1440 Foods Acquires FitCrunch For Around $700M 💪

GM and Happy Saturday, folks. Here’s what we’re covering this morning:

• Celsius acquires manufacturer ⚡️

• Campari prepares to divest 🥃

• YouChews raises $1.3M ☕️

• Papa Salt launches RTDs 🍸

• Wholier heads to WFM 💊

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Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

• 1440 Foods is acquiring FitCrunch from Union Capital Associates for around $700M. FitCrunch, founded in 2012 by celebrity chef Robert Irvine and Bakery Barn, is a purveyor of high-protein snacks and supplements. Since investing in FitCrunch in 2019, Union Capital helped deliver 30x annual adjusted EBITDA growth. 1440 Foods owns Pure Protein, Body Fortress, and Met-Rx. Their revenue is reportedly north of $400M. Ben Rudman had some interesting thoughts about the acquisition. Business Wire

• Fast-growing energy drink brand Celsius has acquired Big Beverages Contract Manufacturing, a Charlotte-based beverage manufacturer. Celsius now owns a 170,000-square-foot manufacturing & warehousing facility. By owning a portion of their manufacturing, Celsius expects per-case savings and improved margins. Business Wire

• Inspired Beauty Brands has acquired Fix Your Lid, a maker of salon-quality hairstyling products for men. The seller is Colorado-based HBB Consumer Products. PR Newswire

• After missing analyst expectations in Q3, Italian spirits giant Campari Group plans on unloading a number of non-core brands in order to cut costs and focus on brands like Espolon Tequila and SKKY Vodka. Campari Group has been an active buyer lately — they shelled out $1.2B for Courvoisier and acquired 70% of Wilderness Trail Distillery for $420M — but they haven’t trimmed their portfolio like Diageo or Pernod Ricard. Food Dive

• Australia’s Soulfresh has expanded its beverage portfolio by acquiring Emma & Tom’s, a producer of cold-pressed juices, smoothies, and sparkling beverages. Soulfresh sells a number of BFY beverages and snacks across Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. Retail World

• Finnish smart ring maker Oura has acquired Sparta Science, a Bay Area-based health tracking startup. This is Oura’s third acquisition in two years. TechCrunch

Fundraising

• YouChews, a Memphis-based purveyor of on-the-go coffee chews, raised $1.3M in equity funding from undisclosed investors. Maria Watson, the founder of YouChews, launched the brand when she was 69. Awesome story. SEC

• Big Idea Ventures invested in six food tech startups. The new investments include BiomeMega, Future Biome, MEATOSYS, Nalca Biotech, NanoInGreen, and Renew Food. GlobeNewswire

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What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

• Vichy Dercos, the number one dandruff shampoo in Europe, finally launched in the United States. Owned by L’Oreal Group, Vichy Dercos will be available via its website and at Walmart. GQ

• Another one of L’Oreal’s brands, CeraVe, expanded into the haircare category with a new range of shampoos and conditioners. The new haircare line is available exclusively at Walmart. Cosmopolitan

• The Ordinary (owned by Estee Lauder) just revamped their flagship store in Covent Garden. It’s a pretty stunning store. The Industry

• Fast fashion retailer Mango is replacing some human models with AI-generated avatars in order to create content faster (and more cost-effectively). Curious to see if H&M and Zara follow suit. Business of Fashion

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

• Zilker Brewing Co. collaborated with De Nada Cantina on a new brew — Una Mas Dark Mexican Lager. Austin-based Helms Workshop designed some stunning labels for the collab, too. Twitter

• BFY candy brand Better Sour collaborated with Disney on a co-branded product to celebrate the release of Moana 2. Most of the Disney x CPG collabs I’ve seen have been pretty dull, but this one works really well. NOSH

• Papa Salt Coastal Gin, the gin brand co-founded by Margot Robbie and a number of friends, released a great-looking RTD cocktail that combines gin and grapefruit soda. The Shout

• The Coca-Cola Company is relaunching Barrilitos, a beloved Mexican soft drink brand, in California and Texas. Based on packaging alone, this is Coca-Cola’s answer to Jarritos. PR Newswire

• Blume Superfood released a number of holiday-inspired flavors like Gingerbread, Nut Nog, and Mint Cocoa. Love the festive packaging, too. Blume

• Empirical Spirits opened a new bar and tasting room in Brooklyn called 53 A.D. 53 A.D. will be the only place in the world to sample Empirical’s limited-run small-batch spirits. BevNET

• Monkey 47, the craft gin brand that Pernod Ricard acquired in 2016, unveiled a new bottle that’s made of 95% recycled materials. The Spirits Business

Data 🖥️

• Amazon beat earnings expectations in Q3 and shares in the company surged. Amazon delivered net income of $15.3B, up from $9.9B a year ago. Reuters

Distribution News 🚚

• Rael Beauty launched online and in-store at Ulta Beauty.

• Plant-based wellness brand Wholier launched at Whole Foods Market.

• Harken Sweet launched at Mother’s Market in CA.

• John Legend’s skincare brand, Loved01, is heading to QVC.