CAVU Backs Sauz, HighPost Buys Stake in Equip 🐮

Author

CPG WIRE
June 12, 2025

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

  • Cali Sober secures funding ☀️

  • Iris Ventures backs Healf 💊

  • BRĒZ expands lineup 📈

  • Modelo bets on non-alc beer 🍺

  • Sunnie launches at Target 🎯

CAVU Backs Sauz 🍝

Sauz, the fast-growing, next-generation pasta sauce brand, just closed a $12 million funding round led by CAVU Consumer Partners. Coefficient Capital, Palm Tree Crew, and Strand Equity also participated in the round.

Founded in 2023 by childhood best friends Troy Bonde and Winston Alfieri, Sauz has been on a tear since launching. The company now offers seven SKUs that retail at nearly 7,000 doors across the country. Their retail roster includes Kroger, Target, Sprouts, Whole Foods, Wegmans, and a handful of other chains.

According to the company, Sauz continues to see best-in-class velocities in the retail channel and revenue is up 148%.

So how did Sauz pull this off in a category with seemingly zero white space? The answer is twofold: they innovated on flavor and branding.

Sauz currently offers seven novel flavors like Hot Honey Marinara, Brown Butter Alfredo, Summer Lemon Marinara, Miso Garlic Marinara, and three others. You just don’t see this kind of flavor innovation in the pasta sauce category. Most of the major players in the space — Rao’s, Ragu, Prego, Bertolli, and Barilla — are stuck playing the hits: Bolognese, Tomato Basil, Arrabbiata, etc.

Additionally, if you compare Sauz to its peers in the pasta sauce aisle, you’ll notice it looks nothing like the competition. They eschewed the look that pervades the category — sort of a faux-rustic, suburban Italian restaurant aesthetic — in favor of brighter, more eye-catching branding that’s impossible to miss.

By focusing on flavor and branding, Sauz was able to find the white space, and consumers seem to appreciate the energy they’re bringing to the category.

For CAVU Consumer Partners, this is their first investment since exiting Poppi for $1.95 billion in March. In conjunction with the investment, Jared Jacobs, a Partner at CAVU, will join Sauz’s Board of Directors.

More info on the deal here.

Scale Profitably on Amazon 📊

REViVE is an operator-first Amazon agency that helps high-growth CPG brands scale profitably on Amazon.

Founded by Nik Hall, the creator of Vitafive — a gummy vitamin brand that scaled to eight figures and was acquired by a $2B strategic buyer — REViVE brings insights only a true operator can offer.

Nik worked with seven different Amazon agencies while growing Vitafive. The result? A 15% drop in sales over two years. So he took Amazon in-house and scaled it 450% in just three months.

Now, Nik and the REViVE team help other brands do the same:

  • Realsy: 10x growth on Amazon in under 9 months

  • Daily Crunch: 300%+ revenue lift

  • Buoy: From $10K/month to over $400K/month

REViVE isn’t just managing ads — they’re scaling brands with strategy, data, and operator insights that most agencies can’t offer.

Learn more about REViVE here or schedule a call with Nik here.

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

  • HighPost Capital made a significant investment in Equip Foods, a purveyor of doctor-developed, real food supplements. Founded in 2015 by Dr. Anthony Gustin, a former sports rehabilitation clinician, Equip is best known for its Prime Protein line, a leading grass-fed beef protein powder. FY revenue is expected to be in the high 8-figure range. HighPost Capital is also an investor in Magic Spoon. My health-conscious friends are obsessed with Equip. Business Wire

Fundraising

  • THC beverage brand Cali Sober raised $1M in funding from Arsenal Partners and FlightPlan Ventures. Cali Sober launched in 2023 and sells 5mg and 10mg THC mocktails. The hemp-derived THC beverage category is growing 143% annually. LinkedIn

  • Israeli food tech startup Lembas secured $3.6M in pre-seed funding. The round was led by FLORA Ventures with participation from Bluestein Ventures, Siddhi Capital, Longevity Venture Partners, and a handful of other investors. Lembas is the creator of GLP-1 Edge, a proprietary peptide that triggers the production of gut hormones that regulate appetite. AgFunderNews

  • Healf, a London-based online retailer of premium wellness products, closed a multimillion-dollar funding round led by Iris Ventures. Healf was founded in 2020 and expects to exceed $100M in revenue this year. The company will use the funding to expand into Europe. WWD

What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

  • Circē is a new skincare brand from Patricia Finn, a beauty product developer and an alum of Jack Black, Neora, and Norwex. Circē launched with three SKUs that range in price from $48 to $125. Finn spent three years developing the core lineup. WWD

  • French skincare brand Typology is launching its haircare range in the United States. The brand’s shampoos, conditioners, and scalp scrubs will be available for purchase via their website. Cosmetics Business

  • Isima, the new haircare brand from Shakira, is launching very soon. Isima is launching with 8 products that will hit shelves at Ulta Beauty in July. The packaging is pretty novel. Given Shakira’s enormous social media following, Isima ought to do well. NewBeauty

  • The newest product from Rhode, Glazing Mist, is launching on June 24th and will retail for $30. Instagram

  • Flamingo Estate released a very limited-edition candle called Cactus Cowboy. Only 100 units were produced. Instagram

  • Speaking of cowboys…Cowboy Colostrum released their newest flavor, Strawberry. Great-looking product. Instagram

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

  • BRĒZ, the fast-growing functional beverage brand, released four new RTDs: Elevate, Amplify, Dream, and Drift. Two of the new blends — Elevate and Dream — are completely free of THC and CBD. Their canna-free RTDs also just launched nationwide at Sprouts Farmers Market. BRĒZ did $28M last year and they expect to exceed $75M in 2025. LinkedIn

  • THC-infused beverage brand Nowadays announced an interesting new partnership with Palm Tree Club, a celebrity-backed luxury beach club in Miami. Over the next year, Nowadays will be seamlessly incorporated into a series of activations, offering attendees an alcohol alternative that delivers a similar social buzz. PR Newswire

  • Modelo, the #1 beer brand in the US, is getting into the non-alcoholic beer game with two new NA brews. The packaging, designed by GUT Design, is pretty spectacular. Fast Company

  • Better-for-you iced tea brand Halfday just dropped a limited-edition flavor, Tropical Tea. The new flavor is available exclusively at Whole Foods Market and Amazon. Instagram

  • MoonBrew, a purveyor of melatonin-free sleep supplements, just unveiled a new look. They also ditched the stand-up pouches and transitioned to sleeker plastic jars. LinkedIn

  • Thanks to The Dieline we now know that JKR facilitated Xochitl’s fantastic brand refresh. The Dieline

  • Liquid Death is launching a spicy sparkling water called Deathberry Inferno. The limited edition flavor is available exclusively at Walmart in 12 oz cans. Stack3d

Data 🖥️

  • Uncrustables continues to dominate for J.M. Smucker. In fiscal 2025, Uncrustables net sales jumped by over $125M to approximately $920M. The brand is on pace to surpass $1B in annual net sales by the end of 2026. Cafe Bustelo is also performing well for J.M. Smucker. Bustelo’s sales jumped 19% to $400M in fiscal ‘25. Twitter

  • Bettergoods, the newish private label brand from Walmart, is nearing $500M in sales roughly a year after launching. Food Business News

Distribution News 🚚