Cadootz! Secures $3M, Puig Merger Accelerates 👀

Author

CPG WIRE
April 09, 2026

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

  • Bullish backs Singing Pastures 🥩

  • Froot Pops closes 7-figure round 🍓

  • Sprinter appoints new CEO 💧

  • Four Sigmatic launches creatine 🍄

  • Esspo heads to Whole Foods ☕️

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

  • The founding families of Puig and The Estée Lauder Companies are set to meet this week to discuss their potential $40B merger. The two families aim to reach an agreement in the coming weeks. Reuters

  • Oregon-based Hood River Distillers has acquired the Crater Lake Spirits portfolio from local producer Bendistillery. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Founded in 1996, Bendistillery was an early mover in the craft gin & vodka movement. Bendstillery will continue to produce and bottle Crater Lake Spirits while Hood River Distillers will handle sales and distribution. The Spirits Business

  • San Antonio-based baked goods manufacturer C.H. Guenther has acquired Mejicano Foods, a Montreal-based manufacturer of flour tortillas. The acquisition significantly expands C.H. Guenther’s tortilla manufacturing and distribution capabilities. C.H. Guenther is owned by PPC, an investment firm specializing in manufacturing and services. Business Wire

  • Teasdale Foods, a leading producer of Latin-inspired foods, has transitioned ownership to Knighthead Capital Management in order to eliminate nearly $300M of debt. Teasdale Foods will continue to be led by CEO Tim O’Connor albeit with a newly constituted Board of Directors. Business Wire

Fundraising

  • Kids’ snack brand Cadootz! raised over $3M in seed funding led by Selva Ventures. The founder of Selva Ventures, Kiva Dickinson, is also a co-founder of Cadootz! alongside Rachel Mansfield and Jordan Carpenter. Cadootz! debuted earlier this year with a better-for-you cracker line that sold out in less than two hours. The company is gearing up to launch at a major nationwide retailer in two months. PR Newswire

  • Singing Pastures, a female-founded meat sticks brand, scored an investment from Bullish. Founded by Holly & John Arbuckle, Singing Pastures is a manufacturer of pasture-raised meat sticks made with bone broth and collagen, bringing a functional, whole-food approach to a traditionally processed category. Bullish previously backed Warby Parker, Harry's, Hu, Bubble, and several other brands. Twitter

  • Froot Pops, a UK-based purveyor of chocolate covered frozen fruit, closed a 7-figure funding round. Participants include Justin King, the former CEO of Sainsbury’s, and Giles Brook, a prolific investor in the consumer space. Founded in 2024 by Ana Martins, Froot Pops has quickly secured distribution at Morrisons, Ocado, Zapp, Gopuff, and 200+ independent retailers. The Grocer

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What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

  • After expanding into the wellness space on Monday with a beauty-focused hydration line, Kylie Jenner’s Sprinter announced that Jay Hunter is taking the helm as CEO. Prior to joining Sprinter, Hunter spent five years at MaryRuth’s and finished his tenure as Chief Revenue Officer. LinkedIn

  • Rhode is dropping a limited-edition Justin Bieber collection with three items: Peptide Eye Prep in Banana Peel, Peptide Lip Treatment in Caramelized Banana, and Spotwear. The collection launches on April 13th in conjunction with Coachella. Who What Wear

  • Diptyque has refreshed its iconic candle range for the first time since its debut in 1963. Designer Julie Richoz used a slightly modified typeface on the label and upgraded the glass vessel to include a frame outlining the label. Ten of Diptyque’s bestselling candles are now refillable too. WWD

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

  • GoodPop officially announced the launch of its Fruit Sours line. The clean popsicles feature a real fruit base and a patent pending sour candy coating. The new line is available at Whole Foods, Wegmans, H-E-B, and Costco in the Bay Area. This subcategory is booming; since Fruit Riot launched, sour and candy-inspired novelty items are up 137% YTD. Instagram

  • Four Sigmatic partnered with Sony Pictures and Amazon to launch a limited-time Organic Creatine Coffee SKU. The ground coffee contains 500mg of Lion’s Mane and 5g of creatine. The product was created to celebrate the fifth and final season of The Boys. LinkedIn

  • Target is doubling down on THC beverages by expanding from 10 stores in the Minneapolis area to over 70 new stores across Minnesota. Target kicked off a trial for THC beverages in October with brands like Cann, Hi Seltzer, Wynk, and several others. LinkedIn

  • MULU is a new cottage cheese brand that delivers 33% more protein per serving than the leading brand in the space. Traditional cottage cheese contains 12-14g of protein per serving, while MULU contains 18g of protein and just 100 calories. The company was founded by Chris Mohr, a physiologist and performance nutrition expert. MULU is available nationwide at Walmart. PR Newswire

  • Zach Ranen, the co-founder and former President of David, left the company in February and is launching something new. You can register for updates on Ranen’s next venture here. Twitter

  • Whiskey producer MGP Ingredients is pausing production at two distilleries in Kentucky. The pause will begin on May 1st and last one year. Per MGP Ingredients, the American whiskey category is oversupplied. The Spirits Business

  • MOSS, the sea moss beverage brand co-founded by actor Michael B. Jordan, has hit pause as the company goes through a restructuring. BevNET

Data 🖥️

  • Shades, a vegan candy brand created by YouTuber Niko Omilana, generated more than £15M in sales in less than a year. Shades launched in 2025 and retails at Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, and WH Smith. Instagram

Distribution News 🚚

  • Esspo launched storewide at Whole Foods Market.

  • MUSH is rolling out at Starbucks and 7-Eleven.

  • GNGR Labs launched storewide at ShopRite.

  • CVT Soft Serve also launched at ShopRite.

  • ‘nuldge launched nationwide at Sprouts Farmers Market.