilled to have the Central Roast brand become part of the brand portfolio that GreenSpace continues to develop, says Mr. Matthew von Teichman, Chief Executive Officer of GreenSpace. “Central Roast will be the biggest brand in our portfolio to date, and provides us with entry into the high velocity snacking space which we have been following for some time.”

GreenSpace develops, markets and sells natural food products to consumers across Canada.

Generational Capital Markets, Inc. has acquired Wilderness Family Naturals, LLC, a distributor and manufacturer of organic and natural foods.

Generational Capital Markets is an advisor to privately-held businesses for mergers & acquisitions.

Wilderness was established in 2000 as an online retailer selling organic coconut products. Since then, the company has evolved into a business that distributes, packages, and manufactures many different organic and natural foods. Wilderness’ customers include health food stores and distributors as well as retail grocery stores.

Arbor Investments, an equity firm, has acquired a major stake in DPI Specialty Foods Inc.

DPI, based out of Ontario, California, distributes a variety of foods (organic, ethnic, gourmet, among others) to retailers and other food establishments across the United States.

Arbor Investments is a specialized private equity firm that focuses on acquiring and investing in food, beverage and related companies. The equity firm has invested in more than 44 food and beverage establishments in North America.