Kettle & Fire Builds Its Next Bone Broth Phase Around Manufacturing Scale
Kettle & Fire is entering its next phase with leadership changes, broader innovation plans and a manufacturing base designed to support scale. In its 19 May announcement, the company said Sam McBride will become CEO, Brian Hack will move into the role of President and CFO, and COO Jay Luikart will continue to expand operational and manufacturing capabilities.
The release is not just a personnel update. It shows how the bone broth category is becoming more industrially structured. What started in many markets as a wellness-led niche now needs dependable manufacturing, ingredient sourcing, innovation speed and retailer service levels.
From kitchen story to manufacturing system
Kettle & Fire says it has opened its first owned manufacturing facility, KettleWorks, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. That detail is important. Shelf-stable broth depends on process control, packaging reliability, food safety and flavour consistency. When a brand owns more of that system, it can often move faster on product development and respond more directly to quality issues.
The company is also moving beyond traditional bone broth into adjacent formats, including beef tallow and new broth launches. One planned 2026 product is Kettle & Fire x Force of Nature Bison Bone Broth, made with regeneratively raised bison. That kind of innovation requires more than a marketing story. It requires sourcing discipline, batch planning and a way to communicate ingredient differences without confusing the shelf.
There are similarities with other shelf-stable ingredient and soup categories. Xtra Food Magazine has examined how soup and sauce manufacturers select aseptic tomato ingredient suppliers, where consistency, process compatibility and documentation can determine whether an ingredient partner is usable at scale. Bone broth manufacturers face comparable pressures, even when the consumer positioning is more wellness-led.
What buyers will ask next
Retail and foodservice buyers will want to know whether the category can keep growing without losing credibility. Bone broth shoppers often care about animal sourcing, simmering methods, protein content, sodium, organic or grass-fed claims and the absence of unnecessary additives. At the same time, buyers need case fill, promotional support and predictable supply.
For ingredient suppliers, Kettle & Fire’s direction creates opportunities in animal protein sourcing, seasonings, packaging, shelf-stable processing and quality analytics. The more the category grows, the more professional the supplier base must become. Small-batch language alone will not support national distribution.
Commercial angle
For retailers, Kettle & Fire’s manufacturing shift may make the brand easier to plan around if it improves supply reliability and innovation timing. Category growth is useful only when the supply base can keep shelves filled.
For animal-protein suppliers, the move toward differentiated broths raises the bar on traceability and documentation. Claims around regenerative sourcing, grass-fed inputs or organic chicken need evidence that retailers can defend.
Checklist for buyers and suppliers
- Can owned manufacturing improve speed of innovation without weakening quality controls?
- Are animal-sourcing claims documented clearly enough for retailers and consumers?
- Will adjacent products such as tallow strengthen the brand platform or distract from broth?
- Can the operation support national demand while preserving the slow-simmered quality story?
The important lesson is that a health-positioned food category can only scale when the operations mature behind it. Kettle & Fire is now presenting bone broth as a platform with leadership, owned manufacturing and adjacent innovation. For food professionals, that is the point to watch: not whether bone broth is fashionable, but whether brands can build the supply systems required to make it a durable category.
