• This Week in CPG
  • Posts
  • Butterfly Shells Out $1.95B For The Duckhorn Portfolio 🍷

Butterfly Shells Out $1.95B For The Duckhorn Portfolio 🍷

Author

CPG WIRE
October 08, 2024

Welcome back to This Week in CPG, folks. Here’s what we’re covering this morning:

  • La Vie raises €25M 🥓

  • Good Eat’n grabs funding 🍿

  • Snif collabs with Professor Perfume 🍯

  • immi heads to Target 🎯

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

  • Butterfly Equity has acquired The Duckhorn Portfolio — a pure-play luxury wine producer — for $1.95B in an all-cash deal. Established in 1976, The Duckhorn Portfolio owns labels like Calera, Decoy, Kosta Browne, Sonoma-Cutrer, and its namesake, Duckhorn. This is a surprising deal for a few reasons. First, the wine category isn’t particularly attractive right now due to a glut and declining demand. Second, private equity typically avoids wine & spirits, and this is Butterfly’s first booze deal. VinePair

  • Vista Outdoor is selling itself in parts to two different buyers. Strategic Value Partners is buying Vista’s sporting goods division for $1.1B, while Prague-based Czechoslovak Group is buying its ammunition biz for $2.2B. The transaction has been approved by Vista’s BOD. Reuters 

  • One Rock Capital Partners has acquired a stake in Lewis Bakeries, the largest wholesale bakery in Indiana. Lewis Bakeries employs 2,000 people across its 5 bakeries in Indiana and Tennessee. PR Newswire

Fundraising

  • La Vie Foods, a French startup that produces plant-based ham, bacon, and lardon, raised €25M in fresh funding. Zintinus, Sparkfood, and a number of existing investors participated in the round. La Vie Foods was founded in 2021 and has generated €19M of revenue so far in 2024. Vegconomist

  • Little Saints, a purveyor of non-alcoholic RTD cocktails and spirits, secured a $700K SAFE note from undisclosed investors. Megan Klein founded Little Saints in May of 2021. SEC

  • Good Eat’n, a plant-based snack brand founded by NBA legend Chris Paul, raised $300K in fresh funding from undisclosed investors. Good Eat’n launched exclusively on GoPuff in 2022. SEC

Partner With Hyperlocal Creators to Grow Your Biz 📈

Hummingbirds is a marketing platform that enables you to leverage the influence of everyday people who are natural, social media enthusiasts - a.k.a "hummingbirds" to harness word of mouth marketing.

Tap into our community of hummingbirds (90% women between 25-45 yrs + 49% parents) across 20 cities to build brand awareness, get authentic UGC and drive retail velocity in a regional or city-specific way. You might even find your next super fans.

From crafting compelling briefs to selecting the best local creators for your brand - our SaaS platform makes it easy to streamline and scale your creator strategy in an authentic way.

We’re working with category defining beverage brands, chart topping cosmetic brands, CPG legacy brands + CPG darlings – we’d love to work with you too.  See past campaigns here.

Book a call with Hummingbirds here.

What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

  • Snif is releasing another fragrance collaboration with Professor Perfume, a perfume expert and influencer. Dubbed Honey Suite, the new fragrance officially launches on October 10th. Instagram

  • The latest product from Goop Beauty — 3x Retinol Regenerative Serum. The product retails for $150 and is available exclusively via their website. Happi

  • Maison Margiela released three new fragrances under its REPLICA banner. Soul of the Forest, Dancing On the Moon, and Flying are each available for $220 on their website. Hypebae

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

  • It appears that Liquid Death is releasing a cola-inspired sparkling water at NACS this year. Curious if they’ll be able to deliver on the cola taste. Twitter

  • Reese Witherspoon and Treasury Wine Estates (TWE) are releasing a new range of wines called Drops of Sunshine. The debut collection features a sparkling rosé, a chardonnay, and a red blend. The Drinks Business

  • Energy drink brand CELSIUS expanded its Essentials line with two new flavors: Grape Slush and Watermelon Ice. Business Wire

  • LesserEvil Snacks released a new product — Real Organic Cheddar Popcorn — exclusively at Target. The packaging is fantastic. Instagram

  • It appears that BetterBrand — a purveyor of low-carb baked goods that was once valued at $170M — might be closing since its website is down and customers are pissed about unfulfilled orders. NOSH 

Data 🖥️

  • The hottest functional beverage categories these days are related to energy/alertness, immune health, brain health, and gut health. Twitter

  • Per NBWA, consumers are spending more on food & beverage in on-premise channels than at-home. Twitter

  • London-based luxury wellness brand LYMA is growing fast. The company’s FY2023 revenue grew 40% to £32.5M. The company also recently launched a laser device that retails for a whopping £4,995 and has already sold out twice. The Industry

Distribution News 🚚